System and method for designing, developing and implementing internet service provider architectures

• US 20030172145A1
• Filed: 02/27/2003
• Published: 09/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Nguyen, John V.
• Granted Patent: US 9,087,319 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1403 Architecture for metering, charging or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/185 with management of multicast group membership

Abstract

System and method for designing, developing and implementing Internet Service Provider (ISP) architectures. One embodiment of a method for designing and implementing ISP architectures may include formulating a set of design requirements for an ISP architecture, establishing an architectural model for the ISP architecture using the set of design requirements, generating a logical design for the ISP architecture from the architectural model and the set of design requirements, and generating a physical design for the ISP architecture using the architectural model and the logical design. One embodiment may also include selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture and implementing the ISP architecture according to the logical design and the physical design. In one embodiment the system and method for designing, developing and implementing ISP architectures may be used to design, develop and implement an N-tiered ISP architecture.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing an architectural model for the ISP architecture according to a set of design requirements;

generating a logical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the set of design requirements; and

generating a physical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the logical design.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising formulating the set of design requirements for the Internet Service Provider (ISP) architecture.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein said formulating the set of design requirements comprises:

obtaining the set of design requirements;

evaluating the set of design requirements;

establishing assumptions for the set of design requirements; and

determining design tradeoffs and addressing architectural limitations in light of the evaluations of the set of design requirements and the assumptions for the set of design requirements.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of design requirements include one or more business requirements and one or more functional requirements.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the business requirements comprise one or more of:

services requirements, service availability requirements, time to market requirements, future growth requirements, new technologies requirements, and capital investment requirements.

6. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the functional requirements comprise one or more of:

functionality requirements, interaction requirements, performance requirements, attributes requirements, and constraints requirements.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said establishing an architectural model for the ISP architecture according to the set of design requirements comprises:

identifying one or more core components of the architectural model; and

applying one or more architectural principles to the architectural model.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the one or more core components include one or more of an operating platform, an operating environment, and one or more ISP services.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the operating platform includes one or more of network equipment, server systems, and storage equipment.

10. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the operating environment includes an operating system and one or more operating environment tools and applications.

11. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the one or more core components include one or more of basic services, value-added services, infrastructure services, and operation and management services.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the basic services include one or more of email, Web hosting, Internet news, Internet access and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

13. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the value-added services include one or more of a calendar service, a search engine service, a WebMail service, a chat service, a messaging service, and an address book service.

14. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the infrastructure services include one or more of a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS), a Domain Name System (DNS) service, a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) service, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service, and a Network Time Protocol (NTP) service.

15. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the operation and management services include one or more of a jumpstart service, a monitoring service, a provisioning service and a backup service.

16. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the one or more architectural principles include one or more of scalability, availability, reliability, manageability, adaptability, security, performance, and open systems.

17. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said generating a logical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the set of design requirements comprises:

identifying a high-level topology for the ISP architecture;

identifying one or more services within the topology;

defining one or more service flows for the ISP architecture; and

defining one or more network components for the logical design according to the identified one or more services and the logical design.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the high-level topology includes point of presence (POP) and internal infrastructure, wherein the internal infrastructure includes the one or more services and one or more physical servers.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein network topology of the internal infrastructure is divided into a plurality of logical layers.

20. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein access through each of the plurality of logical layers is secured by one or more firewalls.

21. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein the plurality of logical layers includes one or more of a demilitarized zone (DMZ) network layer, a services network layer, an application network layer, a content network layer, a staging network layer, a backup network layer, and a management network layer.

22. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the ISP architecture is an N-tiered ISP architecture comprising a plurality of layers, the method further comprising functionally decomposing at least one of the one or more identified services into two or more of the layers of the N-tiered ISP architecture.

23. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the one or more services include one or more of basic services, value-added services, infrastructure services, and operation and management services.

24. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the one or more service flows include one or more of domain name system (DNS) service flow, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) service flow, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service flow, Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) service flow, Network Time Protocol (NTP) service flow, email service flow, web hosting service flow, and news service flow.

25. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the one or more network components include one or more of routers, switches, and load balancers.

26. The method as recited in claim 17, further comprising configuring the one or more network components in the logical design according to a layered network components model comprising a plurality of layers.

