An efficient anycast routing protocol based on multi-metrics

Anycast communication can be used to provide effective routing to server members in a replicated server group that is represented by an anycast address. This paper proposes a novel anycast routing protocol called anycast routing protocol based on multi-metrics (ARMM). ARMM protocol sets up the routing by taking hop number, data transmission delay, residual bandwidth, and server load as the server and path selection criteria. ARMM differs from other approaches as it uses values of bandwidth and delay on the direction from servers (anycast members) to clients, rather than the normal direction from clients to servers. So ARMM can select the best server/path with sufficient network resource (bandwidth, etc.) for server data transmission to clients. Simulation results demonstrated that our protocol performs better than those protocols using conventional client to server routing approach in case that the servers may require to transmit a large volume of flows to the clients.