Controlling Probe Frequency with Network Traffic Dynamics: An Experience Report

Fault detection and localization in modern networks is done with probing techniques. Probes generate additional traffic which compete for its share of bandwidth. In this paper we propose to select a set of probes such that probe paths avoid congested routes and yet can identify all non probe station node failures in the network. In order to select a set of probes, we use historic Round Trip Time (RTT) statistics. Once the probes are selected, subsequently probing is done by adjusting the probing frequency in response to the instantaneous changes in traffic intensity along the probe path. We use RTT as a measure of changing traffic dynamics in the network to adjust the probing frequency. We propose to decrease the probing frequency with increase in RTT and vice versa. We experiment with simulations and real networks and show that probing frequency can be dynamically adjusted with traffic dynamics.