SOME TRAFFIC ISSUES IN THE DESIGN OF VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS OVER ATM

The emergence of broadband technologies such as ATM gives rise to new developments in the domain of virtual private networks (VPNs). In this paper, a target broadband VPN (B-VPN) service is proposed, which combines the cost savings of classic VPN services and the powerful features of private corporate networks (service integration, statistical multiplexing, etc.) enlarged by the use of ATM. To reach this B-VPN service, some architectural issues related to the network supporting the B-VPN service are discussed. The traffic implications of the possible architectural choices are then examined, and from this discussion some basic principles for a VPN architecture are drawn. Finally, target VPN architectures are proposed.