The research community has begun looking for IP traffic classification techniques that do not rely on `well known? TCP or UDP port numbers, or interpreting the contents of packet payloads. New work is emerging on the use of statistical traffic characteristics to assist in the identification and classification process. This survey paper looks at emerging research into the application of Machine Learning (ML) techniques to IP traffic classification - an inter-disciplinary blend of IP networking and data mining techniques. We provide context and motivation for the application of ML techniques to IP traffic classification, and review 18 significant works that cover the dominant period from 2004 to early 2007. These works are categorized and reviewed according to their choice of ML strategies and primary contributions to the literature. We also discuss a number of key requirements for the employment of ML-based traffic classifiers in operational IP networks, and qualitatively critique the extent to which the reviewed works meet these requirements. Open issues and challenges in the field are also discussed.

/pdf/a-survey-of-techniques-for-internet-traffic-classification-2r8q4iwfdb.pdf

A survey of techniques for internet traffic classification using machine learning

The Transmission Control Protocol.

Machine Learning (ML) has been enjoying an unprecedented surge in applications that solve problems and enable automation in diverse domains. Primarily, this is due to the explosion in the availability of data, significant improvements in ML techniques, and advancement in computing capabilities. Undoubtedly, ML has been applied to various mundane and complex problems arising in network operation and management. There are various surveys on ML for specific areas in networking or for specific network technologies. This survey is original, since it jointly presents the application of diverse ML techniques in various key areas of networking across different network technologies. In this way, readers will benefit from a comprehensive discussion on the different learning paradigms and ML techniques applied to fundamental problems in networking, including traffic prediction, routing and classification, congestion control, resource and fault management, QoS and QoE management, and network security. Furthermore, this survey delineates the limitations, give insights, research challenges and future opportunities to advance ML in networking. Therefore, this is a timely contribution of the implications of ML for networking, that is pushing the barriers of autonomic network operation and management.

/pdf/a-comprehensive-survey-on-machine-learning-for-networking-3t5h3kbpe8.pdf

A comprehensive survey on machine learning for networking: evolution, applications and research opportunities

Recent research on Internet traffic classification algorithms has yield a flurry of proposed approaches for distinguishing types of traffic, but no systematic comparison of the various algorithms. This fragmented approach to traffic classification research leaves the operational community with no basis for consensus on what approach to use when, and how to interpret results. In this work we critically revisit traffic classification by conducting a thorough evaluation of three classification approaches, based on transport layer ports, host behavior, and flow features. A strength of our work is the broad range of data against which we test the three classification approaches: seven traces with payload collected in Japan, Korea, and the US. The diverse geographic locations, link characteristics and application traffic mix in these data allowed us to evaluate the approaches under a wide variety of conditions. We analyze the advantages and limitations of each approach, evaluate methods to overcome the limitations, and extract insights and recommendations for both the study and practical application of traffic classification. We make our software, classifiers, and data available for researchers interested in validating or extending this work.

Internet traffic classification demystified: myths, caveats, and the best practices

A network traffic classifier (NTC) is an important part of current network monitoring systems, being its task to infer the network service that is currently used by a communication flow (e.g., HTTP and SIP). The detection is based on a number of features associated with the communication flow, for example, source and destination ports and bytes transmitted per packet. NTC is important, because much information about a current network flow can be learned and anticipated just by knowing its network service (required latency, traffic volume, and possible duration). This is of particular interest for the management and monitoring of Internet of Things (IoT) networks, where NTC will help to segregate traffic and behavior of heterogeneous devices and services. In this paper, we present a new technique for NTC based on a combination of deep learning models that can be used for IoT traffic. We show that a recurrent neural network (RNN) combined with a convolutional neural network (CNN) provides best detection results. The natural domain for a CNN, which is image processing, has been extended to NTC in an easy and natural way. We show that the proposed method provides better detection results than alternative algorithms without requiring any feature engineering, which is usual when applying other models. A complete study is presented on several architectures that integrate a CNN and an RNN, including the impact of the features chosen and the length of the network flows used for training.

Network Traffic Classifier With Convolutional and Recurrent Neural Networks for Internet of Things

Internet traffic identification is an important tool for network management. It allows operators to better predict future traffic matrices and demands, security personnel to detect anomalous behavior, and researchers to develop more realistic traffic models. We present here a traffic classifier that can achieve a high accuracy across a range of application types without any source or destination host-address or port information. We use supervised machine learning based on a Bayesian trained neural network. Though our technique uses training data with categories derived from packet content, training and testing were done using features derived from packet streams consisting of one or more packet headers. By providing classification without access to the contents of packets, our technique offers wider application than methods that require full packet/payloads for classification. This is a powerful advantage, using samples of classified traffic to permit the categorization of traffic based only upon commonly available information

/pdf/bayesian-neural-networks-for-internet-traffic-classification-n9gvp66imb.pdf

S.F. Gull

Papers

Bayesian Neural Networks for Internet Traffic Classification