Procedures and tools for analysis of network traffic measurements

We present procedures and tools for the analysis of network traffic measurements. The tools consist of stand-alone1The stand-alone software modules can be downloaded from http://www.ics.forth.gr/netgroup/msa; the web interface is available at http://trace.ucnet.uoc.gr les that implement advanced statistical analysis procedures and a flexible web-based interface through which a user can create, modify, save, and execute experiments using the statistical analysis modules. The tools do not assume a specific source traffic model, but rather process actual measurements of network traffic. Indeed, the theory that the tools are based on can identify the time-scales that affect a link’s performance, hence suggest the appropriate time granularity of traffic measurements. We present and discuss case studies that demonstrate the application of the tools for answering questions related to network management and dimensioning, such as the maximum link utilization when some quality of service is guaranteed, how this utilization is affected by the link buffer and traffic shaping, the acceptance region and the effects of the scheduling discipline, and the token (or leaky) bucket parameters of a traffic stream. The case studies involve actual traffic measurements obtained by a high performance measurement platform that we have deployed at the University of Crete network.