: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : xii 1 Introduction : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 1 1. The problem : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 1 2. Overview of thesis : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 2 3. Contribution of our work : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 3 2 Taxonomy of traffic characteristics : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 5 1. Aggregation granularity : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 5 2. Host versus network centric perspective : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 7 3. Host centric perspective : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 7 1. Delay and jitter : : : : : ...

We present the architecture for data collection for the NSFNET backbone and difficulties with using the collected statistics for long-term network forecasting of certain traffic aspects. We describe relevant aspects of the NSFNET backbone architecture and the instrumentation for statistics collection. We then present long-term NSFNET data to elucidate long-term trends in both the reachability of Internet components via the NSFNET as well as the growing cross-section of traffic. We focus on the difficulties of forecasting and planning in an infrastructure whose protocol architecture and instrumentation for data collection was not designed to support such objectives. I. Introduction While initially conceived as a demonstration project of a then new networking technology for the United States federal government, today's Internet aggregates traffic from a far wider set of constituencies. As the number of client networks of the Internet heads into the tens of thousands, the image of a ubiq...

We present the architecture for data collection for the T3 NSFNET backbone service, and difficulties with using the collected statistics for long-term network forecasting of certain traffic aspects. We describe relevant aspects of the T3 backbone architecture, describe the instrumentation for the statistics collection process, and how it differs from that on the T1 backbone. We then present longterm NSFNET data to elucidate long term trends in both the reachability of Internet components via the NSFNET as well as the growing cross-section of traffic. We focus on the difficulties of forecasting and planning for these two traffic aspects in an infrastructure whose protocol architecture and instrumentation for data collection was not designed to support such objectives. I. Introduction NSFNET, the National Science Foundation Network, is a general purpose packet-switching network supporting access to scientific computing resources, data, and interpersonal electronic communications. 2 Cl...

CIDR and its deployment changes the customer provider relationship, forcing closer association and more responsibility and accountability than has previously been thought. Some tools and techniques are summarized which should help people understand and deploy CIDR in a timely fashion. I. What is CIDR "CIDR is basically a hack which attempts to provide, with minimal impact on Internet hosts, better scaling of routing... If you read CIDR carefully, you will see that for it to work really well, fairly (tight) constraints must be placed on the topology of the Internet (i.e. most sites are singlyhomed and provider mobility is relatively rare)." --Vince Fuller II. A brief History In late 1991, the IAB met to discuss the state of the Internet. The net was showing all the signs of continued, explosive growth. The IAB selected a small group of people to examine issues and report on plans to deal with this growth. This group was constituted as the ROAD group... a team to look ahead and develop a...

This document describes plans for support of route aggregation, as specified in the descriptions of Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) [1] and the BGP-4 protocol [2], by the NSFNET Backbone Network Service. Mechanisms for exchange of route aggregates between the backbone service and regional/midlevel networks are specified.

This memo summarizes issues surrounding the routing and addressing scaling problems in the IP architecture, and it provides a brief background of the ROAD group and related activities in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).