27. The method as recited in claim 26, wherein each layer of the network components model is configured to be implemented with a combination of layer 2 (L2) switching and layer 3 (L3) routing devices.

28. The method as recited in claim 26, wherein the plurality of layers of the network components model include one or more of a core layer, a distribution layer, and an access layer.

29. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said generating a physical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the logical design comprises:

creating a network design for the ISP architecture; and

planning for capacity of the ISP architecture.

30. The method as recited in claim 29, further comprising creating an IP address schema for the ISP architecture.

31. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein said creating a network design for the ISP architecture comprises identifying one or more network components of the ISP architecture.

32. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein said creating a network design for the ISP architecture comprises creating a network design diagram that documents network components of the ISP architecture.

33. The method as recited in claim 29, further comprising creating the network design for the ISP architecture according to an N-tiered network architecture.

34. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein said planning for capacity of the ISP architecture comprises:

estimating software capacity of the ISP architecture; and

estimating hardware capacity of the ISP architecture.

35. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein said planning for capacity of the ISP architecture comprises:

estimating sever capacity of the ISP architecture; and

estimating network capacity of the ISP architecture.

36. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein said planning for capacity of the ISP architecture comprises:

estimating storage capacity for software implementing one or more of basic services, infrastructure services, operating and management services, and operating environment; and

estimating memory capacity for software implementing one or more of the basic services, the infrastructure services, the operating and management services, and the operating environment.

37. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein said planning for capacity of the ISP architecture comprises:

estimating network bandwidth requirements;

estimating number of modems needed for dial-up access;

estimating number of links needed for Internet connectivity;

estimating number of links needed for dial-up access; and

estimating port capacity for routers, switches and consoles.

38. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein said planning for capacity of the ISP architecture comprises estimating size, type and specification of one or more servers for the ISP architecture.

39. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture in light of the logical design and the physical design.

40. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein said selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture comprises:

selecting software for the ISP architecture;

selecting one or more servers for the ISP architecture; and

selecting one or more network components for the ISP architecture.

41. The method as recited in claim 40, wherein said selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture further comprises selecting hardware rack equipment for the ISP architecture.

42. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein said selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture comprises selecting one or more of software for one or more basic services, software for one or more value-added services, software for one or more infrastructure services, software for one or more operation and management services, and operating environment software.

43. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein said selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture comprises selecting software for one or more basic services, wherein the one or more basic services include one or more of Internet news, email, Web hosting, Internet access and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

44. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein said selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture comprises selecting software for one or more value-added services, wherein the one or more value-added services include one or more of a calendar service, a search engine service, a webmail service, a chat service, a messaging service, and an address book service.

45. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein said selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture comprises selecting software for one or more infrastructure services, wherein the one or more infrastructure services include one or more of a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS), a Domain Name System (DNS) service, a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) service, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service, and a Network Time Protocol (NTP) service.

46. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein said selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture comprises selecting one or more servers for the ISP architecture, wherein said selecting one or more servers for the ISP architecture comprises:

selecting server type and associated tier for one or more front-end servers, one or more mid-range servers, and one or more back-end servers;

selecting one or more enterprise servers; and

selecting storage hardware including data storage hardware and tape library hardware.

47. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein said selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture comprises selecting one or more network components for the ISP architecture, wherein the network components include one or more of routers, switches, load balancers, firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs), console servers, and Network Access Servers (NASs).

48. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising implementing the ISP architecture according to the logical design and the physical design.

49. The method as recited in claim 48, wherein said implementing the ISP architecture according to the logical design and the physical design comprises:

implementing an operating platform for the ISP architecture;

implementing an operating system for the ISP architecture; and

implementing one or more services for the ISP architecture.

50. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein said implementing one or more services for the ISP architecture comprises:

implementing one or more infrastructure services for the ISP architecture;

implementing one or more basic services for the ISP architecture; and

implementing one or more value-added services for the ISP architecture.

51. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein the ISP architecture is an N-tiered ISP architecture, and wherein said implementing one or more services for the ISP architecture comprises functionally decomposing at least one of the one or more services into two or more layers of the N-tiered ISP architecture.

52. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein said implementing the ISP architecture according to the logical design and the physical design further comprises implementing a prototype of the ISP architecture to test and validate the ISP architecture.

53. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein said implementing the ISP architecture according to the logical design and the physical design comprises implementing one or more infrastructure services for the ISP architecture, wherein the one or more infrastructure services include one or more of a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS), a Domain Name System (DNS) service, a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) service, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service, and a Network Time Protocol (NTP) service.

54. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein said implementing the ISP architecture according to the logical design and the physical design comprises implementing one or more basic services for the ISP architecture, wherein the one or more basic services include one or more of Internet news, email, Web hosting, Internet access, and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

55. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein said implementing the ISP architecture according to the logical design and the physical design comprises implementing one or more value-added services for the ISP architecture, wherein the one or more value-added services include one or more of a calendar service, a search engine service, a webmail service, a chat service, a messaging service, and an address book service.

56. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the ISP architecture is an N-tiered ISP architecture.

57. The method as recited in claim 56, wherein the N-tiered ISP architecture includes one or more of a network layer, a system layer, an application layer, and a data layer.

58. A method, comprising:

formulating a set of design requirements for an Internet Service Provider (ISP) architecture;

selecting components of the ISP architecture, wherein said selecting the components comprises;

selecting a set of ISP services for the set of requirements and according to one or more architectural principles;

selecting an operating environment for the set of ISP services, wherein the operating environment is selected for the set of requirements and according to the one or more architectural principles; and

selecting an operating platform for the operating environment, wherein the operating environment is selected for the set of requirements and according to the one or more architectural principles; and

implementing the ISP architecture with the selected set of ISP services, operating environment and operating platform.

59. The method as recited in claim 58, further comprising:

establishing an architectural model for the ISP architecture according to the set of design requirements;

generating a logical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the set of design requirements; and

generating a physical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the logical design.

60. The method as recited in claim 59, wherein said establishing an architectural model for the ISP architecture according to the set of design requirements comprises:

identifying components of the architectural model; and

applying the one or more architectural principles to the architectural model.

61. The method as recited in claim 59, wherein said generating a logical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the set of design requirements comprises:

identifying a high-level topology for the ISP architecture;

identifying one or more services within the topology;

defining one or more service flows for the ISP architecture; and

defining one or more networking components for the logical design according to the identified one or more services and the logical design.

62. The method as recited in claim 59, wherein said generating a physical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the logical design comprises:

creating a network design for the ISP architecture;

creating an IP address schema for the ISP architecture; and

planning for capacity of the ISP architecture.

63. The method as recited in claim 59, wherein said selecting components of the ISP architecture is performed in accordance with the logical design and the physical design.

64. The method as recited in claim 59, wherein said implementing the ISP architecture with the selected set of ISP services, operating environment and operating platform is performed according to the logical design and the physical design.

65. The method as recited in claim 58, wherein the set of ISP services comprise one or more basic services, wherein the one or more basic services include one or more of Internet news, email, Web hosting, Internet access, and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

66. The method as recited in claim 58, wherein the set of ISP services comprise one or more value-added services, wherein the one or more value-added services include one or more of a calendar service, a search engine service, a webmail service, a chat service, a messaging service, and an address book service.

67. The method as recited in claim 58, wherein the set of ISP services comprise one or more infrastructure services, wherein the one or more infrastructure services include one or more of a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS), a Domain Name System (DNS) service, a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) service, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service, and a Network Time Protocol (NTP) service.

68. The method as recited in claim 58, wherein the set of ISP services comprise one or more operation and management services, wherein the one or more operation and management services include one or more of:

a monitoring service, a provisioning service, a backup service, and a jumpstart service.

69. The method as recited in claim 58, wherein the one or more architectural principles include one or more of:

scalability, availability, reliability, manageability, adaptability, security, performance, and open systems.

70. The method as recited in claim 58, wherein said formulating a set of design requirements comprises obtaining business and functional requirements for the ISP;

wherein said business requirements comprise one or more of;

services requirements, service availability requirements, time to market requirements, future growth requirements, new technologies requirements, and capital investment requirements; and

wherein said functional requirements comprise one or more of;

functionality requirements, interaction requirements, performance requirements, attributes requirements, and constraints requirements.

71. The method as recited in claim 70, wherein said formulating a set of design requirements further comprises:

evaluating the obtained requirements;

establishing assumptions for the obtained requirements; and

determining design tradeoffs and addressing architectural limitations in light of the obtained requirement evaluations and assumptions.

