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Title: Optimizing the ASC WAN: evaluating network performance tools for comparing transport protocols.

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/912922· OSTI ID:912922

The Advanced Simulation & Computing Wide Area Network (ASC WAN), which is a high delay-bandwidth network connection between US Department of Energy National Laboratories, is constantly being examined and evaluated for efficiency. One of the current transport-layer protocols which is used, TCP, was developed for traffic demands which are different from that on the ASC WAN. The Stream Control Transport Protocol (SCTP), on the other hand, has shown characteristics which make it more appealing to networks such as these. Most important, before considering a replacement for TCP on any network, a testing tool that performs well against certain criteria needs to be found. In order to try to find such a tool, two popular networking tools (Netperf v.2.4.3 & v.2.4.6 (OpenSS7 STREAMS), and Iperf v.2.0.6) were tested. These tools implement both TCP and SCTP and were evaluated using four metrics: (1) How effectively can the tool reach a throughput near the bandwidth? (2) How much of the CPU does the tool utilize during operation? (3) Is the tool freely and widely available? And, (4) Is the tool actively developed? Following the analysis of those tools, this paper goes further into explaining some recommendations and ideas for future work.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
912922
Report Number(s):
SAND2007-4526; TRN: US200802%%308
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English