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Third Andean Workshop on Electronic Communications, 20-24 November 2000, Lima, PERU. H323: Architecture and Issues. Christian Benvenuti International Center for Theoretical Physics ( ICTP ), Trieste, Italy christian.benvenuti@libero.it. ICTP & Developing countries.
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Third Andean Workshop on Electronic Communications, 20-24 November 2000, Lima, PERU H323: Architecture and Issues Christian Benvenuti International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy christian.benvenuti@libero.it
ICTP & Developing countries • Developing countries often means • No 24x7x365 internet connection • Low bandwidth links • Bad phone line quality (PPP problems...) • Satellite link ? • Scientific Computer Section mailstones • www4mail (Enrique is talking about this) (...) • Scientific talk • Mbone tools • Streaming • H323 Architecture
ICTP main goal To Enable the remote collaboration between scientists from developing countries and not
RealTime multimedia VS Streaming • They differ from many point of view: • Number of “entities” involved • Degree of interaction between the remote ends • Protocols involved • Hardware needed • Network constraints • Buffering usage Realtime multimedia ?=? Remote collaboration Streaming ?=? Distance learning
Real time multimedia • Most of the time it is 1 to 1 • When it is “n” to “m” it can be very expensive • High level of interaction • Main constraints: delay and jitter • No buffering • More hardware needed
Streaming • Usually 1 to “n” (with “n” >>> 1) • Very small interaction • Buffering on the client side • No specific HW is needed (on the client side) • Asymmetric (client-server)
RT Multimedia VS Streaming- Software needed - • RT Multimedia • Cheaper (most of the time free) for basic configurations • Netmeeting/DCShare/Sunforum/... /Mbone tools • Streaming • The server (Real Server/Windows media server) can be very expensive while the client is usually free (Real Player/Windows media player) • Sure stream technology
RT Multimedia VS Streaming- Hardware needed - • RT Multimedia • Microphone • Speakers/Headphone • Whiteboard • Webcam • Scanners • ... • Streaming • Speakers
RT Multimedia VS Streaming- Tipical uses - • RT Multimedia • Remote collaboration (es. paper writing) • Remote application • Streaming • Distance learning • Lectures/Seminars/Training/Univ. degree
RT Multimedia VS Streaming- Protocols - • RT Multimedia • Real Time Protocol /Real Time Control Protocol (over UDP/IP) • Poor UDP/IP • Streaming • Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) • This still uses RTP for live content! • Microsoft ASX • No Clients for Linux (Wine and/or VMWare?)
RT Multimedia VS Streaming- Bandwidth usage - • RT Multimedia • It depends very much on the media used • Streaming • Usually the server is able to stream the same content using different bandwidths depending on the client’s link speed
Let’s focus on RT Multimedia • ICTP has recently started working on a streaming project for many reasons ... • ICTP main focus is still RT Multimedia
1st Rule • Remote collaboration is not (and it does not claim to be) like face to face collaboration and it will probably never be like that • May be one day when virtual reality will not be only a game anymore … (is it what we want?)
2nd Rule • The computer does not have to be seen as a sobstitute to human interaction • It is only an instrument! • Distance/Computer based training will never sobstitute teachers completely! (I HOPE) • This is especially important for young people
Remote collaboration:what hardware do we need? • Basic configuration • Standard PC • Sound card + Speakers • Microphone • Optional devices • Webcam/camera • Scanner • Tablet (es. Wacom, Mimio, etc) • ... ... ... • NETWORK CONNECTION
What media can we use to collaborate? • Voice • Video (optional?) • Chat • Whiteboard • File sharing (easier that mail attach. and ftp) • Application sharing • Web Sharing ...
ICTP main prefixed goals • Easiness of use • Security under control • Possibly no change to the everyday hw/sw instruments used by the users • Cheap hw/sw (opensource/Linux) ... in other words ... as plug an play as possible!