72. A method, comprising:

portioning an ISP into a plurality of network tiers;

determining capacity needed for software and hardware of the ISP;

determining network components for each network tier of the ISP;

determining location and number of fire ridges separating the network tiers;

determining number of modems and high-speed trunks for Internet connectivity and dial-up access fir the ISP;

determining number of network access servers to support concurrent users of the ISP; and

configuring servers and network components in the network tiers of the ISP accordingly.

73. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the programming instructions are executable by the processor to;

generate an architectural model for an ISP architecture according to a set of design requirements;

generate a logical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the set of design requirements; and

generate a physical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the logical design.

74. The system as recited in claim 73, wherein the set of design requirements include:

one or more business requirements, wherein the business requirements comprise one or more of;

services requirements, service availability requirements, time to market requirements, future growth requirements, new technologies requirements, and capital investment requirements; and

one or more functional requirements, wherein the functional requirements comprise one or more of;

functionality requirements, interaction requirements, performance requirements, attributes requirements, and constraints requirements.

75. The system as recited in claim 73, wherein, to establish an architectural model for the ISP architecture according to the set of design requirements, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to:

identify one or more core components of the architectural model; and

apply one or more architectural principles to the architectural model.

76. The system as recited in claim 75, wherein the one or more core components include one or more of an operating platform, an operating environment, and one or more ISP services.

77. The system as recited in claim 76, wherein the operating platform includes one or more of network equipment, server systems, and storage equipment, and wherein the operating environment includes an operating system and one or more operating environment tools and applications.

78. The system as recited in claim 76, wherein the one or more core ISP services include one or more of basic services, value-added services, infrastructure services, and operation and management services.

79. The system as recited in claim 78,

wherein the basic services include one or more of email, Web hosting, Internet news, Internet access and File Transfer Protocol (FTP);

wherein the value-added services include one or more of a calendar service, a search engine service, a WebMail service, a chat service, a messaging service, and an address book service;

wherein the infrastructure services include one or more of a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS), a Domain Name System (DNS) service, a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) service, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service, and a Network Time Protocol (NTP) service; and

wherein the operation and management services include one or more of a jumpstart service, a monitoring service, a provisioning service and a backup service.

80. The system as recited in claim 75, wherein the one or more architectural principles include one or more of scalability, availability, reliability, manageability, adaptability, security, performance, and open systems.

81. The system as recited in claim 73, wherein, to generate a logical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the set of design requirements, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to:

generate a high-level topology for the ISP architecture;

identify one or more services within the topology;

define one or more service flows for the ISP architecture; and

define one or more network components for the logical design according to the identified one or more services and the logical design.

82. The system as recited in claim 81, wherein the high-level topology includes point of presence (POP) and internal infrastructure, wherein the internal infrastructure includes the one or more services and one or more physical servers.

83. The system as recited in claim 82, wherein network topology of the internal infrastructure is divided into a plurality of logical layers, wherein the plurality of logical layers includes one or more of a demilitarized zone (DMZ) network layer, a services network layer, an application network layer, a content network layer, a staging network layer, a backup network layer, and a management network layer.

84. The system as recited in claim 81, wherein the ISP architecture is an N-tiered ISP architecture comprising a plurality of layers, and wherein the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to functionally decompose at least one of the one or more identified services into two or more of the layers of the N-tiered ISP architecture.

85. The system as recited in claim 81, wherein the one or more services include one or more of basic services, value-added services, infrastructure services, and operation and management services.

86. The system as recited in claim 81, wherein the one or more service flows include one or more of domain name system (DNS) service flow, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) service flow, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service flow, Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) service flow, Network Time Protocol (NTP) service flow, email service flow, web hosting service flow, and news service flow.

87. The system as recited in claim 81, wherein the one or more network components include one or more of routers, switches, and load balancers.

88. The system as recited in claim 81, wherein the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to configure the one or more network components in the logical design according to a layered network components model comprising a plurality of layers, wherein the plurality of layers of the network components model include one or more of a core layer, a distribution layer, and an access layer.

89. The system as recited in claim 73, wherein, to generate a physical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the logical design, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to:

generate a network design for the ISP architecture;

generate an IP address schema for the ISP architecture; and

estimate capacity of the ISP architecture.

