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expanded INT example
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Larry Peterson committed Apr 17, 2020
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36 changes: 29 additions & 7 deletions uses.rst
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Expand Up @@ -319,14 +319,36 @@ report the collected results of these instructions, allowing the
traffic sinks to monitor the exact data plane state that the packets
observed (experienced) while being forwarded.

The idea is illustrated in :numref:`Figure %s <fig-int>`, which shows
an example packet travsering a path from source switch *S1* to sink
switch *S5* via transit switch *S2*. The INT metadata added by each
swith along the path both indicates what data is to be collect for the
packet, and records the corresponding data for each switch.

.. _fig-int:
.. figure:: figures/Slide38.png
:width: 700px
:align: center

Illustration of Inband Network Telemetry (INT), with each packet
collecting measurement data as it traverses the network.

INT is still early-stage, but it has the potential to provide
qualitatively deeper insights into traffic patterns and the root
causes of network failures. For example, INT can be used to measure
and record queuing delay individual packets experience while
traversing a sequence of switches along an end-to-end path. As another
example, INT can perform data reductions—in the data plane, at line
speed—making it possible to *"find the needle without having to collect
the haystack."* More speculatively, INT can even be used to verify that
the data plane is in fact faithfully executing the forwarding behavior
the network operator intended. We return to the potential of INT to
qualitatively change network in the concluding chapter of this book.
traversing a sequence of switches along an end-to-end path, with a
packet like the one shown in the figure reporting: *"I visited Switch
1 @780ns, Switch 2 @1.3µs, Switch 5 @2.4µs."* By correlating this
information across packet flows that may have followed different
routes, it is even possible to determine which flows shared buffer
capacity at each switch.

Similarly, packets can report the decision making process that
directed their delivery, for example, with something like: *"In Switch
1, I followed rules 75 and 250; in Switch 2, I followed rules 3 and
80."* This opens the door to using INT to verify that the data plane
is faithfully executing the forwarding behavior the network operator
intended. We return to the potential of INT to impact how we build and
operate networks in the concluding chapter of this book.

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