METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MEASURING REMOTE-ACCESS VPN QUALITY OF SERVICE

摘要

A method and apparatus for providing quality of service (QOS) measurements for remote-access users of a virtual private network (VPN) (14) utilizes hardware/software at the remote VPN client (48) to collect information related to the remote client's ability to connect to the VPN and remain connected. A centralized server (44) is configured to query each remote client and upload the collected connection data, the server functioning to analyze the collected data (42) to determine QoS information in terms of, for example, "VPN accessibility" (defined as success rate for connection to VPN servers), "VPN sustainability" (defined as the ability to maintain a network connection) and "VPN availability" (defined as the ability of a persistent remote-access (12) location to maintain its network connect). The QoS measurements allow the VPN service provider to improve the experience of remote access users, generate alarms and reports, and may also be used to form service level agreements (SLAs) with such users.