Ethernet Topology Discovery: A Survey

TL;DR

This survey reviews the evolution of Ethernet topology discovery methods, highlighting advances, challenges, and the transition from small-scale to large-scale measurement systems over recent decades.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of both theoretical and practical approaches to Ethernet topology discovery, including open issues and future directions.

Findings

Growth in Ethernet networks has led to larger, more complex topology measurement systems.

Existing discovery techniques face challenges in scalability and accuracy for large networks.

The survey identifies key open issues and potential research directions in Ethernet topology discovery.

Abstract

Ethernet networks have undergone impressive growth since the past few decades. This growth can be appreciated in terms of the equipment, such as switches and links, that have been added, as well as in the number of users that it supports. In parallel to this expansion, over the past decade the networking research community has shown a growing interest in discovering and analyzing the Ethernet topology. Research in this area has concentrated on the theoretical analysis of Ethernet topology as well as developing tools and methods for mapping the network layout. These efforts have brought us to a crucial juncture for Ethernet topology measurement infrastructures: while, previously, these were both small (in terms of number of measurement points), we are starting to see the deployment of large-scale distributed systems composed of hundreds or thousands of monitors. As we look forward to this next generation of systems, we take stock of what has been achieved so far. In this survey, we discuss past and current mechanisms for discovering the Ethernet topology from theoretical and practical prospective. In addition to discovery techniques, we provide insights into some of the well known open issues related to Ethernet topology discovery.