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Documents authored by Bustamante, Fabián E.

Document
DOI: 10.4230/OASIcs.NINeS.2026.16
Monitoring Latency on Submarine Cables: Limitations and Opportunities

Authors: Mia Weaver, Darryl Veitch, Paul Barford, Fabián E. Bustamante, and Esteban Carisimo

Published in: OASIcs, Volume 139, 1st New Ideas in Networked Systems (NINeS 2026)

Abstract
The world’s Submarine Cable Network (SCN) is a critical component of the Internet, supporting both inter- and intra- continental communication. We describe a methodology to extract packet latency (via RTT) information on submarine segments, using existing deployed infrastructure collecting standard traceroute measurements. The first component of the methodology identifies vantage points whose measurements traverse submarine segments. The second component provides novel, path-change-aware, approaches to extract the minRTT over the segments, using those vantage points. We demonstrate the efficacy of our method by using traceroute measurements from perfSONAR deployments as ground truth. Our results provide a clear view of the inherent limitations of existing deployed infrastructure. Although both our methodology and minimum RTT estimators raise the state of the art, they also reveal that such infrastructure cannot hope, in general, to access dynamic latency metrics such as latency variability (variance) arising from congestion.
Cite as

Mia Weaver, Darryl Veitch, Paul Barford, Fabián E. Bustamante, and Esteban Carisimo. Monitoring Latency on Submarine Cables: Limitations and Opportunities. In 1st New Ideas in Networked Systems (NINeS 2026). Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 139, pp. 16:1-16:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{weaver_et_al:OASIcs.NINeS.2026.16,
  author =	{Weaver, Mia and Veitch, Darryl and Barford, Paul and Bustamante, Fabi\'{a}n E. and Carisimo, Esteban},
  title =	{{Monitoring Latency on Submarine Cables: Limitations and Opportunities}},
  booktitle =	{1st New Ideas in Networked Systems (NINeS 2026)},
  pages =	{16:1--16:24},
  series =	{Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-414-7},
  ISSN =	{2190-6807},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{139},
  editor =	{Argyraki, Katerina and Panda, Aurojit},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/OASIcs.NINeS.2026.16},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-256013},
  doi =		{10.4230/OASIcs.NINeS.2026.16},
  annote =	{Keywords: Submarine Cable Network, Internet Measurement}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/OASIcs.NINeS.2026.23
Who Holds the Steering Wheel? Opacity and Consolidation in CDN Replica Selection

Authors: Rashna Kumar, Fabián E. Bustamante, and Marcel Flores

Published in: OASIcs, Volume 139, 1st New Ideas in Networked Systems (NINeS 2026)

Abstract
Replica selection, the process by which CDNs decide which server delivers content, has become a hidden lever of power and fragility in today’s Internet. Most users, operators, and policymakers remain blind to how these decisions are made, yet they shape latency, resilience, and sovereignty at global scale. DNS resolver centralization further distorts this function, concentrating influence in the hands of a few global actors. We present the first methodology to systematically infer CDN replica selection strategies at global scale, enabling third-party visibility into opaque steering mechanisms. Using RIPE Atlas probes and a geographically distributed set of DNS resolvers, we construct latency fingerprints that distinguish DNS-based, anycast, and regional anycast deployments. We validate our approach on well-documented global providers before applying it to a diverse set of 17 global and regional CDNs serving the top 1,000 websites across 19 countries, covering 66% of Internet users. We also examine ECS support and its interaction with DNS-based redirection. Our findings show that DNS-based steering remains the dominant approach, used by over 70% of CDNs and responsible for most delivered bytes, yet regional variation and mixed strategies complicate the picture. These results highlight replica selection not only as a technical optimization, but as a sociotechnical risk: opaque steering decisions, particularly among regional CDNs, amplify the effects of resolver consolidation and shape the Internet’s future resilience and control.
Cite as

Rashna Kumar, Fabián E. Bustamante, and Marcel Flores. Who Holds the Steering Wheel? Opacity and Consolidation in CDN Replica Selection. In 1st New Ideas in Networked Systems (NINeS 2026). Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 139, pp. 23:1-23:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{kumar_et_al:OASIcs.NINeS.2026.23,
  author =	{Kumar, Rashna and Bustamante, Fabi\'{a}n E. and Flores, Marcel},
  title =	{{Who Holds the Steering Wheel? Opacity and Consolidation in CDN Replica Selection}},
  booktitle =	{1st New Ideas in Networked Systems (NINeS 2026)},
  pages =	{23:1--23:23},
  series =	{Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-414-7},
  ISSN =	{2190-6807},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{139},
  editor =	{Argyraki, Katerina and Panda, Aurojit},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/OASIcs.NINeS.2026.23},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-256085},
  doi =		{10.4230/OASIcs.NINeS.2026.23},
  annote =	{Keywords: CDN, replica selection, Anycast, Regional Anycast, DNS, consolidation, centralization}
}
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