TEAM: A traffic engineering automated manager for DiffServ-based MPLS networks

In this article an automated manager called traffic engineering automated manager (TEAM) for DiffServ/MPLS networks is introduced, and its design and implementation details are discussed. TEAM is designed for complete automated management of an Internet domain. TEAM is an adaptive manager that provides the required quality of service to the users and reduces the congestion in the network. The former is achieved by reserving bandwidth resources for the requests and the latter by distributing the load efficiently. These goals are achieved by online measurements of the network state. TEAM is composed of a traffic engineering tool (TET), which adaptively manages the bandwidth and routes in the network, a measurement and performance evaluation tool (MPET), which measures important parameters in the network and inputs them to the TET, and a simulation tool (ST), which may be used by TET to consolidate its decisions. These three tools work in synergy to achieve the desired network operation objectives. The experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of TEAM as a network manager in different and unpredictable traffic conditions at the expense of a limited increase in the computational complexity and costs.