Experience-driven experimental systems research

PlanetLab is a global platform, which helps to motivate and demonstrate the feasibility of a research facility for catalyzing future Internet design. PlanetLab explores the value of experimental systems with real users in the context of PlanetLab itself and the suite of services developed as part of the Content Distribution Network (CoDeeN). Instrumentation of CoDeeN helps in data collection, resulting in a more accurate model of Internet failure behavior. Experimentation with running controlled experiments in computer science are designed to evaluate implementation and engineering choices. PlanetLab supports the required usage model through distributed virtualization, with each service running within a slice of PlanetLab's global resources. Computer science also benefits from deployment studies that involve building and running prototypes subjected to real use.