Did You Know? The Hidden Impact of Microbursts on Network Performance
Not all network congestion happens gradually — some occurs in sudden, high-intensity spikes that last just milliseconds. These “microbursts” are nearly invisible to traditional monitoring tools because they focus on sampling the packets over longer periods of time and focus on the total number of packets in a second. This second resolution approach ensures these bursts of traffic are missed. Unfortunately, these microbursts can and do cause packet loss, resulting in application slowdowns and security vulnerabilities.
Did you know? A 100G link can experience a microburst that exceeds 12.5MB in just 1 millisecond—overloading buffers and dropping packets before operators even notice!
Since microbursts happen in sub-second intervals, they often go undetected by standard monitoring solutions that rely on 1-second polling intervals. Without real-time visibility, network teams may struggle to diagnose:
• Unexplained application slowdowns
• Random packet drops and retransmissions
• Unexpected latency spikes affecting real-time traffic
So how do you detect, analyze, and mitigate these invisible performance killers?
Why Traditional Monitoring Fails to Detect Microbursts
Most network monitoring tools use average utilization metrics, typically sampled at 1-second or longer intervals. While this method works for long-term trends, it completely misses microbursts because:
• Microbursts happen in milliseconds – Traditional tools measure in seconds, smoothing out spikes.
• Buffers overflow too quickly – By the time an issue is detected, packets have already been dropped.
• Congestion appears random – Without sub-millisecond resolution, packet loss seems intermittent and unpredictable.
If your monitoring tool only tells you that your network is fine on average, it’s not telling you the whole story.
cPacket’s Real-Time Microburst Detection & Analysis
cPacket eliminates blind spots by delivering continuous high-resolution visibility into every packet and every burst—without relying on averages.
How It Works:
• Millisecond Monitoring – Detects bursts at the wire level in real time using dedicated FPGAs/ASICs on each port.
• Buffer & Queue Insights – Pinpoints congestion before packets are lost.
• Traffic Spike Analytics – Tracks how bursts impact latency, packet loss, and application performance.
• Threshold-Based Alerts – Instantly notifies operators when microbursts exceed capacity.
With cPacket’s real-time analytics, network teams can see microbursts as they happen, correlate them with performance issues, and act before users experience problems.
Real-World Impact of Microbursts
1. High-Frequency Trading & Financial Networks
Microbursts can disrupt low-latency trading, leading to:
• Missed market opportunities due to delayed order execution.
• Inconsistent trade performance from unpredictable packet drops causing Trading Algorithms to not execute.
• Regulatory non-compliance when accurate timestamping is required (e.g., MiFID II, SEC Rule 613).
Example: A financial firm can correlate trading slowdowns with microbursts, allowing them to optimize low-latency infrastructure for faster execution.
2. Cloud & Data Center Performance Monitoring
Microbursts cause unexpected packet drops and TCP retransmissions, resulting in:
• Application latency spikes affecting customer experience.
• Inconsistent cloud service performance impacting SLAs.
• Unexplained server congestion that traditional monitoring fails to detect.
Example: A cloud provider uses real-time burst analytics to detect traffic spikes causing database query delays, ensuring a smoother user experience.
3. Video Streaming & VoIP Traffic Quality
Microbursts severely impact real-time applications, leading to:
• Choppy voice/video quality from jitter and packet loss.
• Increased buffering and latency in video streaming.
• Degraded Quality of Service (QoS) for time-sensitive applications.
Example: A telecom provider identifies microbursts affecting VoIP traffic, allowing them to adjust QoS policies dynamically.
4. Security & DDoS Attack Detection
Burst-based DDoS attacks can overwhelm firewalls and IDS/IPS systems before they can react, leading to:
• Temporary service outages due to buffer overruns.
• Inability to detect short-lived attack traffic.
• Increased vulnerability to volumetric attacks.
Example: A security team leverages cPacket’s burst analytics to identify sudden traffic spikes, enabling faster DDoS mitigation.
Why Choose cPacket for Microburst Detection?
• True Real-Time Monitoring – Detects monitors & analyzes bursts at sub-millisecond resolution.
• Proactive Packet Loss Prevention – Pinpoints congestion before packets drop.
• Comprehensive Burst Analytics – Identifies when, where, and why bursts occur.
• Improved Application Performance – Reduces latency spikes and retransmissions.
• Seamless Integration – Works with existing network and security tools.
Conclusion: If You’re Not Monitoring for Microbursts, You’re Missing the Problem
Microbursts disrupt performance, cause security risks, and create network blind spots. cPacket’s real-time, high-resolution analytics eliminate these gaps—giving operators the visibility they need to detect, analyze, and mitigate microbursts before they impact users.
Want to learn more about how cPacket’s microburst detection can improve your network? Contact us today!
