Publications

Using Modeling and Simulation to Analyze Application and Network Performance at the Radioactive Waste and Nuclear Material Disposition Facility

Maestas, Joseph H.; Life, Roy A.; Maestas, Joseph H.; Bateman, Dennis B.

Telecommunication services customers at the Radioactive Waste and Nuclear Material Disposition Facility (RWNMDF) have endured regular service outages that seem to be associated with a custom Microsoft Access Database. In addition, the same customers have noticed periods when application response times are noticeably worse than at others. To the customers, the two events appear to be correlated. Although many network design activities can be accomplished using trial-and-error methods, there are as many, if not more occasions where computerized analysis is necessary to verify the benefits of implementing one design alternative versus another. This is particularly true when network design is performed with application flows and response times in mind. More times than not, it is unclear whether upgrading certain aspects of the network will provide sufficient benefit to justify the corresponding costs, and network modeling tools can be used to help staff make these decisions. This report summarizes our analysis of the situation at the RWNMDF, in which computerized analysis was used to accomplish four objectives: (1) identify the source of the problem; (2) identify areas where improvements make the most sense; (3) evaluate various scenarios ranging from upgrading the network infrastructure, installing an additional fiber trunk as a way to improve local network performance, and re-locating the RWNMDF database onto corporate servers; and (4) demonstrate a methodology for network design using actual application response times to predict, select, and implement the design alternatives that provide the best performance and cost benefits.