Cloud, Mobile, and why Network Optimization is essential

When discussing "Cloud Computing" and "Mobile Computing" it's starting to get difficult to have a discussion about one without in some way talking about the other. Also, I think they may turn out to be the endpoints of the same organism (we'll let the terminal equipment manufacturers and cloud providers sort out which is the head end and which is the...). Before getting too deep allow me to standardize on some definitions around the terms "Cloud" and "Mobile" for the purposes of this discussion, and take giant, complex, difficult concepts and boil them down to easily digested techno porridge:

"Cloud Computing" or just "Cloud": We'll go ahead and use the NIST definition here: Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. -NIST.gov – Computer Security Division – Computer Security Resource Center". Csrc.nist.gov

"Mobile Computing":  Taking a computer and all necessary files and software out into the field. Definition courtesy of US Bureau of Land Management http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/bea/Glossary.html#m

I'm intentionally using broad definitions of both Cloud and Mobile because that is exactly what our customers and partners are doing. What specifically a person means by either "Cloud" or "Mobile" is going to depend on a wide variety of factors including location, application, public or private sector, industry, role, etc. The above definitions do an admirable job of rolling the multitude of variants up into an easy generalization that captures the essence of each. They are also at a high enough level that the intrinsic tie between Cloud and Mobile should be readily apparent. We can highlight the synergy by reducing the definitions one step further:

"Cloud" : Easy, on-demand access to applications and content hosted somewhere else.
"Mobile": Everything you need to run applications and look at content wherever you are.

A match made in heaven. And a headache in the making if ever there was one. Although it's easy to see where Cloud Computing and Mobile are closely aligned, some may miss the remarkably important piece that's missing. If the apps and content are hosted somewhere else, and you're accessing them from wherever you are....HOW are you accessing them? Via a network of course. But, which network? Does it have enough bandwidth for your needs, is it all yours or shared, is it safe and secure, do you know anything about it at all? The network is an essential element for both Cloud and Mobile, neither will work without one, but is a little difficult to define well here. We'll call it the "network", now giving us:

"Cloud" : Easy, on-demand applications and content hosted somewhere else.
"Mobile": Using applications and looking at content wherever you are.
"Network": How Mobile things connect to Clouds.

The fantastic opportunities that Cloud and Mobile have to offer are only accessible if there is a network connecting them. The network must be sufficient to carry the content users are requesting, consistent enough for transactions to be completed, and assured enough for reliable connectivity and data delivery. Because we've already defined Cloud as being "somewhere else" but haven't said where, and we've defined Mobile as being "wherever you are" but not where or how, the actual characteristics of the network remain unknown. This are exactly the conditions that users face every day from wherever they are. The vast majority of users connecting to applications or content do not have a detailed knowledge of the network they are using to connect themselves to the computing platforms and content storage they are accessing. If those users are connecting from anywhere other than their workplace, they may know their connection only by the marketing brand delivering it: Verizon Wireless, WiFi by AT&T, Boingo, T-Mobile Hotspot. Clearly the network is the critical bridge and if the user can't provide actionable information related to the character and capabilities of the connection we must rely on platforms, applications, or content to provide it without user input. This is the principle reason why WAN Optimization technology is essential for Cloud Computing and Mobile, both require network connectivity in order to function and neither can rely on user input or single-sided configurations to ensure successful and efficient operation.

Circadence WAN Optimization for Mobile http://bit.ly/fjXYt4 and Cloud http://bit.ly/i7O0Oy

Some pictures of the new Circadence MVO WAN Optimization Client for Android

20x Gain in Application Througput with MVO for Android

Network characterizations and performance benchmarks running the Circadence MVO WAN Optimization Client for Android on the Motorola Xoom, using WiFi and Verizon 3G.
Summary:
Motorola Xoom Tablet on the Verizon network
WiFi Performance
Without MVO installed: 4.8Mb/s
With MVO Installed: 81.5Mb/s
3G Performance
Without MVO installed: 750Kb/s
With MVO Installed: 31.1Mb/s

Testing to: iPerf Server running on Windows 2003 hosted in commercial datacenter
Test Device Model: Xoom
Android Version: 3.0.1
Tested using iPerf v2.0.5 pthreads

WiFi:
The following data describe the link characteristics for the WiFi portion of the testing. This was tested with iperf using UDP streams sent at configured bandwidth levels:

