Ixnetwork Overview - L2/3 Network Infrastructure Performance Testing
Ixnetwork Overview - L2/3 Network Infrastructure Performance Testing
Ixnetwork Overview - L2/3 Network Infrastructure Performance Testing
NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE
PERFORMANCE TESTING
KEY FEATURES:
• Offers test coverage from 1G to 400G Ethernet
• Provides comprehensive protocol coverage for routing/switching, multiprotocol label switching
(MPLS), broadband access, industrial Ethernet (IE), data center networking, and software-defined
networking (SDN)
• Generates traffic flows that mimic realistic user applications and scenarios
• Works smoothly in virtualized network environments, and runs from any commercially available
compute environment
• Delivers end-to-end test system automation
SPECIFICATIONS
PROTOCOLS
IxNetwork emulates a wide variety of protocols using Ixia's CPU-based test port. Each test port supports
an independent multi-core CPU running protocol emulations under a Linux operating system. Using the
IxNetwork test application, each Ixia test port is capable of emulating thousands of routers or bridges with
millions of reachable networks and hosts. Users can easily scale the size of emulated topologies by
adding additional test ports. Combined with line-rate traffic generation and QoS measurement
capabilities, the CPU-based load modules verify advertised topologies and networks for reachability and
QoS performance.
TECHNOLOGY PROTOCOL
Routing and BGP-4, BGP+, OSPFv2/v3, ISISv4/v6, EIGRP, EIGRPv6, RIP, RIPng, BFD,
Switching IGMP/MLD, PIM-SM/SSM, STP/RSTP/MSTP, PVST+/RPVST+, Link
Aggregation (LACP), LISP, LLDP, BGP FlowSpec
Software Defined OpenFlow, Segment Routing, BGP Link State (BGP-LS), PCEP, VXLAN,
Network EVPN VXLAN, OVSDB, GENEVE, BGP FlowSpec, BGP SR TE Policy
Broadband and PPPoX/L2TPv2, DHCPv4/DHCPv6, Radius attributes for L2TP, ANCP, IPv6
Authentication Autoconfiguration (SLAAC), IGMP/MLD, IPTV, AMT, 802.1x, WebAuth,
EAPoUDP, Cisco NAC
Industrial Ethernet Link OAM (IEEE 802.3ah), CFM IEEE 802.1ag, Service OAM ITUT-Y.1731,
PBT/PBB-TE, ELMI, Sync-E ESMC, PTP IEEE 1588 with G.8265.1 Telecom
Profile, MSRP IEEE 802.1 Qat, gPTP IEEE 802.1as, Layer 2 AVB Transport
Protocols IEEE 1722
Data Center Ethernet DCBX/LLDP , FCoE/FIP, Priority Flow Control IEEE 802.1Qbb (PFC), TRILL,
TRILL OAM, Cisco FabricPath, SPBM, VEPA, VNTAG/VIC
TRAFFIC
IxNetwork supports hardware-based traffic generation and measurement that can ensure highest
precision and performance. The sophisticated traffic generator is also tightly integrated with the control-
plane protocols.
Dynamic Controls • Change frame rate and frame size on the fly
• Change pre-defined packet header field on the fly
• Update MPLS and PPP traffic dynamically, without having to stop and
restart traffic
Traffic Types IPv4, IPv6, MPLS multi-labels, Ethernet, VLAN, provider bridges (Q-in-Q),
provider backbone bridges (MAC-in-MAC), frame relay, ATM, PPP, HDLC,
L2 MPLS VPN (including FR and ATM to Ethernet PWE3 Internetworking),
L3 MPLS VPN, VPLS, 6PE, 6VPE, multicast, multicast VPN
Flow Grouping Build flow groups based on packet content (e.g., QoS or VLAN ID)
Traffic Profile Frame size Fixed, increment, random, IMIX, custom IMIX, Quad
Gaussian distribution, auto
Dynamic Fields Pre-defined packet header field, MPLS, and PPP - update corresponding
traffic packets on the fly when control plane information changes
Per-Flow Traffic Tracking Single or multi-field tracking of any field including: QoS (TOS/DSCP), VLAN,
source MAC address, destination MAC address, source IP address,
destination IP address, MPLS label, MPLS flow descriptor, streams, Src/Dst
IP pair, Src/Dst MAC pair, custom packet tracking
Real-Time Flow Filtering Real-time filtering of flows based on tracking settings with user defined
and Flow Detective criteria. Single out best/worst performing flows based on Rx count,
min/max/average latency, timestamp, real-time packet loss using sequence,
identify dead flows
MEASUREMENT SPECIFICATION
Loss Track Tx frames, Rx expected frames, Rx frames, Rx bytes frame delta loss %
Rate Tx frame rate, Rx frame rate, Rx rate (bps, Bps, Kbps, Mbps)
Latency Store and forward, cut-through, MEF frame delay, forwarding delay
Delay Variation (Jitter) Delay variation measurement (jitter) minimum, average, maximum
Sequence Small error, big error, reverse error, last sequence number, duplicate frames,
sequence gaps
TrueView™ Convergence Control plane and data plane integrated time stamping for calculating
convergence measurements
Packet Loss Duration Estimated time without received packets calculated by frames delta at the
expected Rx rate
Late Packets Per-flow count of packets that arrived late; user-defined threshold for late
packets
Re-Ordered Packets Per-flow count of packets that were received out of order
Statistics Viewer
FUNCTION STATISTICS
Port Port mode, speed, frame and data rate, OAM statistics, misdirected
Data Plane Port Port-based frame counts and rate excluding control-plane traffic
Traffic Item Statistics provide an aggregate of all the flows in the Traffic Item
User Defined User-defined view is used for drill-down to user-defined tracking options
RESOURCE MANAGER
Often expertise for different protocols lies within different members of a testing team. A common pain-
point for our customers was the lack of a collaboration tool to aid them in incrementally building
configurations. With the Resource Manager, users can now piece-meal their configurations together. The
Resource Manager allows users to save different pieces of their configurations, like protocols and traffic
elements, and then build a configuration by re-using saved elements in their current configuration.
