Comparison of link dimensioning methods for TCP/IP networks

We investigate a selection of usual approaches to determining the bandwidth demand for IP backbone links with regard to the traffic pattern in the environment of IP platforms of large Internet providers. A comparison of dimensioning methods is based on traffic characterization providing the relevant parameters for the considered methods. TCP transmissions are modeled by distinguishing 3 phases at different source rates as observed by monitoring the TCP throughput when the access speed of the TCP client is the bottleneck on the transmission path. On-off versus 3-state source models are compared for varying traffic correlation in time ranging from self-similarity to Markovian and bufferless modeling. The evaluation of bandwidth requirements assumes statistical multiplexing to be applicable for a large user population.