Data center congestion management for non-TCP traffic

A method for implementing congestion management of non-TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) traffic in a network, comprising:

• determining a non-congested transit latency for a path between a source end-node and a destination end-node, wherein the path traverses at least one switch and the non-congested transit latency is an overall transit latency for the path;
• measuring transit latencies for transfer of non-TCP packets or Ethernet frames encapsulating non-TCP packets along the path between the source end-node and the destination end-node, each transit latency that is measured for a non-TCP packet or an Ethernet frame encapsulating a non-TCP packet comprising an overall transit latency for the path;
• determining, for transfer of each of at least a portion of the non-TCP packets or Ethernet frames, whether to mark the path as congested or not congested based on a difference between the transit latency measured for the non-TCP packet or Ethernet frame and the non-congested transit latency determined for the path;
• and
• managing a rate at which the non-TCP packets are transmitted from the source end-node to be forwarded via the path to the destination end-node based as a function of a rate at which the path is marked as congested,
• wherein the non-congested transit latency is an overall transit latency that is measured along a one-way path from the source end-node to the destination end-node, and each of the transit latencies for the transfer of the non-TCP packets or the Ethernet frames is an overall transit latency that is measured along the same one-way path.