STANDARDS Two main sources: • International Telecommunication Union (ITU) • H323 … (Version 4 just approved [17 Nov. 2000]) • http://www.itu.int • Internet Engineer Task Force (IETF) • RTP/RTCP, RTSP, ... • http://www.ietf.org
H323 ArchitectureExample http://protocols.com/iface/voip/h323arch-b.gif
H323 Clients You can find a bigger list at: http://www.openh323.org/h323_clients.html
H323 Gatekeeper • Main tasks • Zone control • Admission control • Call authorization • Bandwidth control • Address translation • … … … • Main issue: • Being not hierarchical it does not scale! • ANNEX H
H323 Gatekeeper zones (cont.) • H 225.0 - Annex G • It takes advantage by the hierarchical structure of the DNS (Domain Name System) and the way email addresses are assigned.
Internet Locator Service (ILS) vsGaekeeper • ILS is a Microsoft extension to the LDAP protocol • It is used to make it easier for Netmeeting users to find each other • It is not hierarchical • It is not included in the h323 arch. • It can NOT interoperate with a gatekeeper • It is disappearing
H323: Main Issue ! Firewall !
H323 and firewalls do not coexist very well yet! • The h323 architecture has not been designed taking into account the poor network administrators ... • The use of DYNAMIC PORTS makes it impossible for a standard packet filtering firewall to cleanly allow that protocol!
Common “bad” solutions to the firewall problem • Microsoft suggestion: open everything! • http://support.microsoft.com/kb/articles/Q158/6/23.asp NetMeeting uses the following Internet Protocol (IP) ports: Port Purpose ------------------------------------- 389 Internet Locator Server [Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)] 522 User Location Server (TCP) 1503 T.120 (TCP) 1720 H.323 call setup (TCP) 1731 Audio call control (TCP) Dynamic H.323 call control (TCP) Dynamic H.323 streaming [Realtime Transport Protocol (RTP) over User Datagram Protocol (UDP)]
Common “bad” solutions to the firewall problem (cont.) • On the firewall you can open: • Only a given set of internal IPs/Networks or • Only traffic from a given set of external IPs/Networks or • Only a given range of ports
How to solve the firewall problem? • Intelligent firewall (Es. Cisco PIX) • $$$$$ most of the time! • Proxy • Es. PhonePatch • Web interface • NO T120 HANDLING ! ICTP • h323 proxy (already available) • Linux Firewall with h323 handling?
MBONE Tools • Vic (No h323!) • Rat/Vat • ... ... ...
H323 vs MBONE(For the sake of completeness) • Scientific VS Commercial Communities • Architecture VS not Architecture oriented • Single suite VS Multiple indipendent tools • ... ... ... • but COMMON RTP USAGE Can they interoperate ?
H323 vs SIP • H323 is a binary protocol (ASN.1) while SIP is text based like HTTP (which means easier to deal with) • SIP is newer • SIP is much simpler to implement • SIP handles better the firewall problem • SIP is more focused on IP telephony • … but … H323 is already the de facto standard!
H323 opensource software • http://www.openh323.org • http://www.opengatekeeper.org • Openh323proxy (developed at the ICTP) • http://openh323proxy.sourceforge.net NO opensource MCUs are available at the moment
H323: a few links • General H323 • You can find many (updated) links in my home • Security point of view (a few interesting articles) • NetMeeting Security Concerns and Deployment Issues • The Problems and Pitfalls of Getting H.323 Safely Through Firewalls • H.323 Proxy Issues Some others are in the references ...
To summarize ... • Realtime multimedia VS Streaming • Standard Organizations (ITU, IETF) • H323 is still a too fresh architecture • Security issues not completely solved The ICTP is working on a cheap/PnP solution
References(where I also took most of the images) • International Telecommunication Union (ITU) • H.323 (It is NOT on line) • Internet Engineer Task Force (IETF) • RTP/RTCP (RFC 1889) • RSTP (RFC 2326) • WEB • Http://www.protocols.com/voip/ • Demystifying Multimedia Conferencing Over the Internet Using the H.323 Set of Standards • IP Telephony and EIC • A Primer on the H.323 Series Standard • Multimedia Standards - H.323 for Audio Visual Conferencing Some others are in my homepage (http://shannon.csr.unibo.it/benve/h323.html)