Enhancing network performance has been studied by a number of researchers. The need to provide greater throughput on network infrastructure has been the key driver for these studies. The use of jumbo frames is considered one of the methodologies that can be employed to increase data throughput on networks. In this research undertaking, the authors implement jumbo frames on a test-bed implemented with Windows Server 2003/2008 networks and performance related metrics are measured for both IPv4 and IPv6 implementations. The results obtained in this empirical study shows that performance metrics values are different in various scenarios.

Securing data transmission is currently a widely researched topic. There are numerous facades in data security. Virtual Private Network (VPN) is one such strand that provides security for data that is in motion. Performance of a network that has VPN implementation is at the forefront of network design and choice of the operating systems and cryptographic algorithms is critical to enhancing network performance. In this research undertaking, three VPN techniques, namely DES, 3DES and AES, which are commonly used to implement IPSec VPNs, are performance analyzed on test-bed setup. These are implemented on a network with Linux Fedora and a router and Windows desktop operating systems on another node. The VPN algorithms tested show that there may be performance differences when implemented with different operating system combinations.