Buyer`s Guide to Using Merkato
Contents
1. To resize the agent window to exactly match the windows displayed click the Pack icon el second from right or select Pack from the View pull down menu Note To arrange Agent windows on the Merkato desktop see Merkato User Reference for Buyers Arranging Agent Windows InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato 19 Select Bidding Units In the Units fields you can make changes to money time or bandwidth units Changing units doesn t change your bid it converts the displayed values to the ones you choose 1 From the Selection pull down menu select Units The Units box appears though you may have to expand the agent box to see it SA Ini x Valuation Strategy Status Help a Po Start N Stop Config Wizard Resource Units gt Buyer buyeri s File view 2 Use the pull down menus in the Currency Quantity and Time fields to pick the units you want to see in the other agent boxes 20 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Select a Valuation Your valuation settings indicate the maximum amount you are willing to pay for a range of desired bandwidth In the course of an auction your agent uses this valuation information together with the market price to determine how much to bid and how much bandwidth to ask for in response to changing market conditions For a description of the methods of valuation see Merkato User Referenc2. Buyer jbossom spot garage 2 oj x File View Selection Valuation Strategy Status Help Resource ihn t1 sp otka Mbps 0 0 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Making the Reservation 1 Connect to the marketplace by clicking on the Connect icon 2 Ifthe News window is not visible select News from Status pull down menu The News window appears x Buyer demo buyerl reseryation garage File View Selection Valuation Strategy Status Help Mews x Click the Start icon 4 Read the available bandwidth capacity from either the News or the Resource window If this capacity is greater than or equal to what you want proceed If not you can either attempt to obtain what is available or consider buying bandwidth on the spot market U 5 From the Strategy pull down menu select Reservation Strategy Expand the display area if necessary to see the Reservation Strategy window at the bottom gt Buyer demo buyer1 reservation garage 0 x File View Selection Valuation Strategy Status Help s Show Only One Sby m sowonyone ane be Reservation Strategy 6 Click the pack icon Bh on the menu bar or select Pack under the View pull down The agent window resizes itself to accommodate the windows you are currently displaying InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Tg 10 In the Re
3. Merkato Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Merkato Version 2 1 Copyright 2002 InvisibleHand Networks Inc All Rights Reserved This document contains information which is protected by copyright Reproduction adaptation or translation without prior permission is prohibited except as allowed under the copyright laws The following are trademarks registered trademarks or service marks of Invisible Hand Networks Merkato Java is a trade mark of Sun Microsystems Disclaimer The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED AS IS AND INVISIBLEHAND NETWORKS MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WITH REGARD TO THIS MATERIAL INCUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID InvisibleHand Networks Inc shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing performance or use of this material Document Number MBG 2 1 1 00 ii InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Table of Contents Starting Ver Katon mangan akn 1 De an an Nana tes l Planning For Your Bandwidth Needs ccccccecseeeeessseeseesesessesssessseesseesssesseeseeeeeeeegs 2 Reserved or Spot Market Bandwidth ooooooooooooooooooooo o ooo ooooooo oo ooooo ooo oo
4. configuration it If multiple garages are available they will appear in a pull down list gt Save Config demo buyer1 spot garage i Save Agent Configuration MOT bidding to G Ispot garage cance 2 Make sure the garage listed is the one you want to save to generally the garage you downloaded the agent from and click OK 3 Click OK to confirm saving your configuration Exiting the Merkato Desktop To exit Merkato click the close box tab at the upper right hand corner of the window LX or select Exit Merkato from the File pull down menu You can leave the portal page in the browser open to monitor your agent status via the Express agent or click Logout in the list on the left side of the window InvisibleHand Networks Inc 29 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Using the Express Agent The Express interface is an HTML version of the Desktop interface with some significant differences e It leaves your agent in the garage and controls it remotely See Note Bidding From the Garage or From the Desktop on page 11 e Your screen is not updated in real time You must click Refresh to update information in status displays e You may not create or cancel reservations through this interface Nor can you submit manual bids or make changes to traffic based valuation settings Existing settings made in these areas through the Desktop interface are not affected by using the Express interface to change
5. Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Downloading the Agent To download an agent follow these steps 1 From the File pull down menu select Download Agent venkat vescrop TE mie Windows Help Download Agent Hose Ademt Exit Merkato The Download Agent window appears Agent Download x Username fester one Password peranan Garage spot garage cance 2 Enter the username and password for the desired agent By default this is the same as the username and password you used to access the Desktop interface from the initial login the fields are populated with this information You may specify another valid username and password to download another agent InvisibleHand Networks Inc 5 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato 3 If there are Garage choices on a pull down list that indicates both spot and reservation marketplaces select the reservation garage and click Download MS Agent Download xX Username jderno buyert Password raannaneees Garage Ispot garage spot garage reservation garage Download If you have a single generic choice in the Garage field your Merkato administrator will have given you two distinct usernames and passwords one for each market In this case make sure that the username and password correspond to the reservation market and click download The Agent window appears This is the Agent interface through which you make your reservation
6. AWELLINO The Market Price History display shows the unit price paid by all successful bidders for the bandwidth they received Fluctuations of this price indicate changes in the dynamics of the market bidders entering or leaving the market or altering their valuation profiles The Market Price History display includes two market price graphs e Average market price on an hourly basis e Average market price on a daily basis For a full description of Express agent fields see Merkato User Reference for Buyers Express Agent 34 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Java on Your Browser If your browser is not configured for Java version 1 3 1 you must download it before you can run a Desktop agent You can allow Merkato to do this automatically or you can download it directly from the source whose link is provided in the login page There are later versions of Java but we do not recommend using them Automatic Download If your browser doesn t have Java version 1 3 1 the first time you attempt to download a Desktop agent you are guided through the installation of the Java plug in Reply Yes to all security permission reguests Active Download If you encounter problems you can download Java free from Sun Microsystems The URL is http java sun com products plugin Note As of this writing to get the plug in you must download the entire Java Run Time Environment which is greater tha
7. bid Check the Active check box 4 Click Apply to active the changes you made to your agent InvisibleHand Networks Inc 23 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Select a Strategy You can bid using an automatic strategy or a manual strategy An automatic strategy changes your bid continually according to market conditions and your valuation settings A manual strategy lets you make one time bids at a set quantity and price For a complete description of Merkato strategies see Merkato User Reference for Buyers Strategy Overview Note If the guantity Mbps for example or time units month for example displayed do not suit your needs you can change the units Select Units from the Selection pull down menu The Units box lets you use kbps Mbps or Gbps as well as minutes hours days and months See Select Bidding Units on page 20 Automatic Strategy 1 From the Strategy pull down menu select Auto Strategy JO x gt Buyer demo buyer1 spot garage File View Selection Valuation Strategy Status Help iS pla FAN Pp NN aa Auto Strateg Manual Strategy be Auto Strategy f Current Strategy Mbps emonthiMbps 0 0 2 Inthe Auto Strategy window select the Current Strategy radio button If you select Automatic strategy your agent starts bidding for you immediately The Auto Strategy window lets you see your bids as they are submitted With Auto Strategy active your agent bids if it
8. has a sufficient budget every time the market price exceeds its last submitted bid Since the market price 1s determined by the price offered by the lowest successful bidder a bid under this price does not receive an allocation The field on the left shows the quantity requested in your agent s last bid The field on the right shows the unit price your agent offered in its last bid 24 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Manual Strategy 1 From the Strategy pull down menu select Manual Strategy The displayed quantity and unit price are those of your last bid gt Buyer demo buyeri spot garage Ioj x File View Selection Waluation Strategy Status Help E gt D TAN E v Show Only One Manual Strateg gt Manual Strategy m Auto Strategy 2 Current strategy 2 Enter the amount of bandwidth you want to bid for in the left field 3 Enter the maximum you can spend in the right field When you connect to the garage clicking Bid sends your bid to the auction Note that this is a one time event The submitted bid is not carried over to the next auction round If you wish to place a single take it or leave it bid each auction round use the Linear valuation with the Automatic strategy Connecting and Starting Your Agent The three icons at the upper left of the icon bar are from left to right Connect Start and Stop Sea When you first download an agent
