2013 IEEE International Conference on Control System, Computing and Engineering, 29 Nov. - 1 Dec.

2013, Penang, Malaysia

Throughput Analysis of LAN and WAN Network

based on Socket Buffer Length using JPerf
Lucyantie Mazalan, Sharifah Syafiqah Syed Hamdan, Nurzaimah Masudi, Habibah Hashim, Ruhani Abd Rahman,
Nooritawati Md Tahir, Norliza Mohamad Zaini, Roszainiza Rosli, Hasmila Akmar Omar
Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
43000 Shah Alam, Selangor
Malaysia
lucyantie@salam.uitm.edu.my

Abstract Cluster computing involves connection between a
server and multiple hosts in one single environment and multi-
cluster in inter-cluster environments. One of the crucial factors
of a clustering is its network communication. Relying for support
of a server-client internetworking, cluster computing uses the
TCP/IP socket communication mechanism extensively.
Mechanism that controls the data transfer interruptions between
a server and client is referred to as a flow control. Theoretically,
if the receive window size for TCP/IP buffers is too small, the
receive window buffer is frequently overrun, and the flow control
mechanism stops the data transfer until the receive buffer is
empty. Thus, as a result flow control activity contributes to
unnecessary additional network latency which is unacceptable in
any server-client networking especially in clustering environment
where it involves highly reliable data transfer. Among the
solutions to this problem is by adjusting buffer size to avoid or
reduce the potential for flow control to occur. This paper
describes the analysis of TCP/IP socket buffer length in Local
Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) clustering.
It details the process and flow of setting up the environment,
implementing as well as analyzing the throughput performance
of the measured buffering.
Index Terms Throughput Analysis, Network Performance,
Cluster Computing, TCP/IP Buffer Length.
I. INTRODUCTION
Cluster computing is a collection of several interconnected
computers that cooperatively work together as single
resources processing in parallel. Jobs of the clusters are being
scheduled according to the runtime and also the resource of
the interconnected machines. Nature of cluster interconnection
involves communication between server and client that are
highly dependable on the network facilities offered by the
environment. Guarantee of data transfer between a server and
cluster nodes further moved to inter-cluster connections are
vitally important and not tolerant to any data transfer
interruption. Basic cluster communication implies the network
protocol of TCP/IP. In TCP/IP, socket communications
mechanism is extensively implemented this this operation. For
a TCP/IP socket communication, the send and receive buffer
sizes define the receive window that specifies the amount of
data that can be sent and not received before the send is
interrupted. If too much data is sent, it overruns the buffer and
interrupts the transfer. The mechanism that controls data
transfer interruptions is referred to as flow control. If the
receive window size for TCP/IP buffers is too small, the
receive window buffer is frequently overrun, and the flow
control mechanism stops the data transfer until the received
buffer is empty.
This flow control activities can consume a significant
amount of CPU time and result in additional network latency
as a result of data transfer interruptions. Increasing buffer size
is one of the options available to avoid flow control under
normal operating conditions. A larger buffer size reduces the
potential for flow control to occur. However, larger buffer size
can also have negative impact to the network performance
such as the increasing of paging if the applications failed to
process fast data. Optimal buffer size dependable on several
network environment factors such as network topology,
memory size and data transfer size, among others. Specifying
an adequate value of buffer length for socket connection is
crucial in avoiding flow control, but not so large to be
processed by the computer system.
Having an intolerant cluster connection to data
communication failure, the network performance is seen to be
an important criterion to be measured in this research. This
research is focusing on the analysis of socket buffer size as
throughput factor monitored in order to analyze the network
performance. The experiment involves a Local Area Network
(LAN) clusters as well as a Wide Area Network (WAN)
clusters network performance analysis. Specification of the
cluster has to be considered in the performance analysis. JPerf
performance analysis tool has been used to generate and
measure the performance of the transmission control protocol
(TCP) in this network. JPerf is a Java-based graphic user
interface (GUI) tools that used to perform the function of
measuring network performance. The data manipulated
between Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FKE) and Faculty
of Applied Science (FSG) of Universiti Teknologi MARA is

