Network Characterization Service (NCS)

Distributed applications require information to effectively utilize the network. Some of the information they require is the current and maximum bandwidth, current and minimum latency, bottlenecks, burst frequency and congestion extent. This type of information allows applications to determine parameters like the optimal TCP buffer size. In this paper, we present a cooperative information-gathering tool called the Network Characterization Service (NCS). NCS runs in the user space and is used to acquire network information. Its protocol is designed for scalable and distributed deployment, similar to DNS. Its algorithms provide efficient, speedy and accurate detection of bottlenecks, especially dynamic bottlenecks. On current and future networks, dynamic bottlenecks do and will affect network performance dramatically.

[1]  Srinivasan Keshav,et al.  A control-theoretic approach to flow control , 1991, SIGCOMM '91.

[2]  Mary Baker,et al.  Nettimer: A Tool for Measuring Bottleneck Link Bandwidth , 2001, USITS.

[3]  Mark Crovella,et al.  Measuring Bottleneck Link Speed in Packet-Switched Networks , 1996, Perform. Evaluation.

[4]  Vern Paxson,et al.  Measurements and analysis of end-to-end Internet dynamics , 1997 .

[5]  Allen B. Downey.  Using pathchar to estimate Internet link characteristics , 1999, SIGCOMM '99.

[6]  Matthew Mathis,et al.  Automatic TCP buffer tuning , 1998, SIGCOMM '98.

[7]  V. Jacobson,et al.  Congestion avoidance and control , 1988, CCRV.

[8]  Kang G. Shin,et al.  Stochastic fair blue: a queue management algorithm for enforcing fairness , 2001, Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM 2001. Conference on Computer Communications. Twentieth Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Society (Cat. No.01CH37213).

[9]  Zheng Wang,et al.  An Architecture for Differentiated Services , 1998, RFC.

[10]  QUTdN QeO,et al.  Random early detection gateways for congestion avoidance , 1993, TNET.

[11]  Mary Baker,et al.  Measuring bandwidth , 1999, IEEE INFOCOM '99. Conference on Computer Communications. Proceedings. Eighteenth Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies. The Future is Now (Cat. No.99CH36320).

[12]  Geoff Huston,et al.  Next Steps for the IP QoS Architecture , 2000, RFC.

[13]  Kenjiro Cho,et al.  A Framework for Alternate Queueing: Towards Traffic Management by PC-UNIX Based Routers , 1998, USENIX ATC.

[14]  Brian Tierney,et al.  TCP Tuning Guide for Distributed Application on Wide Area Networks , 2001, login Usenix Mag..

[15]  Uyless D. Black.  Network Management Standards: SNMP, CMIP, TMN, MIBs and Object Libraries , 1992 .

[16]  Mark A. Miller.  Managing Internetworks With Snmp: The Definitive Guide to the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP AND SNMP VERSION 2) , 1993 .

[17]  Srinivasan Keshav.  A control-theoretic approach to flow control , 1991, SIGCOMM 1991.

[18]  Mark A. Miller.  Managing Internetworks with SNMP , 1997 .

[19]  David L. Black,et al.  Definition of the Differentiated Services Field (DS Field) in the IPv4 and IPv6 Headers , 1998, RFC.

[20]  David L. Black,et al.  An Architecture for Differentiated Service , 1998 .

[21]  Parameswaran Ramanathan,et al.  What do packet dispersion techniques measure? , 2001, Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM 2001. Conference on Computer Communications. Twentieth Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Society (Cat. No.01CH37213).