9. the best price based on the valuation you set when you configure the agent Simply upload your agent to the garage You can continue to monitor it via the Express interface on the Portal but if you close the desktop or shut off your PC the agent continues to function as you have set it To upload and exit do the following l l Click the up arrow icon 4 The confirmation message indicates the garage where your agent will be placed When the confirmation window appears click OK If the agent is connected when you upload it the following message box appears Upload demo buyer1 spot garage X Upload Agent bidding to Garage spot gara Cancel Click OK The agent closes but the Merkato desktop window remains 28 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Saving Your Configuration You may want to save the settings you made on the desktop agent to your garage agent profile without exiting from the desktop agent We recommend this to ensure that if your PC freezes or reboots your configuration changes are not lost If you want to save the way your agent is configured but not transfer your agent to the garage do the following 1 From the File menu select Save Configuration IO x gt Buyer demo buyer L spot garage SEM View Selection Valuation Strategy Status Help Upload Close A confirmation box appears asking which garage you want to save your
10. to the Wizard and make changes there When you first log in the Express interface appears in the browser window to the left of the interface selection field We recommended that you select the Wizard interface first to make basic buying choices When you become more advanced in your use of Merkato you can make further changes to the Desktop interface The Desktop interface also gives you the most detailed status information As you become more proficient with Merkato you may want to use the Express interface to make guick configuration changes and status checks without downloading your agent to your PC 12 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Using the Wizard The Wizard interface walks you through the steps to set up Merkato to obtain bandwidth You can use the Wizard to set up bidding from your PC or from the Garage See Note Bidding From the Garage or From the Desktop on page 11 If you launch the Wizard from the Merkato portal it will configure an agent in the garage If you start the Desktop interface and launch the Wizard it configures the desktop interface This configuration 1s applied to your Garage agent profile when you save or upload To access the Wizard from the Merkato portal select it from the portal user interface menu as shown below User interface Wizard select Please nate The Wistar and F The Wizard takes you step by step through configuration of your Merkato
11. 02 02 04 04 25 00 demo buyer1 272 66 1 5 b B mes Z 30 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Valuation and Strategy You must configure the Express agent to bid using either an automatic strategy or a manual strategy An automatic strategy changes your bid continually according to your valuation settings and market conditions It bases the bid on the market price your valuation parameters and the amount it is informed it would receive if no more bids were submitted and this auction round closed A manual strategy submitting bids manually is not supported through the Express interface but this strategy setting will be indicated if previously configured and uploaded via the Desktop interface See Merkato User Reference for Buyers Strategy Overview You must also configure the Express agent with a valuation method Your valuation settings indicate the maximum you are willing to pay for a range of bandwidth In the course of an auction your agent uses this valuation information to determine whether to bid how much bandwidth to ask for and how much to offer in response to changing market conditions In the express interface you can view and change settings for inactive or the active valuation You do this by making a selection under the Valuation View pull down menu The valuation parameters automatically change to reflect the selected valuation To make the new valuation activ
12. 3 Buying Reserved Bandwidth tan anna 4 Download SA TER NN BN BN NB 5 Makino Ahe TROS CP VION a O a alae teata els 7 ESUE MIKU Ois ee S ST 9 Buying Bandwidth on the Spot Market ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooo co ooooooooooo 11 Note Bidding From the Garage or From the Desktop ooooo 11 CHOOSE An EaI aenn a E AN E ealienetets 12 sins the WIZI e oa cae a ee ee 13 Usma the DSS KO pC CIN aia cise a cscs aa EA AEN 16 Downloading the Desktop AGEN rect enam ANN 16 Arranging Sub Windows within the Agent Window 18 Selat Dia OA ea en an ERS 20 Selera KANAN On en AN aa Ba eRe Renae EN 21 Usmo Trae ba ea BAL aa NAN NS NG 22 NON Ce luan aa Aa R 24 Connecuns and Staring Lot ABON cai 23 ViGWIN YOUF AO CANON RSNI NN 26 Viewing Auction History and Current Data 27 Letting Your Agent Bid Without You Uploading ooonnnanaaaan 28 Saving Your Con SUKA NON seen Bia 29 Exiline the Merkato TICS klop ian AI ANN 29 Using the Express AZEN na na 30 Kala Ane ALE aor E RR NN 31 COME OUI TICE XI CSS AON saban 31 DBIGGiIne TF rom me EXPresSs ACH sma BNIB NN 31 Viewing Historical Informa tiom smith mma na an aan 34 Jaya OMY OUP Browsere nana 35 AutemateDownl og Ba 35 PECTIN Download naa au nba E ln BNN E 35 Ap Denda enn b maan E E 36 mits Conversion ONAL kenamaan hun namun 36 Yamato SUTIN AR YALL graces ee et 37 iii InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Starting Merkato Before y
