Named Data Networking

Named Data Networking, (see NDN), is a common network protocol for all applications and network environment.

NDN’s network layer protocol runs on top of a best-effort packet delivery service, which includes physical channels such as Ethernet wires, and logical connections such as UDP or TCP tunnels over the existing Internet.

Using this underlying connectivity, NDN provides a content retrieval service, which allows applications to fetch uniquely named “Data packets” each carrying a piece of data.

The “data” could be practically anything: text file chunks, video frames, temperature sensor readings … they are all data.

Likewise, a packet in a lower layer network protocol, such as an Ethernet frame, is also a piece of data.

Therefore, it should be possible to encapsulate Ethernet traffic into NDN Data packets, and establish a Virtual Private Network (VPN) through NDN communication.

This post describes the architecture of a proof-of-concept Ethernet-over-NDN tunneling program, and shows a simple performance benchmark over the real world Internet.

NDN provides data name awareness at the network layer, allowing a ubiquitous format for content requests to flow throughout the network until they are fulfilled. This schema lends itself naturally to the Federated Wiki paradigm.

Named Data Networking alternative network architecture. A version of PARC CCNx.