RFC 2498 (rfc2498) - Page 1 of 10

IPPM Metrics for Measuring Connectivity

Network Working Group                                        J. Mahdavi
Request for Comments: 2498             Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
Category: Experimental                                        V. Paxson
                                  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
                                                           January 1999


                IPPM Metrics for Measuring Connectivity

Status of this Memo

   This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
   community.  It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.
   Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested.
   Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

1. Introduction

   Connectivity is the basic stuff from which the Internet is made.
   Therefore, metrics determining whether pairs of hosts (IP addresses)
   can reach each other must form the base of a measurement suite.  We
   define several such metrics, some of which serve mainly as building
   blocks for the others.

   This memo defines a series of metrics for connectivity between a pair
   of Internet hosts.  It builds on notions introduced and discussed in
   RFC 2330, the IPPM framework document.  The reader is assumed to be
   familiar with that document.

   The structure of the memo is as follows:

 +    An analytic metric, called Type-P-Instantaneous-Unidirectional-
      Connectivity, will be introduced to define one-way connectivity at
      one moment in time.
 +    Using this metric, another analytic metric, called Type-P-
      Instantaneous-Bidirectional-Connectivity, will be introduced to
      define two-way connectivity at one moment in time.
 +    Using these metrics, corresponding one- and two-way analytic
      metrics are defined for connectivity over an interval of time.








Mahdavi & Paxson              Experimental