13. Below is the Express interface as it appears after you complete these procedures Merkato Agent demo buyert Resource aluation Parameters InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato 33 Viewing Historical Information Agent Microsoft Internet Explorer File Edit View Favorites Tools Help Back ft Gi Search ae Favorites EA History Sh E a Address e http 11192 168 0 85 6969 portalpages agent php Account Links Mbps X k Contact Create dollar month Retresh Apply Recent Allocations Quantity Price Cost Kbps month Mbps k Payment Create Start Time End Time Resource menar arakan e a anons anaran AN O eal a E TY A NS aue al TO assests Las ze vla ol oa Moi BOR Ian ea HO a e m O ola 2 2001 10 20 02 26 47 2001 10 20 02 25 09 The Allocation Table shows bandwidth allocated to the current user and the amount charged for this bandwidth Allocations are shown in order most recent at the top sorted by End Time Each row corresponds to a single reservation for Reservation market resources and for an hourly roll up of auction results for Spot market resources The Allocation Table indicates that Merkato auctions have been providing the desired results You may obtain information for longer timeframes in the Billing display via custom gueries 001 10 20 02 26 19 2004 10 20 02 27 24
14. Create umeni Create Recent Allocations Sart Time End Tine Acre Caf ce Bei we II izi ai z002 02 0803 68 57 deme buyer EE talas zo02 02 0802 sa a8 2002 0298 03 59 57 se an anton ES ane 2002 02 04015700 S002O20402 90 45 damo spot deme buyart dame ssllar ia gt 272 50 From the Merkato Agent screen you can get to the various other screens that make up the Merkato interface Planning For Your Bandwidth Needs Before you buy bandwidth you should plan your bandwidth needs A good way to determine your bandwidth needs is to calculate your data transfer rate requirements Merkato specifies the rate in kbps Mbps or Gbps See Units Conversion Chart on page 36 2 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Reserved or Spot Market Bandwidth There are two ways to purchase bandwidth in a Merkato system e You can request and reserve a fixed amount of bandwidth at a fixed price for a fixed term e Youcan create a bidding strategy and contend for bandwidth with other buyers establishing a fair market price based on supply and demand The first method is called the Reservation market and uses a Reservation agent The second method is called the Spot market and uses a spot agent To get bandwidth from the spot market you configure your Merkato agent to bid on your behalf in a continuous bandwidth auction To get bandwidth in the reservation market use your Merkato agent to ask for a fixed pr
15. andwidth is allocated to this best effort queue so that you can make the best decision of when to stop bidding on the low end see budget with limits valuation Using Traffic Based Bidding it Yaluation If you use the Traffic based tab in the valuation window your agent changes its maximum quantity by checking the usage at intervals The agent measures the amount of traffic at intervals you set in the Meas Window field The agent bids for that amount of bandwidth plus a quantity margin you set in the Qty Margin field The quantity margin can prevent your agent s maximum bid quantity from reaching zero at times of no traffic 22 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato The following diagram illustrates the relationship between the settings Measured Peak Quantity Margin Next Allocation if Max Requested taty auction conditions ue permit Measurement Window Each valuation window has a Traffic based tab and each one serves the same function To use Traffic Based valuation do the following 1 In the Meas Window field enter the time interval at which you want your agent to adjust its bidding based on traffic volume You may want to change the units shown in the field to a shorter period The smallest interval you can select is six minutes 2 Inthe Qty Margin field enter the amount above the measured traffic you want your agent to use as maximum requested quantity in calculating its
16. dth is distributed by a system that ranks bidders by the price they offer but charges them based on the price offered by the lowest bidder to receive an allocation of bandwidth the fair market price for bandwidth at that time If you bid too low in an auction you will be out bid by other buyers The spot market is intended for immediate bandwidth to be used immediately 1t provides true bandwidth on demand The changes you make to your agent s bidding profile take effect immediately and a resulting allocation will be granted in less than five minutes at the close of the auction in progress You may start and stop bidding at any time Note Bidding From the Garage or From the Desktop Although the auction allocation process runs continuously there 1s no need for you to be directly involved at all times Your agent can bid automatically for you after you configure it with a profile of the value you place on bandwidth Your agent communicates with the seller s agent on a Merkato platform called the Garage The Garage is Merkato s name for auction services it runs from a server Once you configure your agent you can either bid from your PC using a Java based application or communicate remotely with your agent as it bids from the Garage Bidding from your PC and operating a remote agent each has advantages On your PC the Merkato desktop display gives you real time information about the auction and its participants If you are not in
