research-article

Revealing MPLS tunnels obscured from traceroute

Authors:

Matthew Luckie,

Pascal Mérindol,

Jean-Jacques PansiotAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review, Volume 42, Issue 2

Pages 87 - 93

https://doi.org/10.1145/2185376.2185388

Published: 29 March 2012 Publication History

Abstract

Operators have deployed Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) in the Internet for over a decade. However, its impact on Internet topology measurements is not well known, and it is possible for some MPLS configurations to lead to false router-level links in maps derived from traceroute data. In this paper, we introduce a measurement-based classification of MPLS tunnels, identifying tunnels where IP hops are revealed but not explicitly tagged as label switching routers, as well as tunnels that obscure the underlying path. Using a large-scale dataset we collected, we show that paths frequently cross MPLS tunnels in today's Internet: in our data, at least 30% of the paths we tested traverse an MPLS tunnel. We also propose and evaluate several methods to reveal MPLS tunnels that are not explicitly flagged as such: we discover that their fraction is significant (up to half the explicit tunnel quantity) but most of them do not obscure IP-level topology discovery.

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Cited By

Letemple MGain GMariem SMathy LDonnet B(2024)$v\text{TNT}$: Unikernels for Efficient and Flexible Internet Probing2024 8th Network Traffic Measurement and Analysis Conference (TMA)10.23919/TMA62044.2024.10559079(1-4)Online publication date: 21-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.23919/TMA62044.2024.10559079
Salamatian LVermeulen KCunha IGiotsas VKatz-Bassett EVallina-Rodríguez NSuarez-Tángil GLevin DPelsser C(2024)metAScritic: Reframing AS-Level Topology Discovery as a Recommendation SystemProceedings of the 2024 ACM on Internet Measurement Conference10.1145/3646547.3688429(337-364)Online publication date: 4-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3646547.3688429
Carisimo EWang CWeaver MBustamante FBarford P(2023)A Hop Away from Everywhere: A View of the Intercontinental Long-haul InfrastructureProceedings of the ACM on Measurement and Analysis of Computing Systems10.1145/36267787:3(1-26)Online publication date: 7-Dec-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626778
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Index Terms

Revealing MPLS tunnels obscured from traceroute
1. Networks
  1. Network properties
    1. Network structure

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Published In

cover image ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review

ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review Volume 42, Issue 2

April 2012

108 pages

ISSN:0146-4833

DOI:10.1145/2185376

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Copyright © 2012 Authors.

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 29 March 2012

Published in SIGCOMM-CCR Volume 42, Issue 2

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Cited By

Letemple MGain GMariem SMathy LDonnet B(2024)$v\text{TNT}$: Unikernels for Efficient and Flexible Internet Probing2024 8th Network Traffic Measurement and Analysis Conference (TMA)10.23919/TMA62044.2024.10559079(1-4)Online publication date: 21-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.23919/TMA62044.2024.10559079
Salamatian LVermeulen KCunha IGiotsas VKatz-Bassett EVallina-Rodríguez NSuarez-Tángil GLevin DPelsser C(2024)metAScritic: Reframing AS-Level Topology Discovery as a Recommendation SystemProceedings of the 2024 ACM on Internet Measurement Conference10.1145/3646547.3688429(337-364)Online publication date: 4-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3646547.3688429
Carisimo EWang CWeaver MBustamante FBarford P(2023)A Hop Away from Everywhere: A View of the Intercontinental Long-haul InfrastructureProceedings of the ACM on Measurement and Analysis of Computing Systems10.1145/36267787:3(1-26)Online publication date: 7-Dec-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626778
Ramanathan AAbdu Jyothi S(2023)Nautilus: A Framework for Cross-Layer Cartography of Submarine Cables and IP LinksProceedings of the ACM on Measurement and Analysis of Computing Systems10.1145/36267777:3(1-34)Online publication date: 7-Dec-2023
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Piraux MNavarre LRybowski NBonaventure ODonnet BBarakat CPelsser CBenson TChoffnes D(2022)Revealing the evolution of a cloud provider through its network weather mapProceedings of the 22nd ACM Internet Measurement Conference10.1145/3517745.3561462(298-304)Online publication date: 25-Oct-2022
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Marder AClaffy KSnoeren A(2021)Inferring Cloud Interconnections: Validation, Geolocation, and Routing BehaviorPassive and Active Measurement10.1007/978-3-030-72582-2_14(230-246)Online publication date: 29-Mar-2021
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Yuan FLiu FLiu CLuo X(2020)City-Level Homogeneous Blocks Identification for IP GeolocationIntelligent Automation & Soft Computing10.32604/iasc.2020.01190226:4(1403-1417)Online publication date: 2020
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Pi YJamin SDanzig PQian F(2020)Latency Imbalance Among Internet Load-Balanced PathsProceedings of the ACM on Measurement and Analysis of Computing Systems10.1145/33921504:2(1-29)Online publication date: 12-Jun-2020
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Luttringer JVanaubel YMérindol PPansiot JDonnet B(2020)Let There Be Light: Revealing Hidden MPLS Tunnels With TNTIEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management10.1109/TNSM.2019.296227817:2(1239-1253)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2020
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