Host-INT brings network packet telemetry
Packet Timer
© Lead Image © Vasiliy-Yakobchuk, 123RF.com
Inband Network Telemetry and Host-INT can provide valuable insights on network performance – including information on latency and packet drops.
Hyperscale data centers are seeking more visibility into network performance for better manageability. This challenge is made more difficult as the number of switches and servers grow, and as data flows evolve to 100Gbps and higher. Knowing where network congestion is and how it is affecting data flows and service level agreements (SLAs) is critical.
Inband Network Telemetry (INT) is an open specification from the P4 open source community [1]. The goal of INT is to allow the collection and reporting of packets as they flow through the network. Intel has brought this capability to the Linux open source community with Host Inband Network Telemetry (Host-INT). The Host-INT framework can collect some very valuable data on network conditions – such as latency and packet drops – that would be very hard to obtain otherwise. Host-INT is ideal for app developers who need to know the network's impact on an application. Or, a large wide area network (WAN) service provider could use Host-INT to ensure that its service level agreements are being met.
Host-INT builds on Switch-INT, another P4 implementation that performs measurements on network packets. Both Host-INT and Switch-INT are designed to operate entirely in the data plane of a network device (e.g., in the hardware fast path of a switch ASIC or Ethernet network adapter). Switch-INT is currently running on programmable switch infrastructures such as Intel's Tofino Intelligent Fabric Processors [2]. By operating in the data plane, Switch-INT can provide extensive network telemetry without impacting performance.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.