Re: General information about ns needed

[John Heidemann <johnh@ISI.EDU>]

On Mon, 16 Aug 1999 18:56:52 CDT, "Tim Brown" wrote: 
>I need some general questions about ns answered.  Specifically:
>
>1.  How suitable is ns for a business (i.e. non-R&D facility) to use for
>network modeling and simulation in terms of man-hours, support, etc.
>2.  Does ns answer questions about QoS on IP networks, specifically RRR,
>MPLS, WRED, DRR?

You can get the best answer to these questions by downloading
ns-allinone and looking at it and it's documentation.  If you're
really concerned about the potential costs or risks of using ns, you
should evaluate them directly.

A more specific answer to your first question: Ns is free, research
software.  There is no toll-free tech support phone number.  To use ns
requires programming.  Lots of grad students dive right in and do good
things, but some hit a rock and then can't swim around it.

Ns *is* in wide use in the research and commercial networking
community, including some non-R&D businesses.  YMMV.

   -John Heidemann