17. e click Apply The Current Valuation display changes to the valuation currently being viewed and the agent begins bidding using the new valuation profile and settings See Merkato User Reference for Buyers Valuation Overview Controlling the Express Agent The Refresh and Apply buttons at the bottom of the window control communication with your agent e Refresh updates the read only status fields in the windows without sending configuration changes to the Agent All values saved the last time changes were applied are restored e Apply updates the read only status fields in the windows and sends configuration changes to the Agent For a complete description of fields in the Express Agent see Merkato User Reference for Buyers Express Agent Bidding From the Express Agent To bid for bandwidth from the Express agent follow these steps 1 Make sure the spot market is selected in the Resource field 2 Select Auto bidding strategy in the Strategy field InvisibleHand Networks Inc 31 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato 32 10 11 Select a valuation in the Valuation View field For a description of the methods of valuation see Merkato User Reference for Buyers Valuation Overview In the Units fields you can make changes to money time or bandwidth units Changing units doesn t change your bid it changes the display to show the units you choose In the Min Qty field enter the M
18. e for Buyers Valuation Overview 1 From the Valuation pull down menu select a valuation method gt Buyer jbossomim spot garage 1 lol x File View Selection Valuation Strategy Status Help cbo w Show Only One be Linear Valuation Logarithmic Valuation Parabolic Valuation Square Root Valuation Budget Valuation Aa asi Budget Valuation with Limits Linear Waluatio Traffic hased 2 Create your valuation by filling in the fields The fields are different depending on which valuation method you select Select the Current Valuation radio button 4 Click Apply The Apply button changes from yellow to blue when a parameter is changed and back to yellow when the change takes effect Changes to valuations only affect bidding if that particular valuation 1s active indicated by the radio button at the top of the window and the green arrow in the pull down menu list If a valuation 1s not active the changes are stored until you active that valuation InvisibleHand Networks Inc 21 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato If market conditions are such that you get no allocation or choose not to bid this does not necessarily mean that your traffic has no bandwidth available to it The data streams of agents that do not bid or do not win any allocation are generally funneled through a single shared amount of permanently allocated bandwidth Ask your Merkato administrator how much b
19. e left hand side of the Allocation window It remains displayed until you get another allocation or you disconnect the agent 26 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Viewing Auction History and Current Data In addition to the Allocation window Merkato provides a variety of other tools to let you view past and current auction data These include the following Auction Graph Indicates the state of the Merkato auction in progress for all agents actively bidding Colors and shapes on the graph indicate each bidder s last bid your previous allocation your proposed allocation your bandwidth valuation and other information Auction Table Shows a quantitative real time view of the auction in progress News Window Shows the real time status of your agent and the capacity and price currently offered in the market if the agent 1s connected You can use this information to optimize your bidding strategy in relation to other bidders in the auction See the Merkato User Reference for Buyers for details about these tools InvisibleHand Networks Inc 27 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Letting Your Agent Bid Without You Uploading You can set your agent to bid continually for you You don t need to monitor it and you don t need to run it on your PC You can upload it to the garage where it remains active and continues to bid on your behalf This ensures that you continually get the bandwidth you need at
20. ice quote based on the quantity and duration you specify Bandwidth may be obtained on both markets simultaneously and combined into a single allocation For a complete description of each method see Merkato Buyer s User Manual Spot Market and Reservation Market Agents InvisibleHand Networks Inc 3 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Buying Reserved Bandwidth The reservation agent allows you to obtain an allocation of bandwidth that begins immediately and ends at a date and time you specify Before you begin this process make sure your PC s system date and time is correct On Microsoft Windows desktops double click on the time display at the end of the task bar to access the time and date controls Otherwise you may see discrepancies between the guoted duration of reservations and the actual duration of the reservation when it is confirmed To buy reserved bandwidth perform the following procedures Log in to the Merkato portal See Logging In on page 1 From the user interface pull down menu in the browser window select Desktop and click select user interface Express Sl e Wizard and abled brome awi wihila the If the Java plug in works correctly you see a series of download messages If you do not have the correct Java plug in see Java on Your Browser on page 35 The Merkato Desktop window appears H merkato peseto Te File Windows Help 4 InvisibleHand Networks Inc