978-1-4799-1508-8/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE 621

 2013 IEEE International Conference on Control System, Computing and Engineering, 29 Nov. - 1 Dec. 2013, Penang, Malaysia
categorized under Local Area Network interconnection which
also known as intra-cluster while the inter-cluster connected is
on different geographical area between FKE and Faculty of
Pharmacy (FF) of Universiti Teknologi MARA which
categorized as inter-cluster connection under Wide Area
Network.
This paper is organized in the following way. It starts with
brief related work in part two, followed by part three which
describes full implementation of the system which contains
setting up the system requirement and configuration, network
architecture and defining the system flow. Network
performance analysis is being discussed in part four. The
paper ends with result and discussion, and conclusion.
II. RELATED WORK
There are existing methods that measure the performance
of LAN and WAN using bridging. The source station selection
that needs to be transmitted is defined for the purpose of
transmitting the files through LAN or WAN network. The
transport window size will determine the transport layer to
predefine the number of transport protocol data unit (TPDU)
that receive by network layer protocol [1]. There is another
approach in monitoring the network performance by the
technique and illustrative result. By monitoring Quality of
Service (QoS) and follow the Service-Level Agreements
(SLM), the system that called NetPredictor can produce the
results capabilities. There are many tools can be used to
monitor the network performance but only a few of them can
use to predict accurately the expected delays for some of
difficult transaction between network [4].
The TCP throughput can be affected by the changing of
the TCP parameter and channel characteristic. Lossy or noisy
in TCP throughput affected by a false congestion control
trigger, losses in a single window and some of corruption of
the transmission data. The bandwidth adjustment is being used
to analyse the result of the analysis [6]. The communication
model that called PlogPT [8] was developed to predict the
performance of communication that uses TCP/IP to
communicate the nodes. TCP is important in introducing the
performance of the network. High performance computing
(HPC) cluster performance can be measured using Hpcbench
[7]. Hpcbench is the Linux-based tool that measures the
performance of high performance network. It can capture the
detail of the performance result of TCP, UDP and MPI
communication throughput. It can adjust the parameter that
can give the impact to the performance of the network.
The performance analysis using bridging [1] can increase
the performance due to the effects of bandwidth. The
NetPredictor [4] is used to monitor the network performance
by predict the Quality of Service (QoS) and the cause of the
time delay in the transmission. While for Hpcbench [7], it
evaluates the throughput of the UDP, TCP and MPI latency
and communication by using a variety of parameters. It will
record the result such as the interrupts, system loads and other
things. There are many other methods and tools that can be
used in analysing the performance of the network.
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III. NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
The cluster network architecture that had been analysed is
shown in Figure 1. The Linux distribution that used for this
cluster network is Centos 6.3 which it is a modern version of
the Rock Cluster distribution. Centos provide a free
computing platform which consists of binary compatibility
with its software development source.
Fig. 1. Cluster Network Architecture
A. Communication Design
In this cluster network, there are two nodes that are
controlled under one server. The connection between nodes
and server is through switch Cisco SE2800. The server and
nodes are using the same central processing unit (CPU) which
is Intel i5-2320. The specification of the hardware used in the
cluster will contribute to the performance of the cluster
network itself. By using high performance processors and
switch, the cluster network can perform better work Table I
and Table II show the specification of the processor and
switch that used for the cluster network.
The communication among the cluster network is using
wired and wireless. The nodes and the switch connected using
straight-through RJ 45 cable. The server can be remote from
other location using wireless. The communication can be
conducted in LAN and WAN network. There is public internet
protocol (IP) address that also be assigned to the server so that
it can be penetrated from outside for the mean of user to
monitor the server. Bandwidth is known as the amount of data
that can be transferred in some interval of time. Bandwidth
can affect the transmission that gives impact towards the
network performance. Different types of cables have its
specific distance to be assembled and have different
bandwidth. Type of cable and the bandwidth will also affect
the performance.
TABLE I SPECIFICATION OF PROCESSORS
Processor: Intel i5-2320
Maximum Memory 32GB
Cache 6MB
Cores 4
Memory Channels 2
Memory Bandwidth 21.0GB/s
 2013 IEEE International Conference on Control System, Computing and Engineering, 29 Nov. - 1 Dec. 2013, Penang, Malaysia