90. The system as recited in claim 89, wherein, to generate a network design for the ISP architecture, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to generate a network design diagram that documents network components of the ISP architecture.

91. The system as recited in claim 89, wherein the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to generate the network design for the ISP architecture according to an N-tiered network architecture.

92. The system as recited in claim 89, wherein, to estimate capacity of the ISP architecture, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to:

estimate software capacity of the ISP architecture; and

estimate hardware capacity of the ISP architecture.

93. The system as recited in claim 89, wherein, to estimate capacity of the ISP architecture, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to:

estimate sever capacity of the ISP architecture; and

estimate network capacity of the ISP architecture.

94. The system as recited in claim 89, wherein, to estimate capacity of the ISP architecture, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to:

estimate storage capacity for software implementing one or more of basic services, infrastructure services, operating and management services, and operating environment; and

estimate memory capacity for software implementing one or more of the basic services, the infrastructure services, the operating and management services, and the operating environment.

95. The system as recited in claim 89, wherein, to estimate capacity of the ISP architecture, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to:

estimate network bandwidth requirements;

estimate number of modems needed for dial-up access;

estimate number of links needed for Internet connectivity;

estimate number of links needed for dial-up access; and

estimate port capacity for routers, switches and consoles.

96. The system as recited in claim 89, wherein, to estimate capacity of the ISP architecture, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to estimate size, type and specification of one or more servers for the ISP architecture.

97. The system as recited in claim 73, wherein the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to select one or more components of the ISP architecture in accordance with the logical design and the physical design.

98. The system as recited in claim 97, wherein, to select one or more components of the ISP architecture, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to:

select software for the ISP architecture;

select one or more servers for the ISP architecture; and

select one or more network components for the ISP architecture.

99. The system as recited in claim 97, wherein, to select one or more components of the ISP architecture, the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to select one or more of software for one or more basic services, software for one or more value-added services, software for one or more infrastructure services, software for one or more operation and management services, and operating environment software.

100. The system as recited in claim 73, wherein the programming instructions are further executable by the processor to:

obtain the set of design requirements;

evaluate the set of design requirements;

establish assumptions for the set of design requirements; and

determine design tradeoffs and address architectural limitations in light of the evaluations of the set of design requirements and the assumptions for the set of design requirements.

101. The system as recited in claim 73, wherein the ISP architecture is implementable according to the logical design and the physical design.

102. The system as recited in claim 73, wherein the ISP architecture is an N-tiered ISP architecture.

103. A system comprising:

means for establishing an architectural model for an ISP architecture according to a set of design requirements;

means for generating a logical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the set of design requirements; and

means for generating a physical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the logical design.

104. The system as recited in claim 103, further comprising means for formulating the set of design requirements.

105. The system as recited in claim 103, further comprising:

means for selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture in light of the logical design and the physical design; and

means for implementing the ISP architecture according to the logical design and the physical design.

106. The system as recited in claim 103, wherein the ISP architecture is an N-tiered ISP architecture.

107. A computer-accessible medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are configured to implement:

generating an architectural model for an ISP architecture according to a set of design requirements;

generating a logical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the set of design requirements; and

generating a physical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the logical design.

108. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 107, wherein the set of design requirements include:

one or more business requirements, wherein the business requirements comprise one or more of;

services requirements, service availability requirements, time to market requirements, future growth requirements, new technologies requirements, and capital investment requirements; and

one or more functional requirements, wherein the functional requirements comprise one or more of;

functionality requirements, interaction requirements, performance requirements, attributes requirements, and constraints requirements.

109. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 107, wherein, in said generating an architectural model for the ISP architecture according to the set of design requirements, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

identifying one or more core components of the architectural model; and

applying one or more architectural principles to the architectural model.

110. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 109, wherein the one or more core components include one or more of an operating platform, an operating environment, and one or more ISP services.

111. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 110, wherein the operating platform includes one or more of network equipment, server systems, and storage equipment, and wherein the operating environment includes an operating system and one or more operating environment tools and applications.

112. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 110, wherein the one or more ISP services include one or more of basic services, value-added services, infrastructure services, and operation and management services.

113. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 112,

wherein the basic services include one or more of email, Web hosting, Internet news, Internet access and File Transfer Protocol (FTP),

wherein the value-added services include one or more of a calendar service, a search engine service, a WebMail service, a chat service, a messaging service, and an address book service;

wherein the infrastructure services include one or more of a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS), a Domain Name System (DNS) service, a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) service, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service, and a Network Time Protocol (NTP) service; and

wherein the operation and management services include one or more of a jumpstart service, a monitoring service, a provisioning service and a backup service.

114. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 109, wherein the one or more architectural principles include one or more of scalability, availability, reliability, manageability, adaptability, security, performance, and open systems.

115. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 107, wherein, in said generating a logical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the set of design requirements, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

identifying a high-level topology for the ISP architecture;

identifying one or more services within the topology;

defining one or more service flows for the ISP architecture; and

defining one or more network components for the logical design according to the identified one or more services and the logical design.

116. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 115, wherein the high-level topology includes point of presence (POP) and internal infrastructure, wherein the internal infrastructure includes the one or more services and one or more physical servers.

117. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 116, wherein network topology of the internal infrastructure is divided into a plurality of logical layers, wherein the plurality of logical layers includes one or more of a demilitarized zone (DMZ) network layer, a services network layer, an application network layer, a content network layer, a staging network layer, a backup network layer, and a management network layer.

118. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 115, wherein the ISP architecture is an N-tiered ISP architecture comprising a plurality of layers, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement functionally decomposing at least one of the one or more identified services into two or more of the layers of the N-tiered ISP architecture.

119. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 115, wherein the one or more services include one or more of basic services, value-added services, infrastructure services, and operation and management services.

120. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 115, wherein the one or more service flows include one or more of domain name system (DNS) service flow, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) service flow, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service flow, Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) service flow, Network Time Protocol (NTP) service flow, email service flow, web hosting service flow, and news service flow.

121. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 115, wherein the one or more network components include one or more of routers, switches, and load balancers.

122. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 115, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement configuring the one or more network components in the logical design according to a layered network components model comprising a plurality of layers, wherein the plurality of layers of the network components model include one or more of a core layer, a distribution layer, and an access layer.

123. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 107, wherein, in said generating a physical design for the ISP architecture according to the architectural model and the logical design, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

generating a network design for the ISP architecture;

generating an IP address schema for the ISP architecture; and

planning for capacity of the ISP architecture.

124. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 123, wherein, in said generating a network design for the ISP architecture, the program instructions are further configured to implement generating a network design diagram that documents network components of the ISP architecture.

125. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 123, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement generating the network design for the ISP architecture according to an N-tiered network architecture.

126. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 123, wherein, in said planning for capacity of the ISP architecture, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

estimating software capacity of the ISP architecture; and

estimating hardware capacity of the ISP architecture.

127. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 123, wherein, in said planning for capacity of the ISP architecture, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

estimating sever capacity of the ISP architecture; and

estimating network capacity of the ISP architecture.

128. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 123, wherein, in said planning for capacity of the ISP architecture, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

estimating storage capacity for software implementing one or more of basic services, infrastructure services, operating and management services, and operating environment; and

estimating memory capacity for software implementing one or more of the basic services, the infrastructure services, the operating and management services, and the operating environment.

129. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 123, wherein, in said planning for capacity of the ISP architecture, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

estimating network bandwidth requirements;

estimating number of modems needed for dial-up access;

estimating number of links needed for Internet connectivity;

estimating number of links needed for dial-up access; and

estimating port capacity for routers, switches and consoles.

130. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 123, wherein, in said planning for capacity of the ISP architecture, the program instructions are further configured to implement estimating size, type and specification of one or more servers for the ISP architecture.

131. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 107, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture in light of the logical design and the physical design.

132. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 131, wherein, in said selecting one or more components of the ISP architecture, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

selecting software for the ISP architecture;

selecting one or more servers for the ISP architecture; and

selecting one or more network components for the ISP architecture.

133. The system as recited in claim 107, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement:

obtaining the set of design requirements;

evaluating the set of design requirements;

establishing assumptions for the set of design requirements; and

determining design tradeoffs and addressing architectural limitations in light of the evaluations of the set of design requirements and the assumptions for the set of design requirements.

134. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 107, wherein the ISP architecture is implementable according to the logical design and the physical design.

135. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 107, wherein the ISP architecture is an N-tiered ISP architecture.