Micro Dependability (Microdep)
Micro Dependability is a project that documents the quality of the global Internet. It may also help improve the Internet quality for the benefit of our users.
We use novel data analysis methods to detect and locate faults in the global Internet network. This assists Network Operation Centers (NOCs) in inter-domain routing operations.
Microdep implements an Internet quality measurement framework and an operational measurement service that covers Sikt's national NREN network (Uninett) and a large part of the global research network.
The end-to-end nature of the Microdep service enables the discovery of inter-domain issues that individual operators often overlook.
There are nearly 70,000 different internet operators (autonomous systems) on the global Internet. Internet traffic typically traverses many such systems from end to end, making it challenging to detect issues when crossing inter-domain borders (between autonomous systems). Microdep assists with this.
Project details
- We use minimally intrusive but high-frequency measurements – up to 100 packets per second – to capture the dynamics of rerouting and queue build-ups in the network.
- We apply novel, lightweight Big Data analytics to identify relevant events and summarize them to present the big picture.
- We measure availability with unprecedented accuracy, at the level of 99.999% (carrier grade SLA levels).
- Many partners contribute to the global Microdep measurement network, including the University of Auckland, research networks AARNET, Switch, Nordunet, RNP (Brazil), Sunet, CESNET, REDIRIS, and Sikt.
- The software that powers the Microdep service will soon be available as an add-on to the perfSONAR measurement toolkit.