Predicting Bandwidth Utilization on Network Links Using Machine Learning

Abstract

Predicting the bandwidth utilization on network links can be extremely useful for detecting congestion in order to correct them before they occur. In this paper, we present a solution to predict the bandwidth utilization between different network links with a very high accuracy. A simulated network is created to collect data related to the performance of the network links on every interface. These data are processed and expanded with feature engineering in order to create a training set. We evaluate and compare three types of machine learning algorithms, namely ARIMA (AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average), MLP (Multi Layer Perceptron) and LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory), in order to predict the future bandwidth consumption. The LSTM outperforms ARIMA and MLP with very accurate predictions, rarely exceeding a 3% error (40% for ARIMA and 20% for the MLP). We then show that the proposed solution can be used in real time with a reaction managed by a Software-Defined Networking (SDN) platform.

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“…The results demonstrate that the proposed LSTM outperforms baseline prediction algorithms such as Recursive Least Squares recurrent neural network in terms of (lower) prediction error. Similarly, Labonne et al 42 employed three ML‐based methods, namely LSTM, MultiLayer Perceptron (MLP), and Auto‐Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), for predicting the bandwidth between different network links. The LSTM shows better performance than the other two approaches by achieving only $$$ 3\% $$$ error rate.…”