Network performance in a workstation environment

Abstract

Presents a measurement study of a 10-Mb/s Ethernet network that supports about 100 hosts. Over 15-min intervals the authors observed up to 50% network utilization the bulk of which was due to remote paging and process swapping. The sizes of packets roughly follow a bimodal distribution. It is concluded that faster local networks will soon be necessary for moderate-size systems. The measurement data presented should be useful in the design and management of distributed systems.<>