Abilene Observatory Data Available

released October 23, 2003

Internet2 has announced that research data collected during the past two years by the Abilene Observatory project is now available for use by the greater computer science community. Already providing support for network researchers at its member universities, Internet2 invites computer researchers to access the data freely and to make recommendations on other types of network performance data that might be collected by the Observatory.

The Abilene Observatory supports the development of an integrated data archive of all performance and network status information collected on the Abilene Network with the aim of providing access to researchers wishing to study an operational, high-performance network in a manner not possible on the commercial Internet. In addition, the Observatory provides for the collocation of network experiments and measurement servers developed by the research community.

The Observatory gathers the network data it collects into several databases distributed across a variety of servers on the network. The various forms of data can be viewed through a single, large correlated database that is accessible by the research community. A goal of the Observatory is to provide tools that will allow researchers to access the data in a simple and straightforward manner.

Data gathered by the Observatory include:

• Usage statistics: the amount of traffic on network links
• Flow data: data that examine individual flows across the network (made anonymous to protect user privacy)
• Routing data: where packets are directed within the network
• Latency data: how long it takes packets to reach their destinations
• Throughput data: the capability of the network to support flows of information
• Router data: how the routers view the network
• Syslog data: what the routers are reporting about the network

To gain access to Observatory data or to make a recommendation on other data that should be collected by the Abilene Observatory, send email to abilene@internet2.edu.

 

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