Abstract :
Network measurement was neglected in the Internet’s early stages, taking lower priority to increasing the network’s speed, capacity, and coverage. Recently, however, interest in network measurement has expanded, paving the way toward a growing understanding of the Internet’s structure and behavior. Unfortunately, as the number of Internet users has grown, antisocial and even malicious behavior has also increased. Countering these and other scaling challenges will require substantially more investment in Internet measurement and data analysis. The four articles that follow provide an introduction to this vital research area.