Evaluation of new Internet techniques and technologies

The current Internet boom is an important event in the world of telecommunications, and promises to be a key enabler for the spread of applications based on the use of services provided by computer networks. The new commercial possibilities and the shrinking costs of the corporate networks based on the Internet paradigm - the intranets - are driving a convergence of interests at the international level in this sector. Nevertheless, today's Internet, with its protocols and equipment, is not yet able to meet all of the performance and functional requirements for actual commercial use. The scientific community and industry are now investigating new technological and technical proposals which will lead to a new generation of network elements and systems-related solutions capable of providing enhanced performance and expanding the range of available services. The paper begins with an analysis of the major proposals for innovative network elements, presenting the salient features of each. The second part of the paper concentrates on an evaluation of multicasting and caching, two of the most significant techniques adopted on the network to improve performance on the World Wide Web.