21. inimum bandwidth you want to buy A line through this field means that no entry is necessary In the Max Oty field enter the maximum bandwidth you want to buy A line through this field means that no entry is necessary If the maximum quantity is the all the seller is selling check the Max Qty All check box In the Budget Max Value field enter the appropriate currency per unit time value for the valuation you selected For budget based valuations this 1s the maximum amount of money you are willing to spend on the acceptable range of bandwidth you want to buy For other valuations this value is related to the maximum you are willing to spend but does not directly correspond to it The Merkato User Reference for Buyers Valuation Overview explains how to configure these details for each valuation When you are satisfied with all entries click Apply The Current Valuation display changes to the Valuation View you configured If you want to begin bidding now click the active radio button in the Status area Click Apply to begin bidding A Bid field appears in the display indicating the amount of your current bid Click Refresh to update this display at any time In five to ten minutes click Refresh again The Allocation field appears It displays the bandwidth you have won and its cost in the completed auction Click Refresh to update this display InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato
22. it is not connected to the auction Your agent cannot bid when it disconnected although you can set its configuration When the connect symbol on the icon bar on the far left is un depressed and un colored the agent is disconnected When you connect to the auction until you click the Start icon you may observe the auction but you are not participating in it oh When you want to start bidding click the Start icon B second from left on the icon bar Bidding starts immediately with the current settings To stop bidding click the Stop icon third from left on icon bar Your agent stops bidding and is disconnected To begin viewing the auction again you must connect again InvisibleHand Networks Inc 25 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Viewing Your Allocations The Allocation window provides information about the guantity of bandwidth bought and the price paid for that bandwidth at the close of each successive auction It also monitors the time left in the current auction To view the Allocation window sa Buyer demo buyer1 spot garage File View Selection Waluation Strategy Help __ Bid History E Hews Jauction Table al Allocation Auction Graph __ Allocation History Allocation Mbps month iMhps During an auction the Time Left field counts down the seconds left in the auction When the auction ends and an allocation is made to your agent its quantity and cost appear in th
23. n 5 MB Netscape version 6 1 for Windows appears to support the Merkato Java applications but it is not fully tested for Merkato version 2 1 Likewise the Java 1 3 1 plug in for Macintosh OS X appears to work as well but is not fully tested for Merkato version 2 1 InvisibleHand Networks Inc 35 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Appendix This section contains information you may find useful as you configure your agent Units Conversion Chart If you find it more convenient to think of bandwidth in terms of transfer time for files of various sizes which are expressed on bytes rather than bits the following chart may be helpful GigaBytes month MegaBytes month Megabits sec Kilobits sec Telco Standard a Mbps 250 000 p sr Sa LE EN LN NN SN Lo LAN LOLA MAN rome fom aa po po ae oo ow pw a a o sw po p o MN ow owm p a oo omw pwm p r oo ow om p sa p rsano poom as a TON LL LO LB MN 36 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Valuation Summary Chart Bandwidt h Ouantity Price Agent Actions Linear Flexible Fixed price per unit Proportiona I to quantity received Agent bids at constant unit price regardless of quantity Square Root Fluctuate s with market Fluctuate s with market Decreases with decreasin g quantity Agent increases bandwidt h request as market price drops and decrease request as price increases InvisibleHa
24. nd Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Budget Fluctuate s with market Fluctuate s with market Constant regardles S of quantity received Agent purchases all bandwidt h possible for XX Budget With Limits Uses minimum and maximu m range Fluctuate s with market Constant if quantity received is within range Agent will purchase bandwidt h only up to X amount even if price drops Logarithmi c Fluctuates with market Fluctuates with market Peaks at middle of quantity range Agent bids aggressivel y at the mid point ofa quantity range Use if you want a certain bandwidth amount but will take more at lower cost Parabolic Fluctuates with market Fluctuates with market Peaks at middle of guantity range Agent bids aggressivel y at the mid point ofa quantity range Use if you want a certain bandwidth amount but will take more at lower cost Bids less aggressivel y than the Log valuation at lower amounts of bandwidth 37
25. neously See Note Bidding From the Garage or From the Desktop on page 11 5 Click Download on the Agent Download login box When the agent finishes downloading it appears on the Merkato desktop as shown below Mmerkatopesktop Es File Windows Help m Buyer jprosserffspot garage File View Selection Valuation Strategy Status Help InvisibleHand Networks Inc 17 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Arranging Sub Windows within the Agent Window The agent window consists of smaller sub windows each of which can be displayed or closed as you wish By default windows are stacked vertically in the agent window as shown below gt Buyer demo buyer1 reseryation garage a lol xi File View Selection Valuation Strategy Status Help News x Connected and inactive Resource Reservation Strateg Each time a window is selected for viewing it appears beneath the previously activated window To close a window click the close box tab at the upper right hand corner of the window Xx The window closes and the other windows fill in the spot it occupied 18 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato To freely drag boxes within the agent window de select the Stack L icon or go to the View pull down menu and de select Stack gt Buyer demo buyer1 spot garage a l jol x File View Selection Valuation Strategy Status Help Spo Hs Mews x Allocation X Connected and inactive
