Subject: re: Announcing X-Bone VPN/overlay software release

From: Telecom Tom <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 09:03:08 -0500

Joe and Jon,

Can you briefly describe how we might use xbone, and presumably mbone,
to make a VPN overlay for educational institutions to do
video/multimedia conferencing? 

How can we use chapters 6 and 7 of the multimedia conferencing bible
(aka Internetworking Multimedia) to control applications, membership,
floor, and network?

When and where is Jon's conference control channel protocol (CCCP)
going to be developed and deployed (section 7.5)?

--TT
------------------------------------------------
Tom Nelson Scott         [email-masked]
The Veda Home Company    Bowling Green, Ohio USA
"In IP We Trust"         "E Pluribus Unix"
------------------------------------------------

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Announcing X-Bone VPN/overlay software release
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 14:20:09 -0800 (PST)
From: Joe Touch <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]

   xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx    
   x                                                          x    
   x           XX    XX      X-BONE Overlay System            x    
   x             X  X                                         x    
   x              XX                Software Release          x    
   x             X  X                                         x    
   x           XX    XX             March 2000                x    
   x                                                          x    
   xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx    

The X-Bone system for automated deployment of VPN / overlay networks
is now publicly available. This is the first major public release,
v1.2.
                                                                   
X-Bone dynamically deploys and manages Internet overlays to reduce
configuration effort and increase network component sharing. X-Bone
discovers, configures, and monitors network resources to create
overlays over existing IP networks.
                                                                   
The X-Bone is implemented in Perl, and open source is provided.
                                                                   
The X-Bone can be used for:                                        
                                                                   
      - deploying VPNs                                             
                                                                   
      - sharing lab or wide-area networks                          
         for multiple, concurrent projects                         
         for testing protocols and apps on new topologies          
                                                                   
X-Bone uses two-layer IP in IP tunneled overlays and supports existing
applications and unmodified routing, multicast, and DNS services.
X-Bone also support IPSec within overlays. Applications can use the
X-Bone without modification or recompilation.
                                                                   
The X-Bone is available for the following operating systems:       
                                                                   
      - FreeBSD                                                    
              CAIRN 2.5, 3.*, 3.* + KAME IPsec patches             
                                                                   
      - Linux RedHat                                               
              6.0, 6.0 + NIST Cerberus IPsec patches, 6.1          
                                                                   
The FreeBSD port and Linux RPM have been submitted to the FreeBSD
ports and RedHat Linux RPMs sites; further information and details and
the port and RPM files are currently available at:
                                                                   
      http://www.isi.edu/xbone/                                    
                                                                   
- Joe Touch                                                        
  Project Leader, X-Bone group, USC/ISI                            
  [email-masked]                                                    
  http://www.isi.edu/touch                                         
  +1 (310) 448-9151                                                
                                                                   
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 Command, USAF, under agreement number F30602-98-1-0200.           
                                                                   
 Copyright (c) 1998-2000 by the University of Southern California. 
 All rights reserved.                                              
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---

From: Jon Crowcroft <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 09:07:44 +0000

>>video/multimedia conferencing? 

there's quite a few effortsd underway to provide overlays, often in the
context of multicast - it seems like end system only multicast is one way to
get some of the benefits without needing global deployment - one thing that
is needed is an application (e.g. games) with a software infrastructure that
has a standard API to networks that hides whether one is using an overlay or
native service....

 >>(aka Internetworking Multimedia) to control applications, membership,
 
pass:-)

 >>going to be developed and deployed (section 7.5)?

this was one of several proposed solutions to infrastruxture suppotr for
mmusic WG work - mmusic is sort of in a hiatus right now where there are some
short (session desctiption stuff), some medium (mbus stuff)
and some long term (of which this is one) pieces of work ...... i hope we'll
start to see some movement soon on this! again, a lot of us have had to pull
back and put a lot more effort into getting the inrastructure to deploy and
scale before going back to the muddleware...

cheers

j.

---

From: Joe Touch <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 07:46:46 -0800

Jon Crowcroft wrote:
> context of multicast -

The X-Bone currently requires multicast for deployment. It uses
multicast for resource discovery. We are examining ways to relax
this constraint because - once deployed - we can support multicast
on the overlay. 

>  >>(aka Internetworking Multimedia) to control applications, membership,

In a sense we applied some of these principles among the end hosts 
and routers in the overlay. We have described the X-Bone as "a
teleconference
among routers," since (like sd and sdr) we use multicast announcements
to advertise session invitations.

(however, our invitation structure is sufficiently different as to
require a different format; we're looking at whether there is any gain
that might be derived from unifying the two).

Joe