TCP over ATM: Performance results from a testing site

Issue title: VHSN'96

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Sciuto, Agatino

Affiliations: Computer Sciences Corporation, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Code 540), Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA, Tel.: +1 301 794 2834; Fax: +1 301 7949530; E-mail: tsciuto@nastg.gsfc.nasa.gov

Abstract: Because Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is widely used to reliably transport data, there is considerable interest in its performance over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). Much research has been done in this area and results are available, mainly from computer simulations. However, simulation results do not contain the steps required by the user to optimize TCP performance. Nascom needed that information. This paper addresses different tests. It uses each test summary as an example for a specific issue. The summaries include configuration, results, and comments. The hardware and software used also are listed. Based on NASA Communications (Nascom) test results, this paper shows that existing router implementations degrade TCP over ATM performance, that unspecified bit rate (UBR) is preferred over variable bit rate (VBR) for a traffic contract, and that multiple streams fairly share one ATM network.

DOI: 10.3233/JHS-1997-6304

Journal: Journal of High Speed Networks, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 207-214, 1997