An Overview of Self-Similar Traffic: Its Implications in the Network Design

TL;DR

Understanding the self-similar nature of network traffic is crucial for designing more realistic network models and improving network resource management and congestion control strategies.

Contribution

This paper reviews the implications of self-similar traffic for network design and advocates for traffic models that incorporate self-similarity instead of traditional Poisson models.

Findings

Self-similar traffic affects network performance and design.

Standard Poisson traffic models are inadequate for modern networks.

Traffic simulators should incorporate self-similarity for accuracy.

Abstract

The knowledge about the true nature of the traffic in computer networking is a key requirement in the design of such networks. The phenomenon of self-similarity is a characteristic of the traffic of current client/server packet networks in LAN/WAN environments dominated by network technologies such as Ethernet and the TCP/IP protocol stack. The development of networks traffic simulators, which take into account this attribute, is necessary for a more realistic description the traffic on these networks and their use in the design of resources (contention elements) and protocols of flow control and network congestion. In this scenario it is recommended do not adopt standard traffic models of the Poisson type.