FACT: Flow-Based Approach for Connectivity Tracking

More than 20 years after the launch of the public Internet, operator forums are still full of reports about temporary unreachability of complete networks. We propose FACT, a system that helps network operators to track connectivity problems with remote autonomous systems, networks, and hosts. In contrast to existing solutions, our approach relies solely on flow-level information about observed traffic, is capable of online data processing, and is highly efficient in alerting only about those events that actually affect the studied network or its users. We evaluate FACT based on flow-level traces from a medium-sized ISP. Studying a time period of one week in September 2010, we explain the key principles behind our approach. Ultimately, these can be leveraged to detect connectivity problems and to summarize suspicious events for manual inspection by the network operator. In addition, when replaying archived traces from the past, FACT reliably recognizes reported connectivity problems ...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: PAM
• Authors: Dominik Schatzmann, Simon Leinen, Jochen Kögel, Wolfgang Mühlbauer
• Keywords: Complete Networks, Computer Networks, Connectivity Problems, Internet Operator, PAM 2011