ShortMAC: Efficient Data-Plane Fault Localization

The rising demand for high-quality online services requires reliable packet delivery at the network layer. Data-plane fault localization is recognized as a promising means to this end, since it enables a source node to efficiently localize faulty links, find a fault-free path, and enforce contractual obligations among network nodes. Existing fault localization protocols cannot achieve a practical tradeoff between security and efficiency and they require unacceptably long detection delays, and require monitored flows to be impractically long-lived. In this paper, we propose an efficient fault localization protocol called ShortMAC which leverages probabilistic packet authentication and achieves 100 10000 times lower detection delay and overhead than related work. We theoretically derive a lower-bound guarantee on data-plane packet delivery in ShortMAC, implement a ShortMAC prototype, and evaluate its effectiveness on two platforms: SSFNet simulator and Linux/Click router. Our implementation and evaluation results show that ShortMAC causes negligible throughput and latency costs while retaining a high level of security.