Resource Manager
It also allows users to clearly see changes made to their resources/configurations by using a “diff”
functionality within the application. Using the Resource Manager is a powerful way to collaborate and
quickly build expertise with a team.
REPORTS
Building a test-results report requires test data. IxReporter introduces a new database, referred to in the
application as an “object model.” The object model is populated by a testing application (like IxNetwork)
with the test configuration parameters and the test results. All of these “objects” can be included in a
report, usually in a table or chart. With this powerful concept, tables and charts can be created which
combine statistics and configuration information as well as have multiple protocols.
AUTOMATION
IxNetwork provides powerful GUI-based automation with Test Composer and QuickTest. It also has a
robust feature set for GUI-to-script and API-based automation. IxNetwork’s automation is simplicity at its
best. Test scenarios are set up using IxNetwork’s step-by-step GUI, and then a single button-press generates a
TCL test script. Scripts may be modified and combined in any fashion. When the script is run, the IxNetwork GUI
watches the execution – providing real-time statistics and state information.
QUICKTEST TESTS
RFC 2544 Tests Throughput and latency, frame loss, back-to-back; available in
QuickTest Web Edition
RFC 2889 Tests Address Cache, Address Rate, Broadcast Rate, Congestion
Control, Frame Error Filtering, Fully Meshed, Many to One, One
to Many, Partially Meshed; available in QuickTest Web Edition
RFC 7747 Tests BGP convergence over ECMP benchmark test; available in
QuickTest Web Edition
RFC 3918 Tests Aggregated Multicast Throughput, Burdened Group Join Delay,
Burdened Multicast Latency, Forwarding Latency, Group Join/Leave
delay, Mixed Class throughput, Multicast Group Capacity, Multicast
Group Pattern Verification, Scaled Group Forwarding
IEEE 1588v2 (PTP) Best Master Selection, Transparent Clock Correction Factor Error,
Slave Scalability
QUICKTEST TESTS
Converged Data Center FCoE Max No Drop Throughput, FCoE Max No Pause
Throughput, Cloud Performance
Broadband Control Plane Tests Session setup rate and session capacity tests for PPP/L2TPv2,
802.1x, and NAC
Custom Tests Continuous run, fixed duration run, incremental, throughput (binary
search)
IMPAIRMENT
IxNetwork supports a list of ImpairNet® modules that emulate real-life network impairments. Testing a
variety of applications that run over WAN networks, ImpairNet offers unparalleled scaling, ease-of-use,
and measurement accuracy. Refer to Ixia web site for ImpairNet data sheet.