Reported MSS/MTU, MSS Size 1292 bytes, MTU 1332 bytes
Link tested at 10Mb/s Bandwidth
WiFi is 802.11n

[ ID]   Interval           Transfer               Bandwidth     Jitter                Lost/Total Datagrams
[1900]  0.0- 5.0 sec       5.80 MBytes       9.74 Mbits/sec  2.481 ms              1547322226/ 4195 (3.7e+007%)
[1900]  5.0-10.0 sec       5.73 MBytes       9.61 Mbits/sec  2.652 ms               222/ 4309 (5.2%)
[1900]  10.0-15.0 sec      5.85 MBytes       9.82 Mbits/sec  1.999 ms               81/ 4255 (1.9%)
[1900]   15.0-20.0 sec     5.88 MBytes       9.86 Mbits/sec  1.525 ms               6/ 4199 (0.14%)
[1900]   20.0-25.0 sec     5.95 MBytes       9.99 Mbits/sec  2.361 ms               3/ 4250 (0.071%)
[1900]   25.0-30.0 sec     5.04 MBytes       10.1 Mbits/sec  1.753 ms               7/ 4316 (0.16%)
[1900]   30.0-35.0 sec     5.94 MBytes       9.97 Mbits/sec  2.220 ms               7/ 4247 (0.16%)
[1900]   35.0-40.0 sec     5.76 MBytes       9.66 Mbits/sec  1.495 ms               95/ 4203 (2.3%)
[1900]   40.0-45.0 sec     5.97 MBytes       10.0 Mbits/sec  1.852 ms               47/ 4302 (1.1%)
[1900]   45.0-50.0 sec     5.95 MBytes       9.98 Mbits/sec   1.531 ms               5/ 4249 (0.12%)
[1900]   50.0-55.0 sec     5.83 MBytes       9.79 Mbits/sec   1.925 ms               33/ 4194 (0.79%)
[1900]  0.0-60.0 sec       70.7 MBytes       9.88 Mbits/sec   2.003 ms               597/51003 (1.2%)


WiFi Performance Test Results

iperf test results over WiFi-WithOUT MVO installed:
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[1828]  0.0- 5.0 sec  1.18 MBytes  1.98 Mbits/sec
[1828]  5.0-10.0 sec  2.62 MBytes  4.39 Mbits/sec
[1828] 10.0-15.0 sec  3.33 MBytes  5.58 Mbits/sec
[1828] 15.0-20.0 sec  3.36 MBytes  5.64 Mbits/sec
[1828] 20.0-25.0 sec  3.38 MBytes  5.68 Mbits/sec
[1828] 25.0-30.0 sec  3.30 MBytes  5.53 Mbits/sec
[1828] 30.0-35.0 sec  3.22 MBytes  5.41 Mbits/sec
[1828] 35.0-40.0 sec  2.43 MBytes  4.08 Mbits/sec
[1828] 40.0-45.0 sec  2.50 MBytes  4.20 Mbits/sec
[1828] 45.0-50.0 sec  2.72 MBytes  4.56 Mbits/sec
[1828] 50.0-55.0 sec  3.12 MBytes  5.24 Mbits/sec
[1828] 55.0-60.0 sec  3.41 MBytes  5.72 Mbits/sec
[1828]  0.0-60.1 sec  34.6 MBytes  4.84 Mbits/sec

iperf test results over WiFi-With MVO installed and running, default configurations:
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[1832]  0.0- 5.0 sec  45.0 MBytes  75.6 Mbits/sec
[1832]  5.0-10.0 sec  54.6 MBytes  91.6 Mbits/sec
[1832] 10.0-15.0 sec  45.8 MBytes  76.9 Mbits/sec
[1832] 15.0-20.0 sec  42.4 MBytes  71.2 Mbits/sec
[1832] 20.0-25.0 sec  54.9 MBytes  92.2 Mbits/sec
[1832] 25.0-30.0 sec  44.0 MBytes  73.8 Mbits/sec
[1832] 30.0-35.0 sec  42.1 MBytes  70.6 Mbits/sec
[1832] 35.0-40.0 sec  55.9 MBytes  93.8 Mbits/sec
[1832] 40.0-45.0 sec  50.1 MBytes  84.0 Mbits/sec
[1832] 45.0-50.0 sec  47.3 MBytes  79.3 Mbits/sec
[1832] 50.0-55.0 sec  51.0 MBytes  85.5 Mbits/sec
[1832] 55.0-60.0 sec  51.4 MBytes  86.3 Mbits/sec
[1832]  0.0-60.1 sec   585 MBytes  81.5 Mbits/sec


