Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2018/JANUARY 2019 31 PERSPECTIVE Sponsored Content Building on more than 70 years of ex- perience in safety-critical communication, Frequentis is using its experience with cross- industry requirements to propose a more ef- fective approach, based on its vitalsphere™ network portfolio for mission-critical net- works. A mission-critical network reacts to changing network performance ensuring communications reach their end destination with the appropriate priority and protection. It is of utmost importance to ensure the availability of operational systems even in the event of failure, security breaches, or an attack. Resilience is the new redun- dancy and something that Frequentis vital- sphere™ provides. Mission-critical networks Three additional layers turn a conventional enterprise network into a mission-critical network: 1. Network scalability 2. Situational awareness 3. Intelligent routing and control. Most mission critical applications rely on information sharing across multiple stake- holders, enabled by underlying networks. To ensure resilience in any situation, net- works must combine multiple technologies from different vendors. In the defence do- main, the mobility and flexibility to deploy ad-hoc networks is vital. Both the demands of applications and the capacity provided by a network will vary over time. Consistent and reliable network performance without service in- terruption is essential for mission-critical defence environments. In mission-critical networks it is right to assume that commu- nication demands will spike during a criti- cal situation, while the infrastructure itself may be affected and unable to deliver its full capacity. Consequently, if the network demands of applications are not met, out- ages will occur. There are two approaches to plan- ning network capacity for resilience: overprovisioning and prioritization. In most cases the overprovision of capacity is technically and logistically impossible within a strict defence environment. However, by being aware of real time performance needs from applications, and the available network capabilities, prioritization is possible. Networks based on the Frequentis vital- sphere™ portfolio use real-time network performance information and application specific performance targets to automati- cally and seamlessly switch between net- works when performance is reduced. By removing the need for user intervention, the operator can continue executing mis- sion-critical tasks. Conventional networks only react to total link loss, known as black-outs, while vitalsphere™-based networks can detect degradation in performance known as brown-outs. It also allows dynamic re- routing based on application priorities and bandwidth availability, enabling auto- matic rerouting, which eliminates loss of service or reduced image quality. If all traffic cannot pass through a single carrier because of a lack of capacity, the network must be aware of the operational and application demands of each user and the business processes supporting it. If there is a higher demand than the capac- ity on one network segment, the network should know which services to decline and which to accept. Resilience is more than just redundancy of components: it must allow end-devices to intelligently se- lect the right course of action. To tackle such challenges, the concept of operations must be supported within the network. Additional network security layers Cyber security is not new and is finding its way from core segments of networks through network edges towards all end- points. In international contexts and joint contexts, multi-security domain opera- tions are becoming the standard. This not only impacts the concept of operations, but also the network. Additional security layers increase the demand for bandwidth by up to 400%, as well as increasing the network complexity. Adaptive bandwidth allocation in a multi-domain operation is essential for efficient network use. Disruptive factors like electronic warfare (EW), atmospheric influences, Distribut- ed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks, the loss of a carrier due to hardware failure, as well as regular traffic growth, increase the need for intelligent network controls which support application-aware traffic prioritization and network admission. Ultimate understanding Frequentis' experience with safety-critical applications has allowed it to design not only a solution for seamless situational awareness across multiple domains, but a resilient network to meet modern demands. Resilience is about keeping operations up-and-running while managing an inci- dent. In time-critical situations, where life is at risk, flexibility and intelligent routing based on application priorities and a real- time overview of the network is vital. To achieve this, the network and the network integrator must understand the applica- tions and their use cases. In the event of an incident, vitalsphere™ provides a level of safety and end-to-end performance not available on convention- al networks. By perceiving possible prob- lems with bandwidth, based on network conditions and the application require- ments, vitalsphere™ selectively re-routes high-demand application traffic ensuring continuous voice and data transfer with- out loss of service. To support complex and evolving de- fence needs, and the transfer of large amounts of data in real-time, a shared situational awareness framework and a network solution like vitalsphere™ should be considered. Martijn Sack, Frequentis Solutions Architect, Defence Stefan Galler, Frequentis Director ATM Networks Members of 8 Air Communications & Control Squadron. Exercise AMALGAM DART 15-2 in Resolute Bay, Nunavut on May 22, 2015. Photo: Cpl Patrick Drouin, 4 Wing Imaging

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