article

Router buffer sizing for TCP traffic and the role of the output/input capacity ratio

Authors:

Ravi S. Prasad,

Constantine Dovrolis,

Marina ThottanAuthors Info & Claims

IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking (TON), Volume 17, Issue 5

Pages 1645 - 1658

https://doi.org/10.1109/TNET.2009.2014686

Published: 01 October 2009 Publication History

Abstract

The issue of router buffer sizing is still open and significant. Previous work either considers open-loop traffic or only analyzes persistent TCP flows. This paper differs in two ways. First, it considers the more realistic case of nonpersistent TCP flows with heavy-tailed size distribution. Second, instead of only looking at link metrics, it focuses on the impact of buffer sizing on TCP performance. Specifically, our goal is to find the buffer size that maximizes the average per-flow TCP throughput. Through a combination of testbed experiments, simulation, and analysis, we reach the following conclusions. The output/input capacity ratio at a network link largely determines the required buffer size. If that ratio is larger than 1, the loss rate drops exponentially with the buffer size and the optimal buffer size is close to 0. Otherwise, if the output/input capacity ratio is lower than 1, the loss rate follows a power-law reduction with the buffer size and significant buffering is needed, especially with TCP flows that are in congestion avoidance. Smaller transfers, which are mostly in slow-start, require significantly smaller buffers. We conclude by revisiting the ongoing debate on "small versus large" buffers from a new perspective.

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Cited By

Ye JHuang BChen X(2021)An Improved Algorithm to Enhance the Performance of FAST TCP Congestion Control for Personalized Healthcare SystemsWireless Communications & Mobile Computing10.1155/2021/99478832021Online publication date: 1-Jan-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1155/2021/9947883
Grazia CPatriciello NKlapez MCasoni M(2019)Transmission Control Protocol and Active Queue Management together against congestionSimulation10.1177/003754971881462695:10(979-993)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1177/0037549718814626
Datta A(2017)Construction of Polynomial-Size Optical Priority Queues Using Linear Switches and Fiber Delay LinesIEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking10.1109/TNET.2016.261454925:2(974-987)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/TNET.2016.2614549
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Index Terms

Router buffer sizing for TCP traffic and the role of the output/input capacity ratio
1. General and reference
  1. Cross-computing tools and techniques
    1. Performance
2. Networks
  1. Network protocols
    1. Network layer protocols
      1. Routing protocols

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cover image IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking

IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking Volume 17, Issue 5

October 2009

339 pages

ISSN:1063-6692

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Publisher

IEEE Press

Publication History

Published: 01 October 2009

Revised: 07 October 2008

Received: 24 December 2007

Published in TON Volume 17, Issue 5

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Cited By

Ye JHuang BChen X(2021)An Improved Algorithm to Enhance the Performance of FAST TCP Congestion Control for Personalized Healthcare SystemsWireless Communications & Mobile Computing10.1155/2021/99478832021Online publication date: 1-Jan-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1155/2021/9947883
Grazia CPatriciello NKlapez MCasoni M(2019)Transmission Control Protocol and Active Queue Management together against congestionSimulation10.1177/003754971881462695:10(979-993)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1177/0037549718814626
Datta A(2017)Construction of Polynomial-Size Optical Priority Queues Using Linear Switches and Fiber Delay LinesIEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking10.1109/TNET.2016.261454925:2(974-987)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/TNET.2016.2614549
Szymanski T(2016)An ultra-low-latency guaranteed-rate internet for cloud servicesIEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking10.1109/TNET.2014.235849724:1(123-136)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2016
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Abbas GHalim ZAbbas Z(2016)Fairness-Driven Queue Management: A Survey and TaxonomyIEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials10.1109/COMST.2015.246312118:1(324-367)Online publication date: 27-Jan-2016
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Hohlfeld OPujol ECiucu FFeldmann ABarford PWilliamson CAkella ATaft N(2014)A QoE Perspective on Sizing Network BuffersProceedings of the 2014 Conference on Internet Measurement Conference10.1145/2663716.2663730(333-346)Online publication date: 5-Nov-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2663716.2663730
Mansy AVer Steeg BAmmar MGriwodz C(2013)SABREProceedings of the 4th ACM Multimedia Systems Conference10.1145/2483977.2484004(214-225)Online publication date: 28-Feb-2013
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Stoffers MRiley G(2012)Hybrid Simulation of Packet-Level Networks and Functional-Level RoutersProceedings of the 2012 ACM/IEEE/SCS 26th Workshop on Principles of Advanced and Distributed Simulation10.1109/PADS.2012.22(111-119)Online publication date: 15-Jul-2012
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Szymanski TLin BSinha PXu J(2011)Future internet video multicasting with essentially perfect resource utilization and QoS guaranteesProceedings of the Nineteenth International Workshop on Quality of Service10.5555/1996039.1996068(1-3)Online publication date: 6-Jun-2011
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Li TLeith DMalone D(2011)Buffer sizing for 802.11-based networksIEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking10.1109/TNET.2010.208999219:1(156-169)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2011
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