26. other settings The Express interface is meant to support advanced users who know what the fields mean and wish to have a quick way to check agent status or make configuration changes See Merkato User Reference for Buyers Express Agent The Express agent is the first screen you see when you log in on the Merkato Portal When you first log in the window looks like the one below Agent Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 Toliki File Edit View Favorites Tools Help Back fat A search Gel Favorites A Media 4 Ey g A Address http 64 156 1 17 8080 portal pagesfagent php 0 de Home What We Do How It Works Rates amp Services News amp Info FAQs Case Studies Partners Merkato Agent demo buyer1 Status C active inactive oo Current Budget Valuation with Limits caer An Da Budget Valuation with Limits Express zl _select F Please note The Wizard and Desktop interfaces Min Qty 4 Mbps reguire a Java enabled browser You may not close Man Qty h Mbps this browser window while the agent is active Budget Max Value h 00 dollar mor T Max Qty All dollar month Mbps Refresh Apply User Views Agent Traffic Account Billing Logout Account Links b Contact Create Recent Allocations b Payment Create Quantity Price Cost Start Ti me End Ti me Resource Buyer Seller A 5 Br Mbps month Mbps 2002 02 04 03 58 57 20
27. ou start be sure you have a username and password for Merkato You will need the URL web address of the Merkato portal Logging In Point your browser to the Merkato portal The opening page looks like the one below F liii Existing Clients Click Here What We Do How It Works Rates amp Services News amp Info FAQs Case Studies Partners A revolutionary new way to buy bandwidth streamingHand Service allows you to purchase bandwidth precisely when you need it inthe exact amounts you need and at a price you are willing to pay We offer a radically new way to distribute content at a lower cost more efficiently Contact Us Site Map Merkato 2 0 Login Username Password Enter your username and password and click Login If you need a username and password contact your Merkato Administrator InvisibleHand Networks Inc 1 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato When you successfully log in the Merkato Agent screen appears Al Home What We Do How It Works Rates amp Services News amp Info FAQs Case Studies Partners Merkato Agent dema buyeri Dana Budget Waluation with Limits Valuation 1 user interface Vao Budget Valuation with Limits Express W Ss re Min E Mbps Plaase mote Tha Witard and Daskiop Indo require a Jawa enabled brommer Too may mot olor i his bitter window ile the ageni is active Views fal Ss jot 2 E E aiast
28. r reservation request Once you click Accept your reservation 1s activated You can create multiple overlapping reservations Merkato combines the ageregate bandwidth into a single large allocation 12 To review or cancel your reservation select Reservation Table from the Status pull down menu The Reservation table appears Buyer buyeri r O File View Selection Valuation Strategy Status Help epe Hs Reservations Table faWantity s000 0 kbps O01 Bidawkbps SI2BI01 5 23 OM601 amp 2 3000 0 Kbps 0 01 Fdawk bps Seed 5 23 TORSO 6 24 PM 7 04 day 185 96 f Cancel Reservation 13 To cancel a reservation select it from the Reservation table and click Cancel Reservation 14 When you have accepted your reservation upload your agent by clicking the up arrow icon a 15 When the confirmation window appears click OK The agent closes but the Merkato desktop window remains Exiting Merkato To exit the Merkato desktop click the close box tab at the upper right hand corner of the window X or select Exit Merkato from the File pull down menu InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato You can leave the portal page in the browser open to monitor your agent status or click Logout in the list on the left side of the window 10 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Buying Bandwidth on the Spot Market On the spot market bandwi
29. rkato Wizard Configurator j Min bandwidth is not limited Max bandwidth is 1 0 Mbps Budget is 200 0 month Apply Settings but Do Not Start Bidding Apply Settings but Do Not Start Bidding Apply Settings and Start Bidding eo EA co To begin obtaining bandwidth in the spot market immediately do the following 1 Select Apply the settings and start bidding from the pull down list 2 Click Apply at the bottom of the screen e If you launched the Wizard from the Merkato Desktop the Desktop agent 1s active and bidding e If you launched the Wizard from the Merkato portal In the confirmation window click Yes to indicate that you want to quit the Wizard and apply the settings Select Express from the pull down interface selection list User interface e Wizard and 1 You may not 14 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato The results of your configuration appear in the Express interface shown below Merkato Agent demo buyert 9 user interface Express z select Please note The Wizard and Deskti Java enabled browser You may nol window while the agent is active a t Create The Status in the Express interface indicates that the Agent is active showing that the Agent is currently bidding InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato 15 Using the Desktop Agent You can use a Desktop agent to bid from your PC You can also u
