Garetto, MTowsley, D2024-04-262024-04-262008-01-01https://doi.org/10.1016/j.peva.2007.05.003https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/9629In this paper we describe an analytical technique for the performance evaluation of wide-area networks carrying realistic TCP traffic, such as that produced by a large number of finite-sized connections transferring files whose sizes are taken from a long-tail distribution. The analytical predictions are validated against detailed simulation experiments, and prove to be accurate and robust under a variety of operating conditions. The model also provides original insights into the impact on the network of long-tail flow length distributions, and allows the effectiveness of “TCP pacing” in reducing the traffic burstiness to be evaluated analytically. Our contribution is a performance evaluation methodology that could be usefully employed in network dimensioning and engineering.TCPtraffic burstinessnetwork performanceMarkovian modelsqueueing analysisarticle