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Investigating Internet Investigating Internet PerformancePerformance

USF 2003 RET Program

Tahvia Shaw

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WHO AM I?WHO AM I?

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TopicsTopics

Introduction and BackgroundProject GoalsInternet PerformanceInternet GrowthMeasuring Internet PerformanceTaking it back to the classroomStudyWorks!®

Summary

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Introduction and BackgroundIntroduction and Background

Internet performance is a hot issue in Computer Science. Why???

There are many factors that are being measured and investigated to determine the effectiveness of the Internet System.

We can perform simple experiments in the middle school classroom.

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Project GoalsProject Goals

To have middle school students study real problems in the area of Computer Science.

Spark an interest in mathematics and science.

Learn basic Computer Science and understand the issues that are being researched.

Develop basic Computer Science experiments for middle school students.

Use a mathematics tool to analyze these experiments.

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Internet PerformanceInternet Performance

Factors of Internet performance include but are not limited to:

– Geographic location

– Connectivity

– Network infrastructure and speed Internet performance is directly affected by the rate

in which the Internet has grown. The more hosts on the Internet, the more traffic and congestion.

FOR MORE INFO...

Network wizards, Nielsen Net ratings, www.mids.org, www.internettrafficreport.com

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Internet Growth Internet Growth

Source:

Internet Software consortium (www.isc.org)

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Transmitting information Transmitting information

Packets(server to user)

HostServer

Source andDestinationaddress

HostClient

Ethernet(cable, link)

The client requests information from the server and the

server sends the information back to the client in the form

of packets. Packets can be lost or delayed.

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Measuring Internet PerformanceMeasuring Internet Performance

The PING program sends a small packet of information

to a specified computer, which then sends a reply back to

your computer.

Gives the RTT in milliseconds

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Measuring Internet Performance Cont.Measuring Internet Performance Cont.

The Tracert (Trace Route) program is a route-tracing tool that is used to

determine the path a packets takes to reach a destination.

USF

Yahoo

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Measuring Internet Performance Cont.Measuring Internet Performance Cont.

We will use PING and Tracert to determine:– Latency – Packet loss – Reachability

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LatencyLatency

Latency aka Delay – The round trip delay time between the

time the host sends a packet to the destination and the

timethe host receives a response packet.

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Packet lossPacket loss

Packet loss – A measure of measurement packets sent

to a destination that do not produce corresponding

return packets; those missing packets are lost packets.

Packet loss can measure the effectiveness of a

particular website on the Internet. Some of the factors

that effect the packet loss are:– Size of packet ( in bytes)– Time of day– Internet congestion

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Packet loss cont.Packet loss cont.

FOR MORE INFO...

www.mids.org

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ReachabilityReachability

Reachability – If the host responds to at least one of themeasurement packets.

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Taking it to the classroomTaking it to the classroom

We can isolate those three measures of internet performance and create activities and experiments that middle school students will understand.

We can use internet delay as our factor and investigate internet performance by using tools such as PING and Trace routes to measure latency, packet loss and reachability and draw conclusions on how they effect the internet.

FOR MORE INFO...

Lessons will be available soon on USF’s website as well as TCS’s website. www.tcstornadoes.com

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Taking it to the classroomTaking it to the classroom

Students will investigate Internet performance by testing causes of delay.– Compare geographic distance to PING RTT. We will

PING cities around the world. (see lesson plan for IP addresses)

– Compare packet size to PING RTT. – Students will use Tracert to troubleshoot when packets

are lost to determine where a packet stopped.

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Taking it to the classroomTaking it to the classroom

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Taking it to the classroom Taking it to the classroom cont.cont.

Students will be introduced to current ongoing research on computer science issues that effects them personally.

Students will learn how information is transported on the Internet and how effective or reliable the Internet is in responding and delivering the information.

Students will learn how to collect raw data, plot graphs and analyze the data.

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StudyWorksStudyWorks®®

StudyWorks is a math resource tool based off

MathCAD. Students will use this program to create

graphs and analyze data.

Teachers can also create worksheets and problems

for students to solve in StudyWorks.

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StudyWorks® ExampleStudyWorks® Example

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ConclusionConclusion

Interesting topic for students and myself. Many mathematic concepts from graphing to percents. Basic computer science skills from using the command

screen to performing PINGS. Understanding how information travels on the internet. Understanding efficiency.

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ResourcesResources

www.mids.org http://libra.unitbv.ro/admini/tcpip_tools.htm www.gigabytex.com www.cyberatlas.internet.com www.isc.org/ds www.mit.edu/people/mkgray.net http://navigators.com/stats.html Network Wizards The Center for Next Generation Internet

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AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements

Thank you Dr. Kenneth Christensen for

the opportunity to participate in this

program.

I would also like to thank Dr. Carlos Smith

and the USF sponsored RET Program for

allowing me to join their group.