A web server's view of the transport layer

This paper presents observations of traffic to and from a particular World-Wide Web server over the course a year and a half. This paper presents a longitudinal look at various network path properties, as well as the implementation status of various protocol options and mechanisms. In particular, this paper considers how WorldWide Web clients utilize TCP connections to transfer web data; the deployment of various TCP and HTTP options; the range of round-trip times observed in the network; packet sizes used for WWW transfers; the implications of the measured advertised window sizes; and the impact of using larger initial congestion window sizes. These properties/mechanisms and their implications are explored. An additional goal of this paper is to provide information to help researchers better simulate and emulate realistic networks.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2000
• Where: CCR
• Authors: Mark Allman
• Keywords: CCR 2000, Paper, Particular World-wide Web, Various Protocol Options