Setting Up a High-Speed TCP Benchmarking Environment - Lessons Learned

Abstract

There are many high-speed TCP variants with different congestion control algorithms, which are designed for specific settings or use cases. Distinct features of these algorithms are meant to optimize different aspects of network performance, and the choice of TCP variant strongly influences application performance. However, setting up tests to help with the decision of which variant to use can be problematic, as many systems are not designed to deal with high bandwidths, such as 10 Gbps or more. This paper provides an overview of pitfalls and challenges of realistic network analysis to help in the decision making process.