Tools #

ProbeLab is running multiple sets of experiments that aim to push the boundaries of what is possible in the fields of networking, distributed systems, and measurement of decentralized networks. On this page, we give an overview of the tools and infrastructure that we have developed to monitor live distributed networks. Our efforts focus primarily on libp2p-based networks, but as of 2024-Q2 we are expanding to other protocol stacks.

Nebula #

Nebula is DHT crawler and monitor that is designed to track the liveliness and availability of peers. Nebula-based experiments are aimed at monitoring and improving the resilience and reliability of distributed systems by developing better tools for monitoring and managing decentralized peer-to-peer networks. Nebula currently supports libp2p- and discv5-based networks.

Parsec #

parsec is a DHT and IPNI performance measurement tool that is used to gather accurate data on the performance of lookups and publications. parsec-based experiments are aimed at improving the efficiency and speed of distributed systems by developing better algorithms for routing and data retrieval.

Tiros #

ProbeLab has built a website performance measurement tool, called tiros for websites hosted on IPFS. Tiros is designed to help developers monitor and optimize the performance of their IPFS-hosted websites. Tiros-based experiments measure retrieval and rendering metrics of websites loaded over IPFS. It also measures and compares the IPFS metrics with their HTTPS counterparts.

Hermes #

Hermes is a GossipSub listener and tracer for libp2p-based networks. Hermes-based experiments aim to measure the efficiency and performance of the GossipSub message broadcasting protocol in any libp2p-based network. Hermes can help developers tune their network’s protocols based on the message propagation latency and control message overhead. Hermes currently supports Ethereum CL-based networks.

Data Provenance #

The data produced by the tools above is used to generate the majority of plots on this website. Some external sources of data such as metrics produced by IPFS gateway infrastructure are also aggregated and used in their own plots or as a supplement to existing ones. Each plot is defined in an open format that includes the underlying data sources and queries made to extract the view of the data.