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Control-plane observability through data-plane performance

By Gomathi Ramachandran
2024
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Traditionally data-plane measurements have been used to understand application performance and to detect specific impairments with high confidence. Control plane effects on data-plane performance were often incidental findings, especially for operational measurements in traditional IP networks where highly multiplexed streams were serviced by higher speed, highly protected, optical circuits. As we move to larger and more dynamic loads and to SDN networks where the routing logic is moved further away from the data-plane, it becomes more important to understand and use the connection between control-plane effects on data-plane performance in addition to forwarding plane impairments to manage network performance. We illustrate this connection with examples of how some common control-plane changes affect data-plane metrics. These observations motivate improvement in control-plane protocols.
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