Narus Inc. Wednesday
announced the upcoming release of its network technology analyzer, Semantic
Traffic Analysis, aimed at providing Internet service providers (ISPs) and
network service providers (NSPs) with data to support value-added services.
Value-added services such as Internet video, IP telephony, IP faxing,
Internet applications hosting and others are crucial to service providers’
profitability and differentiation, according to Narus. As these services
become more common, service providers have experienced problems in
estimating service pricing. Narus said the difficulty ISPs have had with
estimating the cost of the services means new technology that offers more
specific, in-depth information is needed.
“Service providers on the Internet are at a crossroads,” said Greg Howard,
director of service provider programs for
Infonetics Research, a San Jose Internet research firm.
“In order to position themselves for the future, they need to offer
differentiated services. But, until now, having enough information to
develop realistic business models, pricing and support for these services
has been almost impossible.”
In an effort to provide more complex network traffic analysis, Narus is
introducing its semantic network traffic service. The company cites
research which predicts the fast-growing ISP sector will become stagnant
without the ability to offer differentiated services. In order to gain
significant revenues from these services, a technology was necessary to
allow usage based
pricing.
“We realized that, at the heart of the data that is needed to accurately
measure usage and enable ‘pay-as-you-go’ business
models for Internet service providers, is what we call the ‘semantics’ of
network traffic,” said Ori Cohen, Narus’ founder and chief executive officer.
“In short, by seeing the ‘semantics’ of network traffic, service providers
can see ‘inside’ the data, providing much more detailed
insight about the use of the Internet and the perceived value of specific
applications than existing technologies allow.”
Semantic Traffic Analysis uses network technology to consistently capture
and analyze all IP data streams on heavily trafficked networks remotely and
non-invasively. In addition, the semantics of the data stream are
determined also, as well as the protocol used and the application taking
place. A variety of other data is available as well.
The Narus Semantic Traffic Analysis system will debut in early 1999.
Pricing has not yet been determined.