Performance Measurement

[J Scott Thompson]

I am interested in focussing my Master's Thesis work in measurement of
network performance. Specifically, I would like to develop a means by
which historical data can be collected and made public looking at various
metrics (bandwidth, latency, etc.), on various networks (6bone, ESNet,
VBNS, etc.). Additionally, I would like to develop a means by which
researchers can get real-time data for connections of interest (through
CGI scripts or Java Applets executed from web pages).

I am especially interested in trying to identify changes in network
performance as the industry continues in its conversion to IPv6 and
ATM over the coming years.

I would appreciate feedback regarding this project.

Specifically:

 1) What metrics are the research community most interested in?

 2) What metrics are measurable now using current tools?

 3) What metric data are desired but which are currently not measurable
    using any known tools?

 4) Is there anyone (or any group) currently interested in and working
    on similar measurements.

 5) Any suggestions regarding a "good place to start" with a project of
    this nature.

Jay Thompson
University of Tennessee 
Computer Science Department
jthompso@cs.utk.edu