PLATFORM OPTIONS
TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS
930-9501
IxNetwork Tier-1 FLOATING Subscription license for use with Ixia hardware. Includes all IxNetwork
protocols supported in IxNetwork for a duration of 1-Year. Supports low scale control plane
930-9502
IxNetwork Tier-2 FLOATING Subscription license for use with Ixia hardware. Includes all IxNetwork
protocols supported, all IxNetwork QuickTests, All Test Automation (Macro Recorder, Test Composer
licenses) features and IxReporter for a duration of 1-Year. Supports unlimited scale control plane (not to
exceed LM capacity)
930-9503
IxNetwork Tier-3 FLOATING Subscription license for use with Ixia hardware. Includes all IxNetwork
protocols supported, all IxNetwork QuickTests, All Test Automation (Macro Recorder, Test Composer
licenses) features, IxReporter, ImpairNet and AppLibrary for a duration of 1-Year. Supports unlimited
scale control plane (not to exceed LM capacity)
QUICK TEST
930-2022
IxNetwork, Optional Software, RFC2544 and Custom Integrated Tests over Advertised Topologies;
REQUIRES pre-existing 930-1999 IxNetwork Base license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base
PLUS (930-2056) or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM (930-2076)
930-2027
IxNetwork, Optional Software, Control Plane Tests for PPP/L2TPv2, 802.1x, NAC; REQUIRES pre-
existing 930-1999 IxNetwork Base license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056)
or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM (930-2076)
930-2401
IxNetwork, Optional Software, RFC 2889 QuickTest; REQUIRES pre-existing 930-1999 IxNetwork Base
license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056) or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM (930-
2076)
930-2403
IxNetwork, Optional Software, IP Multicast RFC 3918 QuickTest; REQUIRES 930-2067 IGMP/MLD
Emulation (or 930-2004 IxNetwork Multicast Emulation); REQUIRES pre-existing 930-1999 IxNetwork
Base license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056) or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM
(930-2076)
930-2405
IxNetwork, Optional Software; FCoE/FC Performance QuickTest; This QuickTest performs binary and
step search to find the max no-drop and no-PAUSE throughput performance of a DCB switch, an FCoE
switch, or an FC switch; REQUIRES 930-2039 IxNetwork FCoE-Client Emulation; REQUIRES 930-2043
IxNetwork DCBX emulation if DCBX is required; REQUIRES 930-2049 IxNetwork FCF emulation if FCF
emulation is required; REQUIRES 930-2074 IxNetwork FC N_Port emulation if Fibre Channel is required;
REQUIRES pre-existing 930-1999 IxNetwork Base license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base
PLUS (930-2056) or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM (930-2076)
930-2407
IxNetwork, Optional Software, IPTV QuickTests; REQUIRES 930-2067 IGMP/MLD Emulation (or 930-
2004 IxNetwork Multicast Emulation); REQUIRES pre-existing 930-1999 IxNetwork Base license OR new
purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056) or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM (930-2076)
930-2408
IxNetwork, Optional Software, Y.1564 QuickTest; REQUIRES pre-existing 930-1999 IxNetwork Base
license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056) or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM (930-
2076)
930-2409
IxNetwork, Optional Software, Asymmetric Data Performance QuickTest; REQUIRES pre-existing 930-
1999 IxNetwork Base license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056) or IxNetwork
Base PREMIUM (930-2076)
930-2410
IxNetwork, Optional Software, 1588v2 (PTP) QuickTest; REQUIRES pre-existing 930-1999 IxNetwork
Base license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056) or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM
(930-2076)
930-2411
IxNetwork, IxCloudPerf QuickTest; Measures the forwarding performance of a data center switch using
simulated data center North-South and East-West traffic profiles; Provides a binary-search test
methodology, a timeline test methodology, and a dynamic test methodology; REQUIRES pre-existing
930-1999 IxNetwork Base license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056) or
IxNetwork Base PREMIUM (930-2076)
930-2412
IxNetwork, OpenFlow QuickTest; OpenFlow Benchmarking test; Flow Table Capacity, Flow Learning
Rate, Flow Failover Test; REQUIRES IxNetwork OpenFlow Emulation License (930-2077) AND pre-
existing 930-1999 IxNetwork Base license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056)
or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM (930-2076)
930-2424
IxNetwork, Optional Software, RFC 7747 BGP Convergence QuickTest Web Edition; Requires BGP
Emulation (930-2005, 930-2007); REQUIRES pre-existing 930-1999 IxNetwork Base license OR new
purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056) or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM (930-2076)
APPLIBRARY
930-3461
IxNetwork AppLibrary Slot Bundle, Layer 4-7 Performance Test Application; Enables support for
AppLibrary on a single supported load module. It includes the AppLibrary feature and subscription service
to access new application flows for one-year period. Requires previous purchase of 930-2056 (IxNetwork
Base) or higher bundle
930-3463
IxNetwork AppLibrary Chassis Bundle, Layer 4-7 Performance Test Application. Enables support for
AppLibrary on up to 12 supported load modules in a single XM/XG chassis. INCLUDES: The AppLibrary
feature and subscription service to access new application flows for one year. Requires: Previous
purchase of 930-2056 (IxNetwork Base) or higher bundle
IMPAIRMENT
930-2600
IxNetwork, Optional Software, Network Impairment Simulation Software for ImpairNet, REQUIRES pre-
existing 930-1999 IxNetwork Base license OR new purchase of either IxNetwork Base PLUS (930-2056)
or IxNetwork Base PREMIUM (930-2076)
930-2601
IxNetwork, Optional Software, Extended delay up to 600ms for EIM10G4S ImpairNet, REQUIRES 930-
2600 Network Impairment Software
930-2602
IxNetwork, Optional Software, Packet Modification for ImpairNet, REQUIRES 930-2600 Network
Impairment Software
930-2603
IxNetwork, Optional Software, Accumulate and Burst for ImpairNet, REQUIRES 930-2600 Network
Impairment Software