[tt-tf] TTM futures - final proposal

Dear Task Force,

Based on feedback previously provided, below you will find the final
outline of our plans for future direction of the TTM network. We
appreciate you taking the time to contribute to this, and encourage any
final comments either before or during our meeting next week.

Key elements of this plan, including some implementation details and
interface mockups, will be presented during the TT-WG on Thursday 25th
October during RIPE55.

Vision
~~~~~~

Our goal is to expand and maintain the TTM network, increasing the value
of the service to the community at large and to the owners of the
probes. This will be achieved by making improvements in the following areas:
-    Enhancing the measurement architecture
-    Enhancing the TTM network architecture
-    Improving alarms and reporting
-    Improving the business model

These changes will require a radical rethink in probe and measurement
architecture, resulting in new structures for the probes themselves, and
the tests they carry out.

TTM network infrastructure
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The TTM network is the foundation of the TTM and associated services.
Therefore, these services strongly depend on reliability and coverage of
the network. In particular it is essential that there are many active
probes at interesting locations, that probes are well maintained, and
that coverage can be further increased by deploying simpler devices.
Let's consider these goals separately.

1. For the services that the TTM provides, it is essential that there
are enough active probes at interesting locations. At present, we are
relatively limited by the availability, and geography,of those willing
to sponsor probes, and as a result, some rather dense and unhelpful
clustering has occurred. A possible solution to mitigate this problem is
to install a number of probes at important locations for free. The NCC
will fund the hardware and service contract, while the host will support
the probe with power, connectivity and remote-hands. Rough criteria for
hosting a box:

- Major AS or IX
- Only one free box per AS – if a site wants more, they have to pay
- Commitment from the site to operate the box for a minimum 3 year period
- Selection will be a “beauty contest”, and at the discretion of the NCC

2. However this alone will not ensure sustained growth of the network.
This needs to be addressed by increasing the number of sponsored probes
and ensuring that those probes are well maintained and upgraded when
necessary. Therefore It is important to make the TTM services attractive
to sponsors of the TTM probes to increase stability and steady growth of
the network. Several incentives can be provided:

- Allow the sponsor to define their own measurement mesh and specific
routine measurements (level of detail and frequency). Management of
gathered data will be the responsibility of the sponsor.
- Support the sponsor in creating dynamic meshes to monitor their own
applications and services, providing a global picture of availability.

These enhancements will operate in unison with the existing full-meshed
measurements which we are committed to supporting on an ongoing basis.

3. To further expand the network in the areas where support and
technical expertise are limited (e.g. small/residential customers), a
probe itself should be as lightweight as possible (no GPS, embedded
systems). The CBM proposal fits well in this category. This setup
doesn't allow one-way measurements, although an aggregated view from a
cluster of such lightweight probes can enhance the TTM and add-on services.

TTM Measurements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Near real-time measurement of application services
The TTM network will continue to act as a measurement platform for
critical Internet public service and infrastracture applications (e.g.
root and ccTLD DNS monitoring and of multicast performance). These
independent tests are of benefit to the service administrators, the end
users, and to the hosts of TTM probes. We will improve this service by
- Considering measuring new applications as the need arises
- Making reporting clearer (see below)
- Enhancing alarm functionality (see below)
- Implementing the CBM proposal (see infrastructure section)

2. Global one-way measurement platform
The TTM network will continue its one-way measurements of the
delay/jitter/loss between the distributed probes. These independent
tests are of benefit to the hosts of the TTM probes, to the broader
community, and to specific interested organisations who rely on neutral
views (e.g. regulators and governments). We will improve this service by
- Introducing custom measurement meshes (see infrastructure section)
- Introducing support for OWAMP. This will allow the TTM network to
interact with other compatible networks, and will facilitate
measurements on demand (subject to access restrictions)
- Setting up data quality checks to ensure the sanity of presented data
- Making reporting clearer (see below)
- Enhancing alarm functionality (see below)

3. General purpose distributed measurement platform for ad-hoc experiments
The TTM network will be developed to enable interested parties (e.g.
CAIDA) to conduct a variety of time-limited, global, local, or mid-range
experiments (for example the k-root anycast studies). An outcome will
typically be an analytical report that will be open to the community. In
addition to this, the NCC will provide various ad-hoc modules which all
test box hosts may use to carry out bespoke tests of interest to them -
the initial implementation of this will cover private application testing.

Reporting
~~~~~~~~~

We consider the current reports to be complex and overwhelming. We will
simplify the presentation of results to include fewer pre-generated
plots, and shift our focus to the identification of trends and changes
in gathered data. We will continue to support tools to generate plots on
demand, and raw data will continue to be available for analysis. DQM
will be used to verify data sanity. In addition to this, we are
investigating ways to merge TTM data with that from other services -
such as RIS - combining data from these powerful platforms to display
broader and more representative pictures of Internet behaviour in near
real-time.

Alarms
~~~~~~

We consider the current alarm functionality to be complex and
overwhelming. This will be re-engineered to provide more powerful
network and application alarms. We will enable users to run a variety of
NCC defined tests, limited by number, frequency and longevity, so as to
ensure that these tests do not impact public TTM network operation. As
with reporting, we will simplify presentation of generated alarms to
make them clearer.

Admin and pricing model
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a result of feedback from existing TTM hosts, and others interested
in participating, we intend to move to a three year model with two
payment options and the possibility to extend by up to two years.

Option 1 will be three recurring annual payments of €1800, which will
include all hardward, setup and service costs.

Option 2 will be one single up front payment of €5000, which will
include all hardware, setup and service fees for three years, and
includes an advance payment discount.

Towards the end of year three, hosts will be given the opportunity to
extend their service contract by up to two years at the prevailing
annual fee at that time (currently €1000). Hosts extending for just 1
year will be given the option to extend for one further year.

All contracts will expire after five years. We recommend entering into a
new contract with new hardware at this point. However, if your hardware
continues to function reliably, you may opt to participate without a
contract. In such cases you will no longer receive software updates,
general support, or access to some advanced features of your testbox
software.

We appreciate the time and effort expended by existing hosts and will
obviously ensure a fair and favourable transition for all.


-- 
Mark Dranse
Information Services Manager
RIPE NCC