Selecting the Buffer Size for an IP Network Link

Authors

Sergey Gorinsky, Washington University in St. Louis
Anshul Kantawala, Washington University in St. Louis
Jonathan S. Turner, Washington University in St. LouisFollow

Document Type

Technical Report

Publication Date

2004-05-15

Filename

wucse-2004-50.pdf

Technical Report Number

WUCSE-2004-50

Abstract

In this paper, we revisit the problem of selecting the buffer size for an IP network link. After a comprehensive overview of issues relevant to the link buffer sizing, we examine usefulness of existing guidelines for choosing the buffer size. Our analysis shows that the existing recommendations not only are difficult to implement in the context of IP networks but also can severely hurt interactive distributed applications. Then, we argue that the networking research community should change its way of thinking about the link buffer sizing problem: the focus should shift from optimizing performance for applications of a particular type to maximizing diversity of application types that IP networks can support effectively. To achieve this new objective, we propose using small buffers for IP network links.

Comments

Permanent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7936/K7319T6J

Recommended Citation

Gorinsky, Sergey; Kantawala, Anshul; and Turner, Jonathan S., "Selecting the Buffer Size for an IP Network Link" Report Number: WUCSE-2004-50 (2004). All Computer Science and Engineering Research.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cse_research/1024