Dynamically determining packet sampling rates

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9749199-B2
Application number	US-201615150802-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 10, 2016
Priority date	Jan 17, 2013
Publication date	Aug 29, 2017
Grant date	Aug 29, 2017

Abstract

For dynamically determining packet sampling rates, a method including setting a packet sampling rate for one or more switch ports, collecting for an interval of time a plurality of statistics for the one or more switch ports, and adjusting the packet sampling rate in response to one or more of the plurality of statistics.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
setting a packet sampling rate for a first port of a plurality of switch ports;
collecting for an interval of time a plurality of statistics for the plurality of switch ports; and
adjusting the packet sampling rate in response to one or more of the plurality of statistics, wherein the packet sampling rate is adjusted in response to a sample rate percentage for the first port varying more than a threshold amount from a sample rate percentage for a second port.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising tracking the average packet length over time.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting the packet sampling rate in response to a maximum sample per second rate for a first statistic gathering period varying more than a threshold amount from a maximum sample per second rate for a second statistic gathering period.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring a sample wait time; and
adjusting the packet sampling rate in response to the sample wait time.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising triggering an early adjustment of the packet sampling rate in response to a sample wait time outside of a range.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a maximum number of samples that can be processed per second; and
setting an initial packet sampling rate for a plurality of switch ports, wherein the initial packet sampling rate is calculated using the maximum number of samples that can be processed per second as a factor.

7. An apparatus comprising:
a sampling rate module that sets a packet sampling rate for a first port of a plurality of switch ports;
a statistics module that collects for an interval of time a plurality of statistics for the plurality of switch ports; and
an adjustment module that adjusts the packet sampling rate in response to one or more of the plurality of the statistics, wherein the packet sampling rate is adjusted in response to a sample rate percentage for the first port varying more than a threshold amount from a sample rate percentage for a second port.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising a tracking module that tracks the average packet length over time.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of statistics includes one or more of average packet length, average port speed, maximum port utilization, port count, and actual samples received per second.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising a tracking module that measures a sample wait time, and the adjustment module adjusts the packet sampling rate in response to the sample wait time.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the adjustment module triggers an early adjustment of the packet sampling rate in response to a sample wait time outside of a range.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the adjustment module adjusts the packet sampling rate in response to the statistics module detecting a maximum sample per second rate for a first statistic gathering period varying more than a threshold amount from a maximum sample per second rate for a second statistic gathering period.

13. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the adjustment module determines a maximum number of samples that can be processed per second, and the sampling rate module sets an initial packet sampling rate for a plurality of switch ports, wherein the initial packet sampling rate is calculated using the maximum number of samples that can be processed per second as a factor.

14. A computer-program product, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having executable code embodied therein, the executable code readable by a processor to:
set a packet sampling rate for a first port of a plurality of switch ports;
collect for an interval of time a plurality of statistics for the plurality of switch ports; and
adjust the packet sampling rate in response to one or more of the plurality of statistics, wherein the packet sampling rate is adjusted in response to a sample rate percentage for the first port varying more than a threshold amount from a sample rate percentage for a second port.

15. The computer-program product of claim 14 , further comprising executable code readable by the processor to track the average packet length over time.

16. The computer-program product of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of statistics includes one or more of average packet length, average port speed, maximum port utilization, port count, and actual samples received per second.

17. The computer-program product of claim 14 , further comprising executable code readable by the processor to:
measure a sample wait time; and
adjust the packet sampling rate in response to the sample wait time.

18. The computer-program product of claim 17 , further comprising executable code readable by the processor to trigger an early adjustment of the packet sampling rate in response to a sample wait time outside of a range.

19. The computer-program product of claim 14 , further comprising executable code readable by the processor to adjust the packet sampling rate in response to a maximum sample per second rate for a first statistic gathering period varying more than a threshold amount from a maximum sample per second rate for a second statistic gathering period.

20. The computer-program product of claim 14 , further comprising executable code readable by the processor to:
determine a maximum number of samples that can be processed per second; and
set an initial packet sampling rate for a plurality of switch ports, wherein the initial packet sampling rate is calculated using the maximum number of samples that can be processed per second as a factor.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Brown Deanna L
• Wurth Gregory P

Classifications

• H04L43/50

  Testing arrangements · CPC title

• H04L43/024 Primary

  by adaptive sampling · CPC title

• H04L43/02

  Capturing of monitoring data · CPC title

• H04L43/16

  Threshold monitoring · CPC title

• H04L43/062

  related to network traffic · CPC title