Estimating the performance of a large enterprise network for the updating of routing information

We have developed an experimental approach that allows us to estimate the performance of a large-scale enterprise network for the updating of routing information. The estimation was applied in the integration of the UFJ Bank network system on January 15, 2002. The main characteristic of this approach is the application of a formula that represents the delays in the updating of routing information that accompany reductions in CPU resources. The procedure consists of two steps: (1) estimating the reduction in the availability of CPU resources which is caused by the forwarding of data packets at a router; (2) estimating the levels of CPU resources needed to reply to a query about a new route and for the updating of routing information. These steps were applied to estimate the performance of the UFJ Bank network in terms of the convergence of routing information. The results of the experiments on the network showed that it was possible to update the routing information as long as the level of CPU utilization at the routers was below 40%. We were able to apply this guideline to, and thus confirm the stability of, the UFJ Bank network.