Mariam Nihal
Saudi Gazette
Following the success of Call of Duty (COD), a very popular video game, which many industry observers called the biggest entertainment launch of 2014, Juniper Networks has highlighted the gaming industry as a space where it can help the online multiplayer community. According to Richard Bayliss, Chief Architect, Edge Solutions, Global Service Provider Business at Juniper Networks, these gaming enthusiasts are facing network-traffic issues when they want and demand, a flawless gaming experience.”
To have an optimal game time, Juniper Networks states that the following networking tips that would benefit each gamer:
• Connect using a physical connection where applicable and possible
• If you use Wi-Fi, make sure you upgrade your Wi-Fi network to 802.11 account
• Enable uPNP so that your console can dynamically request port forwarding, if uPNP is not an option, you have then manually configure open/type 1 Network Address Translation (NAT) on your router.
• If NAT problems are still occurring, consider using a static IP address on your console to prevent translation errors
As global chief architect for Edge Solutions at Juniper Networks, Bayliss has various roles including CTO for the APAC service provider business and supporting the service provider team. Bayliss has been with Juniper since 2005 and in the network infrastructure and telecommunications industry for over 15 years. He has been responsible for major international and national service providers.
“My role has enabled me to see first-hand the power of the network to transform the way we live. The pace of innovation today is faster than it has ever been, it is a super exciting time to be involved in networking and the impact the network will have is only going to increase as it becomes personal, agile and software driven.”
As online gaming becomes increasingly popular, service providers need to generate a range of usage models according to Bayliss. “For instance, looking at timing of connectivity and network demand, the largest traffic spikes for gaming normally occur in the afternoon and evening as gamers log in after school or working hours. Also, certain games such as “Destiny from Bungie” feature a weekly reset of player statistics, which can synchronize players’ behavior generating additional spikes in usage on a weekly basis.”
Referring to the role of SDN component behind the scenes, he said: “On the horizon of digital and cloud services that are converging and evolving, gaming is a great example of how these services, including the use of SDN, are now including the graphics and voice-overs that go into video games on par with what we see in Hollywood movies. Video games also feature rich communication services such as built-in social tools and real-time voice communication tools.
Gaming companies such as Microsoft and Sony are supporting their massive online gaming communities by hosting gaming platforms that are essentially hosting private clouds for each game with multiple instances across multiple servers within this cloud. To host these cloud instances, the companies rely on intelligent software tools to automate the management of these gaming clouds and move enormous volumes of data and user traffic quickly, efficiently and flexibly.”
Bayless believes it is essential to have a consistent experience regardless of network demand, as gaming does not only require low latency and high-bandwidth performance.
“Gaming is a platform where gamers can have a highly social, real-time and immersive network based experience. Therefore, network performance across both the home network and service provider domains is critical to ensuring the customer experience. With this, service providers need to educate their gaming customers on the best settings to ensure best possible experience. While simple settings such as the Network Address Translation (NAT) configuration may not seem important, these values can directly impact in-game voice communication and social ‘match-matching’ functions for multiplayer gaming.”
