Comparison of end-to-end bandwidth measurement tools on the 10GigE TeraGrid backbone

Abstract

Both network managers and grid application users need to maximize the bandwidth utilization of distributed applications in the face of complex interactions between network and system hardware and software along the end-to-end paths. Several software tools exist that attempt to measure end-to-end available bandwidth unobtrusively. Our poster presents results of the first study to compare these tools on a 10GigE network backbone. We use the Inca test harness deployed on the NSF TeraGrid to collect periodic measurements from a fully connected mesh of node pairs on end-to-end paths between eight TeraGrid sites. We compare bandwidth measurements from (1) network weather service (NWS); (2) pathchirp; and (3) pathload. Our poster analyzes collected data to determine tool accuracy and efficiency.