article

Critical path analysis of TCP transactions

Authors:

Mark CrovellaAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review, Volume 31, Issue 2 supplement

Pages 80 - 102

https://doi.org/10.1145/844193.844200

Published: 01 April 2001 Publication History

Abstract

Improving the performance of data transfers in the Internet (such as Web transfers) requires a detailed understanding of when and how delays are introduced. Unfortunately, the complexity of data transfers like those using HTTP is great enough that identifying the precise causes of delays is difficult. In this paper we describe a method for pinpointing where delays are introduced into applications like HTTP by using critical path analysis. By constructing and profiling the critical path, it is possible to determine what fraction of total transfer latency is due to packet propagation, network variation (e.g., queuing at touters or route fluctuation), packet losses, and delays at the server and at the client. We have implemented our technique in a tool called tcpeval that automates critical path analysis for Web transactions. We show that our analysis method is robust enough to analyze traces taken for two different TCP implementations (Linux and FreeBSD). To demonstrate the utility of our approach, we present the results of critical path analysis for a set of Web transactions taken over 14 days under a variety of server and network conditions. The results show that critical path analysis can shed considerable light on the causes of delays in Web transfers, and can expose subtleties in the behavior of the entire end-to-end system.

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Cited By

Denys PFournier QDagenais M(2023)Distributed computation of the critical path from execution tracesSoftware: Practice and Experience10.1002/spe.321053:8(1722-1737)Online publication date: 3-May-2023
https://doi.org/10.1002/spe.3210
Giannakou ADwivedi DPeisert S(2019)A machine learning approach for packet loss prediction in science flowsFuture Generation Computer Systems10.1016/j.future.2019.07.053Online publication date: Aug-2019
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2019.07.053
Bohme DWolf Fde Supinski BSchulz MGeimer M(2012)Scalable Critical-Path Based Performance AnalysisProceedings of the 2012 IEEE 26th International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium10.1109/IPDPS.2012.120(1330-1340)Online publication date: 21-May-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/IPDPS.2012.120
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Critical path analysis of TCP transactions

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Improving the performance of data transfers in the Internet (such as Web transfers) requires a detailed understanding of when and how delays are introduced. Unfortunately, the complexity of data transfers like those using HTTP is great enough that ...

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Published In

cover image ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review

ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review Volume 31, Issue 2 supplement

Workshop on data communication in Latin America and the Caribbean

April 2001

248 pages

ISSN:0146-4833

DOI:10.1145/844193

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 2001 Authors.

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 April 2001

Published in SIGCOMM-CCR Volume 31, Issue 2 supplement

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Cited By

Denys PFournier QDagenais M(2023)Distributed computation of the critical path from execution tracesSoftware: Practice and Experience10.1002/spe.321053:8(1722-1737)Online publication date: 3-May-2023
https://doi.org/10.1002/spe.3210
Giannakou ADwivedi DPeisert S(2019)A machine learning approach for packet loss prediction in science flowsFuture Generation Computer Systems10.1016/j.future.2019.07.053Online publication date: Aug-2019
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2019.07.053
Bohme DWolf Fde Supinski BSchulz MGeimer M(2012)Scalable Critical-Path Based Performance AnalysisProceedings of the 2012 IEEE 26th International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium10.1109/IPDPS.2012.120(1330-1340)Online publication date: 21-May-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/IPDPS.2012.120
Zhang RJohn DKerr S(2007)Statistical performance critical path analysis for service-oriented systemsProceedings of the 45th annual ACM Southeast Conference10.1145/1233341.1233447(527-528)Online publication date: 23-Mar-2007
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1233341.1233447
Zhang R(2007)Identifying Performance-Critical Components in Transaction-Oriented Distributed SystemsProceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Autonomic Computing10.1109/ICAC.2007.24Online publication date: 11-Jun-2007
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/ICAC.2007.24
Schulz M(2005)Extracting Critical Path Graphs from MPI Applications2005 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing10.1109/CLUSTR.2005.347035(1-10)Online publication date: Sep-2005
https://doi.org/10.1109/CLUSTR.2005.347035

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