Classification of load balancing in the Internet

Abstract—Recent advances in programmable data planes,
software-defined networking, and the adoption of IPv6, support
novel, more complex load balancing strategies. We introduce the
Multipath Classification Algorithm (MCA), a probing algorithm
that extends traceroute to identify and classify load balancing in
Internet routes. MCA extends existing formalism and techniques
to consider that load balancers may use arbitrary combinations
of bits in the packet header for load balancing. We propose
optimizations to reduce probing cost that are applicable to MCA
and existing load balancing measurement techniques. Through
large-scale measurement campaigns, we characterize and study
the evolution of load balancing on the IPv4 and IPv6 Internet
with multiple transport protocols. Our results show that load
balancing is more prevalent and that load balancing strategies
are more mature than previous characterizations have found.

• Networking

• Data Mining and Modeling