TABLE II SPECIFICATION OF SWITCH

Switch: Cisco Linksys SE2800

Standards IEEE 802.3, 802.3u,
802.3x, 802.3ab
Ports x Speed 8 Gigabit x 10/100/1000
Power Saving Cable connected
detection
Cable length detection Fig. 3. FKE to FSG Remote Access Diagram.
Sleep Mode
Minimum System Connected devices need
Requirements Ethernet connectivity Next, Figure 4 shows the command line of the Iperf to
and Ethernet cables generate data of the network performance. In this case, the
Memory Bandwidth 21.0GB/s FSG will act as server while FKE will be the client. Figure 5
shows the graphical output using JPerf that released from the
B. JPerf Monitoring terminal.

JPerf is Java-based graphic user interface (GUI) tools that

display graphical output of the network performance instead
of using Iperf that used command line to produce the output.
JPerf can be run as a server or client. In client mode, the IP
address of the server need to be entered in the box provided.
Iperf is a command line tool that has to collaborate with JPerf.
Table III shows the steps of command for the compilation of
Iperf.

TABLE III COMMON FOR IPERF COMPILATION

Source Command
Code
Iperf 2.0.5 #wget Fig. 4. Iperf Command for FSG Server Setup.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/iperf/files/ip
erf-2.0.5.tar.gz/download
#tar -xzvf iperf-2.0.5.tar.gz
# cd iperf-2.0.5
# ./configure
# make
#make install

To produce the graphical output, Iperf command need to

be run in either server or client terminal. For example, if the
Iperf is run at terminal as a server, the client can run JPerf to
generate the graphical output. Without Iperf command, graph
of the output cannot be display. However, Iperf can run itself
to generate the output in data display on the terminal. Figure 2
and 3 show the terminal is remotely accessed from FKE server
to FSG using Putty where the remote control tools for
SSH/Telnet clients is used.
Fig. 2. Remote to Client (FSG) using SSH Terminal.
Fig. 5. Graphical Output of Client (FKE) Generate Using JPerf.
C. Communication Protocol
In this network performance testing, transmission control
protocol (TCP) is the protocol that being used for the
communication between the server and the clients. TCP is the
protocol that ensures the data that transmit across the
connected internet network are reliable. If the packets that
being transferred has an error, TCP will check the packet and
retransmit it to ensure that the packet reaches the destination
with original sequence and in a proper way. By controlling the
buffer size, which is the size of memory that allocates for the
traffic buffers being sent and receives, the TCP is able to
manage the application network performance. The throughput
is measured in kilobits per second (kbps).

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 2013 IEEE International Conference on Control System, Computing and Engineering, 29 Nov. - 1 Dec. 2013, Penang, Malaysia

IV. NETWORK PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS factors that affected the performance of the network. The
distance between FKE, FSG and FF is seen to significantly
There are many types of parameters that can be used in produce an impact to the overall performance. This may
monitoring the performance of the network. The throughput caused by the losses or any distraction while the transmitting.
parameter that is being used to monitor this cluster network is Table V shows detail values of throughput for LAN while
buffer length. Socket buffers size or length are storage or well Table VI shows value of throughput for WAN for different
known as memory that allocated to a network that used to value of buffer length size. Each test is run 3 times and the
store the data that transmit between application and driver. By average is calculated.
adjusting the buffer length, it can affect the network utilization
and give an impact to the network throughput as well as on the
latency. Sufficient amount of buffer length is important to
obtain satisfactory network utilization. The buffer length that
is too small constitute to the longer waiting time for packets
transmission and make the network under utilization. On the
other hand, if the buffer length is too large, the network
commit to be delayed because apparently the buffer is filled
but still have empty space. Figure 6 shows example of the
TCP/IP buffer size architecture.

Fig. 9. Graphical Output Generated for LAN Using 16KB Buffer Length.

