Performance Evaluation of Multimedia Traffic in Cloud Storage Services over Wi-Fi and LTE Networks

TL;DR

This study compares the performance of Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive during multimedia uploads over Wi-Fi and LTE, analyzing key network metrics to understand traffic behavior and stability.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of major cloud storage services' multimedia traffic performance over different network types, highlighting platform-specific behaviors.

Findings

Google Drive showed consistent low latency and jitter across networks.

Dropbox utilized bandwidth efficiently but had higher delay over LTE.

Wi-Fi offered more stable multimedia transfer performance than LTE.

Abstract

The performance of Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive cloud storage services was evaluated under Wi-Fi and LTE network conditions during multimedia file uploads. Traffic was captured using Wireshark, and key metrics (including delay, jitter, bandwidth, and packet loss) were analyzed. Google Drive maintained the most consistent performance across both types of networks, showing low latency and reduced jitter. Dropbox showed efficient bandwidth utilization, but experienced a longer delay over LTE, attributed to a greater number of intermediate hops. OneDrive presented variable behavior, with elevated packet rates and increased sensitivity to fluctuations in the mobile network. A bimodal distribution of packet sizes was observed and modeled using a dual Poisson function. In general, Wi-Fi connections provided greater stability for multimedia transfers, while LTE performance varied depending on platform-specific implementations. The results contribute to a better understanding of traffic behavior in cloud-based storage applications and suggest further analysis with larger datasets and heterogeneous access networks.