Premium IP

Premium IP (PIP) offers a low loss, low delay, low jitter, assured bandwidth, end-to-end service, providing a service similar to that of a virtual leased line. It is expected to be used for real-time data, such as videoconferencing, voice over IP (VoIP) and specialist project traffic.

Currently Multi-domain PIP makes it possible to make a PIP reservation across multiple domains but currently it is only available in the GÉANT2 and GRNET backbone networks. Other NRENs offer a PIP-like service, but so far these services only support single, not multi, domain reservations.

The PIP service is currently available only for IPv4. PIP provision on GÉANT2 is based on the DiffServ architecture, and uses Expedited Forwarding (as described in RFC 3246) per-hop-behaviour (PHB). Other networks may choose to use QoS methods other than DiffServ (including, for example, "over provisioning").

In order to participate in Premium IP an NREN will either have to deploy an instance of the GN2 developed Advance Multi-domain Provisioning System (AMPS), or adapt their exisitng systems to interface with the GÉANT2 AMPS.

Requesting Premium IP

In order to use the Premium IP service on GÉANT, you must contact your NREN who will make a reservation for you. Your NREN will require the following information:

Email address and telephone number for a technical contact and a backup technical contact
Contact details for the end-site technical contact, if possible
Source IP addresses that will send Premium IP data
Destination IP addresses that will receive Premium IP data
The amount of capacity required, in Mbps
Details of the application used and project description
Request start and end dates (granularity of service duration is one day)
Whether the PIP service should be uni-directional (source to destination only) or bi-directional (PIP from destination to source as well).

Please note the following:

Your NREN will require notice of at least 2 working days for the reservation.
The maximum length of time a reservation can be made for is 3 months.
A reservation can be made up to 3 months in advance.
A request for more than 250Mbps PIP will require additional approval, and therefore more notice will be required.
Any traffic which exceeds the agreed data rate will be dropped.
Whilst traffic sent using PIP is guaranteed to be given the fastest possible transit through GÉANT, the availability of the service itself is not guaranteed.
GÉANT2 itself does not charge for Premium IP, but it is an NREN decision as to whether or not it needs to charge its customers on whose behalf it arranges PIP.

Using Premium IP

Premium IP packets should be tagged with DSCP 46 (101110). Any packets tagged as Premium IP (with DSCP 46) that are sent to GÉANT2 without prior reservation will be considered unauthorised and will be re-tagged as Best Effort (DSCP 0 or DSCP 6). They will then be treated as Less Than Best Effort on the first GÉANT router and as Best Effort on subsequent GÉANT2 routers.

Packets that are tagged with DSCP 40 (101000) will always be forwarded as Best Effort traffic, but without the packets being re-marked. This means that packets can be tagged so that they receive Premium IP in the peer networks (i.e. NRENs) and Best Effort in the GÉANT network.

Monitoring

The available network capacity for Premium IP traffic in GÉANT2 is currently monitored for each link by a tool called Taksometro. The Performance Monitoring and Measurement and PACE (Performance and Allocated Capacity for End-users) activities within the GEANT2 project are working on a monitoring infrastructure to measure one-way delay, IPDV and packet loss.