In-network Video Prioritization via iBox Classification Predicates

Authors:
Porter, George Manning
Katz, Randy H.
Technical Report Identifier: EECS-2005-1
October 6, 2005

Abstract: We propose a novel datapath mechanism for tracking and acting on headers in a variety of layer-7 protocols called Classification Predicates, or "cPredicates". We apply this mechanism to the emerging field of in-network storage (Storage Area Networks, or SANs), and consider a multimedia streaming service with video stored in a converged SAN that also contains non-video content. We show that cPredicates have a low, amortized overhead because they only have to examine a small subset of the packet stream in depth. In our experimental environment, only 5% or fewer packets are examined in depth, leading to less than a 10% amortized latency increase. We built a content-based prioritization system for an iSCSI-based SAN and show that it can provide better than best-effort service for video files in a converged SAN containing both video and non-video content.