3G:
The following data describe the link characteristics for the 3G portion of the testing. This was tested with iperf using UDP streams sent at configured bandwidth levels:

Reported MSS/MTU, MSS Size 1424 bytes, MTU 1500 bytes
Link tested at 5Mb/s Bandwidth
Verizon 3G
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth       Jitter   Lost/Total Datagrams
[1900]  0.0- 5.0 sec   445 KBytes   729 Kbits/sec  32.780 ms 1510/ 1820 (83%)
[1900]  5.0-10.0 sec   422 KBytes   691 Kbits/sec  25.222 ms 1739/ 2033 (86%)
[1900]  0.0-11.0 sec   937 KBytes   696 Kbits/sec  34.851 ms 3600/ 4253 (85%)

Link tested at 1Mb/s Bandwidth
Verizon 3G
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth       Jitter   Lost/Total Datagrams
[1900]  0.0- 5.0 sec   393 KBytes   644 Kbits/sec  15.512 ms  131/  405 (32%)
[1900]  5.0-10.0 sec   451 KBytes   739 Kbits/sec  13.384 ms  104/  418 (25%)
[1900]  0.0-10.4 sec   874 KBytes   690 Kbits/sec  13.179 ms  243/  852 (29%)

Link tested at 250Kb/s Bandwidth
3G is Verizon
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth       Jitter   Lost/Total Datagrams
[1900]  0.0- 5.0 sec   184 KBytes   301 Kbits/sec  20.309 ms    0/  128 (0%)
[1900]  0.0- 9.0 sec   307 KBytes   279 Kbits/sec  22.648 ms    0/  214 (0%)

3G Performance Test Results 

iperf test results over 3G-WithOUT MVO installed:
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[1852]  0.0- 5.0 sec   399 KBytes   654 Kbits/sec
[1852]  5.0-10.0 sec   455 KBytes   746 Kbits/sec
[1852] 10.0-15.0 sec   469 KBytes   768 Kbits/sec
[1852] 15.0-20.0 sec   407 KBytes   668 Kbits/sec
[1852] 20.0-25.0 sec   439 KBytes   720 Kbits/sec
[1852] 25.0-30.0 sec   508 KBytes   832 Kbits/sec
[1852] 30.0-35.0 sec   425 KBytes   696 Kbits/sec
[1852] 35.0-40.0 sec   502 KBytes   823 Kbits/sec
[1852] 40.0-45.0 sec   499 KBytes   818 Kbits/sec
[1852] 45.0-50.0 sec   465 KBytes   761 Kbits/sec
[1852] 50.0-55.0 sec   465 KBytes   761 Kbits/sec
[1852] 55.0-60.0 sec   449 KBytes   736 Kbits/sec
[1852]  0.0-61.5 sec  5.50 MBytes   750 Kbits/sec


iperf test results over 3G-With MVO installed and running, default configurations::
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[1860]  0.0- 5.0 sec  33.6 MBytes  56.4 Mbits/sec
[1860]  5.0-10.0 sec  3.41 MBytes  5.73 Mbits/sec
[1860] 10.0-15.0 sec  20.6 MBytes  34.5 Mbits/sec
[1860] 15.0-20.0 sec  22.1 MBytes  37.1 Mbits/sec
[1860] 20.0-25.0 sec  13.1 MBytes  22.1 Mbits/sec
[1860] 25.0-30.0 sec  25.3 MBytes  42.5 Mbits/sec
[1860] 30.0-35.0 sec  24.0 MBytes  40.3 Mbits/sec
[1860] 35.0-40.0 sec  12.5 MBytes  20.9 Mbits/sec
[1860] 40.0-45.0 sec  15.7 MBytes  26.4 Mbits/sec
[1860] 45.0-50.0 sec  16.2 MBytes  27.2 Mbits/sec
[1860] 50.0-55.0 sec  15.7 MBytes  26.3 Mbits/sec
[1860] 55.0-60.0 sec  14.9 MBytes  25.1 Mbits/sec
[1860]  0.0-61.6 sec   229 MBytes  31.1 Mbits/sec