TABLE V THROUGHPUT FOR LAN NETWORK

Buffer Length (LAN)
TRIALS 1 4 16 64 256 64 256
KB KB KB KB KB MB MB
1 1149 11475 11553 11516 11528 11200 11200
4KB KB KB KB KB KB KB
2 1149 11481 11515 11520 11532 11200 11300
8KB KB KB KB KB KB KB
3 1152 11481 11512 11514 11532 11200 11300
4KB KB KB KB KB KB KB
AVERAGE 1150 11479 11526 11516 11530 11200 11300
THROUGH 5KB KB KB KB KB KB KB
PUT

Fig. 6. Buffer Size Architecture.

Sample for data that generated from JPerf for LAN and
WAN connection was illustrated as an example in graph
shown in Figure 7 of the impact on the throughput for
different buffer length. File size of the transmission is
generated randomly by the JPerf software. The time interval of
data taken is 20 seconds. It is shown that, in LAN network, the
throughput of buffer length 64KB produced higher throughput
in comparison to the WAN network.

Fig. 10. Graphical Output Generated for WAN using 16KB Buffer Length.

TABLE VI THROUGHPUT FOR WAN NETWORK

Buffer Length (WAN)

TRIALS 1 4 16 64 256 64 256

KB KB KB KB KB MB MB

1 976 987 1064 880 999 890 1080

KB KB KB KB KB KB KB

2 911 1033 946 1014 869 1030 1100

Fig. 7. Throughput LAN vs WAN for Buffer Length 64KB. KB KB KB KB KB KB KB

3 1009 1021 1046 865 1008 1050 1070

KB KB KB KB KB KB KB
For better monitoring view, the generated output of LAN
AVERAGE 965 1013 1018 919 958 1000 1080
and WAN network for another example of 16KB buffer length THROUGH KB KB KB KB KB KB KB
PUT
are shown in Figure 9 and Figure 10. The throughput of LAN
network is still higher compared to WAN network due to few

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 2013 IEEE International Conference on Control System, Computing and Engineering, 29 Nov. - 1 Dec. 2013, Penang, Malaysia
V. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The network analysis are focusing on two different cluster
network topologies connecting cluster nodes as inter-cluster
and the other as an intra-cluster between different graphical
locations. Tested nodes are connected by the presented
hardware and software specifications. A substantial amount of
data moves between the server and clients as well as between
one server to another server intra-cluster measured within a
time interval, sufficient to produce statistical data for network
measurement and analysis.
Detailed throughput information was collected on both
topologies with different sizes of socket buffer length as
presented in both Table V and VI. The following was
concluded based on output observation:
Different network topology contributes to different
network throughput for the same duration of interval
monitoring, buffer size and file size. The network
throughput produced by LAN is highly more stable than it
is for WAN network. This is also concluded that WAN
network requires additional time to stabilize its
performance in given interval time as it needs to establish
the longer distance of internet connection as compared to
LAN.
Frequent greater delay produced as the buffer length
increased. For WAN network, the bandwidth decreases as
the time interval increase.
The optimal network throughput for given specification of
LAN network was produced by 256KB size of buffer
length.
The optimal network throughput for given specification
WAN network was produced by 256MB size of buffer
length.
The statistical data summarize that with 20 seconds of
time interval monitoring, higher socket buffer size
resulting to lower optimization of network throughput and
higher data transfer latency. The result of an adequate
amount of buffer size for each network has been
presented in previous points.
These values of buffer size in correspond to each network
proposed an optimization value for the cluster servers and
nodes to work effectively in its data communication.
VI. CONCLUSION
The throughput is tested with various size of buffer length
in the purpose of monitoring the network performance.
Analysis on buffer length presents that selection of buffer
length is important in getting the optimize network data
transfer thus avoiding network delay. Buffer length that is too
small can make the network underutilized while the buffer
length that is too large will contribute to network delay due to
the emptied buffer and need to be filled in. Sufficient amount
of socket buffer length is important in getting an optimum
performance of the network throughput. Statistical
characterization also shown that different network topology
contributes to the network performance thus suggesting
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optimization values for both network cluster implementation.
JPerf is the GUI tools that had been used in this analysis to
monitor the performance of the network.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research is part of the main initiative of cluster
computing project at Faculty of Electrical Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi MARA funded by the university. We
would like to thank Universiti Teknologi MARA for the
opportunity granted.
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