System and method for verifying multiprotocol label switching contracts

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
• sending, during a measuring period, a plurality of probes from a first node in a network to a second node in the network, the plurality of probes being configured to elicit respective error responses from the second node;
• receiving, at the first node, the respective error responses from the second node, the respective error responses being marked by the second node with respective differentiated service code point values indicating respective classes of service and respective out-of-contract statuses;
• based on the respective differentiated service code point values and a table that maps each predetermined differentiated service code point value to a particular class of service and an out-of-contract status, determining, by the first node, a number of network packets in the respective error responses that are classified by the second node as out-of-contract during the measuring period;
• measuring a total number of probes sent to the second node during the measuring period;
• verifying whether the second node is configured to classify incoming packets in accordance with a service level agreement for the class of service based on the number of network packets that are classified by the second node as out-of-contract for the class of service and the total number of probes sent to the second node;
• and
• based on the verification, performing one or more of configuring the second node to classify packets according to the service level agreement and/or calibrating the service level agreement.

A computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• sending, during a measuring period, a plurality of probes from a first node in a network to a second node in the network, the plurality of probes being configured to elicit respective error responses from the second node;
• receiving, at the first node, the respective error responses from the second node, the respective error responses being marked by the second node with respective differentiated service code point values indicating respective classes of service and respective out-of-contract statuses;
• based on the respective differentiated service code point values and a table that maps each predetermined differentiated service code point value to a particular class of service and an out-of-contract status, determining by the first node, a number of packets in the respective error responses that are classified by the second node as out-of-contract for a class of service during the measuring period;
• measuring a total number of probes sent to the second node during the measuring period;
• verifying whether the second node is configured to classify incoming packets in accordance with a service level agreement for the class of service based on the number of network packets that are classified by the second node as out-of-contract for the class of service and the total number of probes sent to the second node;
• and
• based on the verification, performing one or more of configuring the second node to classify packets according to the service level agreement and/or calibrating the service level agreement.