Characteristics analysis at prefix granularity: A case study in an IPv6 network

As IPv6 has much larger address space than IPv4, investigating the characteristics of IPv6 prefixes is of great benefit to understand and manage IPv6 networks. In this paper, (1) we conduct a case study on prefix-level characteristics in IPv6 world. We find that the number of assigned prefixes and the coverage areas are increasing and expanding. Traffic and packet distribution across prefixes are highly skewed. The sizes of active prefixes are relatively stable over time. These results provide experimental basis for routing cache design in IPv6 world. If we update the routing cache once an hour, we only need to reserve 5184 bytes memory for the worst-case burst changes. (2) In addition, we find that 61% destination prefixes have more than two paths to reach, which shows that multihoming path diversity of the studied IPv6 network is obvious. Therefore, we propose an experimental framework with the ability of measuring the performance of each destination prefix, tuning the path for each destination prefix with the best performance, and evaluating the effect during and after the performance tuning. IPv6 has been experiencing fast development as the next generation network. Hence understanding prefix-level characteristics and enhancing performance management are essential for IPv6 networks.

[1]  Andra Lutu,et al.  Understanding the Reachability of IPv6 Limited Visibility Prefixes , 2014, PAM.

[2]  Kimberly C. Claffy,et al.  Measuring the deployment of IPv6: topology, routing and performance , 2012, IMC '12.

[3]  Olivier Bonaventure,et al.  Leveraging network performance with IPv6 multihoming and multiple provider-dependent aggregatable prefixes , 2005, Comput. Networks.

[4]  Michael Bailey,et al.  Understanding IPv6 internet background radiation , 2013, Internet Measurement Conference.

[5]  Chen Tian,et al.  Optimizing cost and performance for content multihoming , 2012, SIGCOMM '12.

[6]  Abhijit Bose,et al.  Delayed internet routing convergence , 2000, SIGCOMM.

[7]  Robert Beverly,et al.  Speedtrap: internet-scale IPv6 alias resolution , 2013, Internet Measurement Conference.

[8]  Yin Zhang,et al.  Optimizing cost and performance for multihoming , 2004, SIGCOMM 2004.

[9]  David Malone,et al.  Observations of IPv6 Addresses , 2008, PAM.

[10]  Robert Beverly,et al.  Internet nameserver IPv4 and IPv6 address relationships , 2013, Internet Measurement Conference.

[11]  Lorenzo Colitti,et al.  Evaluating IPv6 Adoption in the Internet , 2010, PAM.

[12]  Mehrdad Nourani,et al.  Efficient prefix cache for network processors , 2004, Proceedings. 12th Annual IEEE Symposium on High Performance Interconnects.

[13]  Jun Zhang,et al.  Content multi-homing: An alternative approach , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC).

[14]  Aditya Akella,et al.  Demystifying configuration challenges and trade-offs in network-based ISP services , 2011, SIGCOMM 2011.

[15]  Jianping Wu,et al.  Configuration analysis and recommendation: Case studies in IPv6 networks , 2014, Comput. Commun..

[16]  Anees Shaikh,et al.  A measurement-based analysis of multihoming , 2003, SIGCOMM '03.

[17]  Dan Pei,et al.  Quantifying the Extent of IPv6 Deployment , 2009, PAM.

[18]  Huan Liu.  Reducing cache miss ratio for routing prefix cache , 2002, Global Telecommunications Conference, 2002. GLOBECOM '02. IEEE.

[19]  Dave Levin,et al.  UAv6: Alias Resolution in IPv6 Using Unused Addresses , 2015, PAM.

[20]  Jing Zhang,et al.  Measuring IPv6 adoption , 2015, SIGCOMM 2015.

[21]  David A. Maltz,et al.  Unraveling the Complexity of Network Management , 2009, NSDI.

[22]  Jianping Wu,et al.  CNGI-CERNET2: an IPv6 deployment in China , 2011, CCRV.

[23]  Lixin Gao,et al.  A measurement study on the impact of routing events on end-to-end internet path performance , 2006, SIGCOMM 2006.

[24]  Vasileios Giotsas,et al.  AS relationships, customer cones, and validation , 2013, Internet Measurement Conference.

[25]  R. Wilder,et al.  Wide-area Internet traffic patterns and characteristics , 1997, IEEE Netw..

[26]  Robert Beverly,et al.  Server Siblings: Identifying Shared IPv4/IPv6 Infrastructure Via Active Fingerprinting , 2015, PAM.

[27]  José G. Delgado-Frias,et al.  IP Routing table compaction and sampling schemes to enhance TCAM cache performance , 2009, J. Syst. Archit..

[28]  Robert Beverly,et al.  IPv6 Alias Resolution via Induced Fragmentation , 2013, PAM.

[29]  Anees Shaikh,et al.  A comparison of overlay routing and multihoming route control , 2004, SIGCOMM 2004.

[30]  Luigi Iannone,et al.  On the cost of caching locator/ID mappings , 2007, CoNEXT '07.

[31]  David Waitzman,et al.  A 50-Gb/s IP router , 1998, TNET.

[32]  Marina Thottan,et al.  An Online Mechanism for BGP Instability Detection and Analysis , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Computers.

[33]  Albert G. Greenberg,et al.  Optimizing Cost and Performance in Online Service Provider Networks , 2010, NSDI.

[34]  Steve Uhlig,et al.  Investigating IPv6 Traffic - What Happened at the World IPv6 Day? , 2012, PAM.

[35]  Vasileios Giotsas,et al.  IPv6 AS Relationships, Cliques, and Congruence , 2015, PAM.

[36]  Syed Obaid Amin,et al.  Efficient FIB caching using minimal non-overlapping prefixes , 2013, CCRV.

[37]  Huan Liu,et al.  Routing prefix caching in network processor design , 2001, Proceedings Tenth International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks (Cat. No.01EX495).

[38]  Jennifer Rexford,et al.  Revisiting Route Caching: The World Should Be Flat , 2009, PAM.

[39]  Roch Guérin,et al.  Assessing IPv6 through web access a measurement study and its findings , 2011, CoNEXT '11.

[40]  Lei Gao,et al.  What's going on in Chinese IPv6 world , 2012, 2012 IEEE Network Operations and Management Symposium.

[41]  Mehrdad Nourani,et al.  A TCAM-Based Parallel Architecture for High-Speed Packet Forwarding , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Computers.

[42]  Michael Rabinovich,et al.  Performance Implications of Unilateral Enabling of IPv6 , 2013, PAM.

[43]  Yin Zhang,et al.  BGP routing stability of popular destinations , 2002, IMW '02.

[44]  Robert Beverly,et al.  Measuring and Characterizing IPv6 Router Availability , 2015, PAM.

[45]  Jianping Wu,et al.  A study of traffic from the perspective of a large pure IPv6 ISP , 2014, Comput. Commun..

[46]  David Plonka,et al.  Temporal and Spatial Classification of Active IPv6 Addresses , 2015, Internet Measurement Conference.

[47]  Gang Liu,et al.  Greedy Prefix Cache for IP Routing Lookups , 2009, 2009 10th International Symposium on Pervasive Systems, Algorithms, and Networks.

[48]  Jianping Wu,et al.  Unravel the characteristics and development of current IPv6 network , 2012, 37th Annual IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks.