@inproceedings {Van2016, title = {A Brief History of MPLS Usage in IPv6}, booktitle = {Passive and Active Measurement Conference (PAM)}, year = {2016}, month = {03/2016}, abstract = {

Recent researches have stated the fast deployment of IPv6. It\ has been demonstrated that IPv6 grows much faster, being so more and more\ adopted by both Internet service providers but also by servers and end-hosts.\ In parallel, researches have been conducted to discover and assess the usage of\ MPLS tunnels. Indeed, recent developments in the ICMP protocol make certain
categories of MPLS tunnels transparent to traceroute probing. However, these\ studies focus only on IPv4, where MPLS is strongly deployed.

In this paper, we provide a first look at how MPLS is used under IPv6\ networks using traceroute data collected by CAIDA.\ We have observed, at the first glance, that the MPLS deployment and usage seem to greatly differ between IPv4 and IPv6,\ in particular in the way MPLS label stacks are used. While label stacks are not that frequent\ in IPv4 (and mostly correspond to a VPN usage), they are prevalent in IPv6. \ However, after a deeper look at the label stack typical content in IPv6, we understand that 2-label stack tunnels are mainly used for dual stack 6PE tunnels and ECMP load sharing purpose. \ The technical deployment of such tunnels is really similar to VPN in practice but the objective is not the same (they are standard tunnels made with the IPv4 LDP for carrying IPv6 traffic).

}, keywords = {6PE tunnels, IPv6, LSE Stack, MPLS}, author = {Yves Vanaubel and Pascal M{\'e}rindol and Jean-Jacques Pansiot and Benoit Donnet} } @inproceedings {Van2015, title = {MPLS Under the Microscope: Revealing Actual Transit Path Diversity}, booktitle = {Internet Measurement Conference (IMC)}, year = {2015}, month = {10/2015}, abstract = {

Traffic Engineering (TE) is one of the keys for improving packet forwarding in\ the Internet. It allows IP network operators to finely tune their forwarding\ paths according to various customer needs. One of the most popular tool\ available today for optimizing the use of networking resources is MPLS. On the\ one hand, operators may use MPLS and label distribution mechanisms such as RSVP-TE\ in conjunction with BGP to define multiple transit paths (for a given edge pair)
verifying different constraints on their network. On the other hand, when\ operators simply enable LDP for distributing MPLS labels in order to improve the\ scalability of their network, another kind of path diversity may appear thanks\ to the ECMP feature of IGP routing.

In this paper, using an MPLS labels analysis, we demonstrate that it is possible\ to better understand the transit path diversity deployed within a given ISP.\ More specifically, we introduce the Label Pattern Recognition (LPR) algorithm, a\ method for analyzing traceroute data including MPLS information. LPR reveals\ the actual usage of MPLS according to the inferred label distribution protocol and\ is able to make the distinction between ECMP and TE multi-path forwarding.\ Based on an extensive and longitudinal traceroute dataset obtained from CAIDA,
we apply LPR and find that each ISP behavior is really specific in regard to its\ MPLS usage. In particular, we are able to observe independently for each ISP\ the MPLS path diversity and usage, and its evolution over time.\ Globally speaking, the main outcomes of our study are that (i) the usage of\ MPLS has been increasing over the the last five years with basic encapsulation\ being predominant, (ii) path diversity is mainly provided thanks to ECMP and\ LDP, and, (iii), TE using MPLS is as common as MPLS without path diversity.

}, keywords = {ECMP, LDP, MPLS, multipath, network discovery, RSVP-TE, traceroute, traffic engineering}, author = {Yves Vanaubel and Pascal M{\'e}rindol and Jean-Jacques Pansiot and Benoit Donnet} } @inproceedings {Ede2015a, title = {Towards a Middlebox Policy Taxonomy: Path Impairments}, booktitle = {International Workshop on Network Science for Communication Networks (NetSciCom)}, year = {2015}, month = {04/2015}, abstract = {

Recent years have seen the rise of middleboxes, such as firewalls, NATs, proxies,\ or Deep Packet Inspectors. Those middleboxes play an important role in today{\textquoteright}s\ Internet, including enterprise networks and cellular networks. However, despite\ their huge success in modern network architecture, they have a negative impact\ on the Internet evolution as they can slow down the TCP protocol evolution and its\ extensions. Making available a summary of the potential middlebox network\ interferences is of the highest importance as it could allow researchers to\ confront their new transport protocol to potential issues caused by middleboxes.\ And, consequently, allowing again innovation in the Internet.

This is exactly what we tackle in this paper. We propose a path impairment\ oriented middlebox taxonomy that aims at categorizing the initial purpose of a\ middlebox policy as well as its potential unexpected complications. Based on a\ measurement campaign on IPv4 and IPv6 networks, we confront our taxonomy to the\ real world. Our dataset is freely available.

}, keywords = {classification, IPv6, middleboxes, path impairment, tracebox}, author = {Korian Edeline and Benoit Donnet} } @inproceedings {Was2015, title = {Towards DisNETPerf: a Distributed Internet Paths Performance Analyzer}, booktitle = {The 11th International Conference on emerging Networking EXperiments and Technologies - CoNEXT 2015}, year = {2015}, month = {11/2015}, abstract = {

For more than 25 years now, traceroute has demonstrated its supremacy for network-path measurement, becoming the most widely used Internet path diagnosis tool today. A major limitation of traceroute when the destination is not controllable by the user is its inability to measure reverse paths, i.e., the path from a destination back to the source. Proposed techniques to address this issue \ rely on IP address spoofing, which might lead to security concerns. In this paper we introduce and evaluate DisNETPerf, a new tool for locating probes that are the closest to a distant server. Those probes are then used to collect data from the server point-of-view to the service user for path performance monitoring and troubleshooting purposes. We propose two techniques for probe location, and demonstrate that the reverse path can be measured with very high accuracy in certain scenarios.

}, author = {Sarah Wassermann and Pedro Casas and Benoit Donnet} } @inproceedings {Thi2015a, title = {Tracking Middleboxes in the Mobile World with TraceboxAndroid}, booktitle = {7th International Workshop on Traffic Monitoring and Analysis (TMA)}, year = {2015}, month = {04/2015}, abstract = {

Middleboxes are largely deployed over cellular networks. It is known that they\ might disrupt network performance, expose users to security issues, and harm\ protocols deployability. Further, hardly any network measurements tools for\ smartphones are able to infer middlebox behaviors, specially if one cannot\ control both ends of a path. In this paper, we present TraceboxAndroid a
proof-of-concept measurement application for Android mobile devices\ implementing the tracebox algorithm. It aims at diagnosing middlebox-impaired\ paths by detecting and locating rewriting middleboxes. We analyze a dataset\ sample to highlight the range of opportunities offered by TraceboxAndroid. We\ show that TraceboxAndroid can be useful for mobile users as well as for the
research community.

}, keywords = {Android, tracebox}, author = {Valentin Thirion and Korian Edeline and Benoit Donnet} } @article {D43, title = { Cross-check of Analysis Modules and Reasoner Interactions}, number = {D4.3}, year = {2014}, month = {10/2014}, type = {Deliverable}, keywords = {reasoner, WP4}, author = {Umberto Manferdini and Stefano Traverso and Marco Mellia and Edion Tego and Francesco Matera and Zied Ben Houidi and Marco Milanesio and Pietro Michiardi and Dario Rossi and D. Cicalese and D. Joumblatt and Jordan Aug{\'e} and Maurizio Dusi and Sofia Nikitaki and Mohamed Ahmed and Ilias Leontiadis and L. Baltrunas and M. Varvello and Pedro Casas and Alessandro D{\textquoteright}Alconzo and Benoit Donnet and W. Du and Guy Leduc and Y. Liao and Alessandro Capello and Fabrizio Invernizzi} } @inproceedings {Cit2014, title = {On the Quality of BGP Route Collectors for iBGP Policy Inference}, booktitle = {IFIP Networking}, year = {2014}, month = {June 2014}, abstract = {

A significant portion of what is known about Internet routing stems out from\ public BGP datasets. For this reason, numerous research efforts were devoted to\ (i) assessing the (in)completeness of the datasets, (ii) identifying biases\ in the dataset, and (iii) augmenting data quality by optimally placing new\ collectors. However, those studies focused on techniques to extract information\ about the AS-level Internet topology.

In this paper, we show that considering different metrics influences the\ conclusions about biases and collector placement. Namely, we compare AS-level\ topology discovery with \iac inference. We find that the same datasets exhibit\ significantly diverse biases for these two metrics. For example, the sensitivity\ to the number and position of collectors is noticeably different. Moreover, for\ both metrics, the marginal utility of adding a new collector is strongly\ localized with respect to the proximity of the collector. Our results suggest\ that the {\textquoteleft}{\textquoteleft}optimal{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright} position for new collectors can only be defined with\ respect to a specific metric, hence posing a fundamental trade-off for\ maximizing the utility of extensions to the BGP data collection infrastructure.

}, keywords = {bias, iBGP policies, measurement, network topology}, author = {Luca Cittadini and Stefano Vissichio and Benoit Donnet} } @article {Pap2013, title = {Design of Analysis Modules}, number = {D4.1}, year = {2013}, month = {11/2013}, institution = {mPlane Consortium}, type = {Public Deliverable}, address = {Torino}, keywords = {algorithms, analysis}, isbn = {D4.1}, issn = {D4.1}, author = {Dimitri Papadimitriou and Zied Ben-Houidi and Samir Ghamri-Doudane and D Rossi and M. Milanesio and P. Casas and Alessandro D{\textquoteright}Alconzo and Edion Tego and Francesco Matera and Maurizio Dusi and Tivadar Szemethy and L. M{\'a}th{\'e} and Alessandro Finamore and Stefano Traverso and Ilias Leontiadis and Yan Grunenberger and L. Baltrunas and Benoit Donnet and Guy Leduc and Y. Liao} } @article {Cap2013, title = {First Data Collection Track Record}, number = {D5.1}, year = {2013}, month = {11/2013}, institution = {mPlane Consortium}, type = {Private Deliverable}, address = {Torino}, keywords = {data sets, integration, measurement systems, scenarios, use cases}, author = {Alessandro Capello and Fabrizio Invernizzi and Omar Jabr and Dimitri Papadimitriou and Dario Rossi and YiXi Gong and Brian Trammell and Marco Milanesio and Ernst Biersack and Rolf Winter and Francesco Matera and Arianna Rufini and Edion Tego and Maurizio Dusi and Balazs Szabo and Tivadar Szemethy and Alessandro Finamore and Marco Mellia and Ilias Leontiadis and Benoit Donnet} } @article {Tra2013d, title = {mPlane Architecture Specification}, number = {D1.3}, year = {2013}, month = {11/2013}, institution = {mPlane Consortium}, type = {Public Deliverable}, address = {Torino}, keywords = {architecture, measurement, platform, scenario, use case}, author = {Brian Trammell and Marco Mellia and Alessandro Finamore and Stefano Traverso and Tivadar Szemethy and Balazs Szabo and D Rossi and Benoit Donnet and Fabrizio Invernizzi and Dimitri Papadimitriou} } @inproceedings {Van2013, title = {Network Fingerprinting: TTL-Based Router Signature}, booktitle = {ACM/USENIX Internet Measurement Conference (IMC)}, year = {2013}, month = {10/2013}, address = {Barcelona, Spain}, abstract = {

Fingerprinting networking equipment has many potential applications and benefits\ in network management and security. More generally, it is useful for the\ understanding of network structures and their behaviors. In this paper, we\ describe a simple fingerprinting mechanism based on the initial TTL values used\ by routers to reply to various probing messages. We show that main classes
obtained using this simple mechanism are meaningful to distinguish routers\ platforms. Besides, it comes at a very low additional cost compared to standard\ active topology discovery measurements. As a proof of concept, we apply our\ method to gain more insight on the behavior of MPLS routers and to, thus, more\ accurately quantify their visible/invisible deployment.

}, keywords = {fingerprinting, initial TTL, MPLS router signature, network discovery}, doi = {10.1145/2504730.2504761}, author = {Yves Vanaubel and Jean-Jacques Pansiot and Pascal M{\'e}rindol and Benoit Donnet} } @inproceedings {Van2013a, title = {Network Fingerprinting: TTL-Based Router Signatures}, booktitle = {ACM Internet Measurement Conference (IMC)}, year = {2013}, month = {10/2013}, address = {Barcelona, Spain}, abstract = {

Fingerprinting networking equipment has many potential applications and benefits\ in network management and security. More generally, it is useful for the\ understanding of network structures and their behaviors. In this paper, we\ describe a simple fingerprinting mechanism based on the initial TTL values used\ by routers to reply to various probing messages. We show that main classes\ obtained using this simple mechanism are meaningful to distinguish routers
platforms. Besides, it comes at a very low additional cost compared to standard\ active topology discovery measurements. As a proof of concept, we apply our\ method to gain more insight on the behavior of MPLS routers and to, thus, more\ accurately quantify their visible/invisible deployment.

}, keywords = {fingerprinting, initial TTL, MPLS, network discovery, router signatures}, author = {Yves Vanaubel and Jean-Jacques Pansiot and Pascal M{\'e}rindol and Benoit Donnet} } @article {Dus2013, title = {Plans for Using and Disseminating mPlane Knowledge}, number = {D7.2}, year = {2013}, month = {11/2013}, institution = {mPlane Consortium}, type = {Public Deliverable}, address = {Torino}, keywords = {dissemination, exploitation, open-source software, publications, standardization}, issn = {D7.2}, author = {Maurizio Dusi and Saverio Niccolini and Antonio Barbuzzi and M. Milanesio and Alessandro Finamore and Brian Trammell and Edion Tego and Francesco Matera and Tivadar Szemethy and Rolf Winter and Zied Ben-Houidi and Andrea Fregosi and Benoit Donnet and Fabrizio Invernizzi and Dimitri Papadimitriou and Ilias Leontiadis and Yan Grunenberger and P. Casas} } @inproceedings {Det2013, title = {Revealing Middlebox Interference with Tracebox}, booktitle = {ACM/USENIX Internet Measurement Conference (IMC)}, year = {2013}, month = {10/2013}, abstract = {

Middleboxes such as firewalls, NAT, proxies, or Deep Pack-et Inspection play an\ increasingly important role in various types of IP networks, including\ enterprise and cellular networks. Recent studies have shed the light on their\ impact on real traffic and the complexity of managing them. Network operators\ and researchers have few tools to understand the impact of those boxes on any
path. In this paper, we propose tracebox, an extension to the widely used\ traceroute tool, that is capable of detecting various types of middlebox\ interference over almost any path. \ tracebox sends IP packets containing TCP\ segments with different TTL values and analyses the packet encapsulated in the\ returned ICMP messages. Further, as recent routers quote, in the ICMP message,\ the entire IP packet that they received, tracebox is able to detect any\ modification performed by upstream middleboxes. In addition, tracebox can often\ pinpoint the network hop where the middlebox interference occurs. We evaluate\ tracebox with measurements performed on PlanetLab nodes. Our analysis reveals\ various types of middleboxes that were not expected on such an experimental\ testbed supposed to be connected to the Internet without any restriction.

}, keywords = {middlebox, network discovery, tracebox}, doi = {10.1145/2504730.2504757}, author = {Gregory Detal and Benjamin Hesmans and Olivier Bonaventure and Yves Vanaubel and Benoit Donnet} } @article {Pap2013c, title = {Selection of Existing Probes and Datasets}, number = {D2.1}, year = {2013}, month = {08/2013}, institution = {mPlane Consortium}, type = {Public Deliverable}, address = {Torino}, abstract = {The mPlane architecture has been designed to include the possibility to interface with existing systems and platforms. While most measurement platforms in existence target a very specific measurement use case (e.g., the discovery of the Internet{\textquoteright}s router-level topology, the continuous measurement of the RTT among host pairs, the exporting via SNMP of network state, etc.), there are platforms that have a large deployed base, with lot of data being at disposal, and/or continuously collecting data. It would be a waste of resources to merely reproduce this effort within mPlane. Instead, mPlane aims at directly interfacing with existing systems and re-using their capabilities and data to feed measurement results to the mPlane intelligence. This document lists selected existing systems that are important for mPlane either for theoretical, conceptual or practical reasons, and that are part of the background of mPlane partners. A sub-set of these systems will be eventually incorporated into mPlane by developing the necessary interfaces. Others could be integrated by the means of proxy probes, i.e., the conceptual component responsible for such interfacing. The main focus of this document is to elaborate the concept of proxy probes, enumerate the systems that will be possibly considered for interface (proxy probe) development, and to give high level descriptions of the proxy probe design for these systems. The following list enumerates the systems that the consortium has chosen to include: - QoF - a TCP-aware IPFIX flow meter  Cisco Ping and SLA Agents - commercial availability and basic network parameter agents  - Tracebox - a tool for middlebox detection and identification - Scamper - a sophisticated active probing tool - MERLIN - a router-level topology discovery tool - TopHat - a configurable measurement system on top of PlanetLab - Tstat - a passive network monitoring tool - BlockMon - a flexible network monitoring and analysis tool - MisuraInternet - a QoS measurement system - Firelog - a Firefox plugin to measure HTTP QoE - Pytomo - an end-host-based video OoE measurement tool - DATI - a high performance deep packet inspector - MobiPerf - a tool for monitoring smartphone performance}, keywords = {active probes, existing probes, passive probes, probes, proxy probes}, author = {Dimitri Papadimitriou and Dario Rossi and YiXi Gong and Brian Trammell and Marco Milanesio and Ernst Biersack and Rolf Winter and Francesco Matera and Maurizio Dusi and Balazs Szabo and Tivadar Szemethy and Alessandro Finamore and Marco Mellia and Alessandro Capello and Fabio Invernizzi and Omar Jabr and Ilias Leontiadis and Benoit Donnet} }