30. se the desktop to conveniently make setting changes and then upload your configured Desktop agent and bid from a garage See Note Bidding From the Garage or From the Desktop on page 11 For a complete description of fields in the Desktop agent see Merkato User Reference for Buyers Desktop Interface Downloading the Desktop Agent To bid using the Desktop agent do the following 1 From the Merkato portal select Desktop from the user interface menu and click select User Interface Desktop wizard Wizard and abled browse AhramEer Mimra ahile the The Desktop window appears as shown below Mercato pesetan Ia ET File Windows Help 2 From the File pull down menu select Download Agent The Agent Download login box appears E Agent Download x Username ftester one Password peranan Garage spot garage cancel 3 By default the user name and password you used to enter the Merkato portal populates the Agent Download login box Change this if necessary to make sure you download the correct agent 16 InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato 4 Select a garage from the pull down menu Make sure the garage you select is the one that contains the desired Spot market agent You may have a separate garage for your Reservations agent as well as garages for multiple Spot market agents if you are allowed to purchase bandwidth from multiple markets simulta
31. servation Strategy window select the end date and time for your reservation using the pull down fields in the End Time area of the window The reguested start time is always the current time Reseration Strateg As you make changes to the end time and date the Merkato calculates the duration of the reservation and shows it in the Reservation area of the window Note If the guantity Mbps or time units month in the Reservation area do not suit your needs you can change the units Select Units from the Selection pull down menu The Units box lets you use kbps Mbps or Gbps as well as minutes hours days or months Enter the amount of bandwidth you want in the Reservation portion of the box Make sure the Current Strategy radio button at the top of the box is checked making the current strategy active If you are satisfied that the guantity and duration specified click Get Ouote A confirmation box appears InvisibleHand Networks Inc Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Merkato 2 We are pleased to accept your reservation of1U O0 Mbps for resource demo res to start immediately and end at 12 2101 10 26 fora total cost of 1770 61 YOU may terminate your reservation at any time for a cancellation fee of 10 ofthe remaining amount you would have paid under this agreement Refuse 11 If the price and cancellation fee are acceptable click Accept Otherwise click Refuse and revise you
32. spot market agent It provides detailed help on each page You can activate the Help display by clicking the check box at the bottom of the screen between the Next and Apply buttons MS Merkato Wizard Configurator a 1 How do I select a resource Help Each resource in the pull down list represents a network access point NAP shared among users like yourself Through a bidding process each user is allocated 4 portion of the capacity of the shared network E point Each user s allocation determines the maximum amount of data they may transfer per unit time through this NAF The Merkato agent ke Sok bo a E 5 FLTT Er S0 Jaber del rE ee ee ee ee When you reach the final screen of the Wizard you have e Specified the bandwidth resource which you would like to obtain e Selected units for display of currency bandwidth quantity and time InvisibleHand Networks Inc 13 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato e Seta minimum amount of bandwidth that you would like to obtain e Seta maximum amount of bandwidth that you would like to obtain e Set a budget that you do not want to exceed when bidding for bandwidth between your minimum and maximum thresholds The final Wizard screen lets you confirm your choices and apply them to your agent It gives you the option to begin bidding after it applies configuration changes are applied to your agent MS Me
33. teracting with the agent you can configure it and upload it to the garage It will continue to run and you avoid the chance of ceasing to bid if your PC crashes or you have network connectivity problems InvisibleHand Networks Inc 11 Buyer s Guide to Using Merkato Choosing an Interface You can chose from among three interfaces to get information and handle transactions The User Interface menu lets you make the choice User interface e Wizard and mabled brors roA e ahile h The Desktop interface allows you to purchase bandwidth through a series of user selectable windows Your agent is brought to your PC and bids on your behalf from there The Express interface lets you get status information from and send configuration information to an agent in the garage The Express interface is at the top of the Portal page when you log in The Express interface is considered advanced because the fields are less interactive less annotated and less graphical than the Java based Merkato Desktop interface Note that the Express interface does not support creation or cancellation of reservations The Wizard interface walks you through the steps for setting up your Merkato agent to obtain bandwidth through the spot market The settings are automatically transferred to your agent Changes made through the Wizard are applied to both the Desktop and Express agents You can later change the settings from the agent interfaces or return
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