A Hierarchy of Network Measurement Tool Properties
This table contains mapping of some common network measurement tools
to the network characteristics described in the GGF NMWG document. This table is focused on active monitoring tools,
however there are a number of passive tools that can also be used to measure some of the NMWG defined characteristics.
Definitions:
- bandwidth capacity: the theoretical maximum link-layer
bandwidth of a network element or end-to-end path.
- bandwidth utilization: the aggregate of all traffic currently
being consumed on a hop or path.
- available bandwidth: the capacity minus utilization over a
given time interval.
- achievable bandwidth: the throughput between two end points given a
specific set of conditions, such as transmission protocol (e.g.: TCP or UDP), host
hardware (e.g.: processor speed, bus speed, NIC speed), operating system, system settings
(e.g.: TCP buffer size, txqueuelen setting), and so on.
- delay: one way delay (OWD) is the time it takes for a packet to
travel from source to destination. Round Trip Time (RTT) is the time to travel from the
source to the destination and back.
- loss: fraction of packets lost between network element A and B. Loss can also be
one way or round trip
For more detail on these definitions, see the document: NMWG
document: A Hierarchy of
Network Measurements for Grid Applications and Services
Other, more complete lists of network performance tools can be found at:
Internet 2 Tools List
(Internet 2 is taking over maintance of this table, so please send updates to them)
CAIDA Tool Taxonomy
We are working with these groups to map the NMWG defined characteristics and names to these lists of tools.
Sample Measurement Tools:
| Tool name |
Characteristics Measured |
Measurement Methodology |
Path or hop |
| bing |
bandwidth capacity
loss
delay (round trip) |
variable packet size |
path |
| bprobe |
bandwidth capacity |
packet pair |
path |
| cprobe |
bandwidth utilization |
packet pair |
path |
| clink |
bandwidth capacity
delay (round trip) |
variable packet size |
hop |
| Iperf |
achievable bandwidth |
path flooding |
path |
| netest |
available bandwidth
achievable bandwidth
loss
delay (round trip) |
packet train and path flooding |
path |
| Netperf |
achievable bandwidth |
path flooding |
path |
| Nettimer |
bandwidth capacity |
packet pair with tailgating |
path |
| owping |
one-way delay
loss
reordering |
active, GPS-based |
path |
| pathchar |
bandwidth capacity
loss
delay (round trip) |
variable packet size |
hop |
| pathload |
available bandwidth |
SLOPS |
path |
| pathrate |
bandwidth capacity |
packet train |
path |
| pchar |
bandwidth capacity
loss
delay (round trip) |
variable packet size |
hop |
| pipechar |
available bandwidth
loss
delay (round trip) |
packet train |
hop |
| ping |
delay (round trip)
loss |
ICMP echo |
path |
| sprobe |
bandwidth capacity |
packet pair |
path |
| traceroute |
topology
delay (round trip?) |
varied TTL |
hop |
| TReno |
available bandwidth |
TCP simulation |
path |
| ttcp |
achievable bandwidth |
path flooding |
path |
Notes:
path = end to end path
hop = tool that provides hop by hop information
Measurement methodology is from Master's Thesis by Rody Schoonderwoerd
Here are the recommended DAMED event
names for these measurements:
- bandwidth.achievable.TCP.singleStream
- bandwidth.achievable.TCP.multiStream
- bandwidth.achievable.UDP.singleStream
- bandwidth.available
- delay.roundTrip
- delay.oneWay
- loss.oneWay
- reordering.oneWay
- hop.bandwidth.capacity
- hop.bandwidth.utilized
Note: "path" is implied if "hop" is
not specified in these event names.
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