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Packetstorm Network Emulator - complete network simulation

"Internet in a Box" - impair packets with delay, jitter, loss, bandwidth throttle at data rates from 56Kbps to 10Gbps

 

     
  • Easy-to-use GUI
  • Encompassing Impairments
  • Extensive Modifiers
  • Advanced Filtering
  • Dynamic Emulation
  • Data Generation
  • Statistics
  • Multiple Interfaces
  • Live Network Capture & Replay
  • Impair IP and non-IP traffic
  • Interfaces up to 10Gbps

 

Main Features

The PacketStorm IP Network Emulators and simulators reproduce the unfavorable conditions of IP Networks and WANs in a controllable and repeatable lab setting. PacketStorm is the Industry leader of Layer 2 and Layer 3 WAN emulation and network bandwidth simulation.

The emulator recreates the dynamic behaviour of the Internet such that any network model can be reproduced including those models that change with traffic, time, or the behaviour of another traffic flow.

Packetstorm gives the user complete control over packet impairments, modifiers and filtering within a multi-link simulation and can have multiple LAN,WAN and ATM interface cards.

Packetstorm is available in a range of hardware and software formats to match differing test and interface requirements. The top of the range PacketStorm4XG IP network emulator provides WAN emulation for multiple 1Gbps and 10Gbps ports. The PacketStorm4XG has over 64 million packets per second throughput. Up to four 10Gbps or thirty-two 1Gbps ports can be installed in one chassis. The PacketStorm4XG impairs IP and non-IP traffic.

Advanced features include: Routing & Bridging, Diff Serv with traffic conditioning, ToS emulation, IP monitoring, packet counters and timers, Tcl scripting language, network capture & replay, packet modifiers, multiple network interfaces, network queues, and remote control. The available parameters are set out in the table below.

Packet Impairments
Packet Modifiers
Packet Filters
Network Interfaces
  • Delay
  • Jitter
  • Drop
  • Decimate
  • Duplicate
  • Re-Order
  • Throttle
  • Fragment
  • MTU
  • Burst Drop
  • Sink
  • Accumulate & Burst
  • Bit Error

>>more details

  • Source Address
  • Destination Address
  • MAC Address
  • ToS
  • DSCP
  • TTL (Set)
  • TTL (Decrement)
  • TTL (Check)
  • Protocol
  • Transport Checksum
  • Network Checksum
  • Source Port
  • Destination Port
  • Fragment (Yes)
  • Fragment (No)
  • MPLS
  • VLAN

>>more details

  • Source Address
  • Destination Address
  • MAC Address
  • Source Port
  • Destination Port
  • Bit Pattern
  • Protocol
  • ToS
  • Diff Serv
  • MPLS
  • VLAN
  • IPv6

>>more details

  • Ethernet
  • Gig Ethernet
  • 10 Gig Ethernet
  • Fibre Channel
  • T1/E1
  • DS3
  • E3
  • OC-3
  • OC-12

>>more details

Network Queues
  • Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ)
  • Stochastic Fair Queuing (SFQ)
  • Weighted
  • Round Robin
  • Random Early Detection (RED)
  • Balance RED
  • First In, First Out (FIFO)
  • Prioritized FIFO
  • Leaky Bucket
  • Token Bucket

>>more details

Descriptions of variable parameters and interfaces are set out in the following table.

Packet Impairments
Description
Delay Packets encounter a time delay. Delay has the following distributions: fixed, Gaussian, Exponential, Uniform, Bi-Modal, and InterNet.
Jitter Packets encounter a time-varying delay. Jitter has the following distributions: Gaussian, Exponential, Uniform, Bi-Modal, and InterNet.
Drop A percentage of packets are discarded randomly.
Decimate Every nth packet in a stream is discarded.
Duplicate A percentage of packets are duplicated.
Re-Order Packets can be moved out of order from their original sequence
Throttle Limits the output data rate. Typically, throttle emulates a slow connection on a network
Fragment A percentage of packets are fragmented according to the maximum transmission unit (MTU).
MTU All packets are fragmented according to the maximum transmission unit (MTU).
Burst Drop A group of packets are dropped according to a user specified percentage
Sink All packets are discarded. Emulates an unreachable destination.
Accumulate and Burst Holds packets until queue is filled and timer expires. Creates bursty traffic that is typical in the Internet
Bit Error Inserts random or periodic errors in either the payload only or the complete packet
>>Return to Features
Packet Modifiers
Description
Source Address Inserts a user specified value into the source address.
Destination Address Inserts a user specified value into the destination address.
ToS Inserts a user specified value into the Type of Service field.
DSCP Inserts a user specified value into the Diff Serv field
TTL (Set) Inserts a user specified value into the TTL field.
TTL (Decrement) Subtracts n from the current Time To Live value similar to what occurs when a packet makes n router hops
TTL (Check) Looks at the value of the Time To Live field. If the value is equal to 0, the packet is discarded
Protocol Inserts a user specified value into the protocol field
Transport Checksum Allows the user to corrupt the Transport Checksum by inserting any legal value.
Network Checksum Allows the user to corrupt the Network Checksum by inserting any legal value.
Source Port Inserts a user specified value into the source port field.
Destination Port Inserts a user specified value into the destination port field
Fragment (Yes) Sets the "Don't Fragment Flag" to "0".
Fragment (No) Sets the "Don't Fragment Flag" to "1"
MPLS Inserts user specified values into one or two MPLS labels
>>Return to Features
Network Interfaces
Description
Ethernet 10 or 100 Mbps, 10 Base-T, 100 Base-T Interface, Half or Full Duplex
Gigabit Ethernet 1000Mbps, Multimode and Single-mode, 62.5µ / 125µ, SC
T1/E1 Fractional, 1.544Mbps, 2.048Mbps, PPP, Cisco HDLC
DS3 Fractional, 44.736Mbps, Frame Relay, Cisco HDLC, PPP, Raw HDLC
E3 Fractional, 52Mbps, Frame Relay, Raw HDLC, Cisco HDLC, PPP
OC-3 155Mbps, ATM (AAL5, Classical IP in ATM Encapsulation)
OC-12 622 Mbps, ATM (AAL5, Classical IP in ATM Encapsulation)
>>Return to Features
Network Queues
Description
Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) A queuing algorithm in which each traffic flow is given a specific proportion of the network capacity
Stochastic Fair Queuing (SFQ) A queuing algorithm in which packets are randomly assigned multiple queues and then the queues are processed on a round robin basis. SFQ is an approximation to WFQ requiring lower overhead
Weighted Round Robin A queuing algorithm in which queues are given priority (weight) and packets are released on a round robin basis according to their weight
Random Early Detection (RED) A queuing algorithm in which packets are dropped randomly as a routers queue exceeds a preset threshold. The RED algorithm is designed to interact with the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to cause TCP to reduce how fast packets are launched in flows that are experiencing congestion
Balance RED A queuing algorithm in which packets are dropped based on the buffer occupancy of the packets flow. If a flow exceeds a preset threshold, the router drops the flows incoming packets. Balanced RED ensures non-adaptive flows are penalized to prevent them from stealing bandwidth from adaptive flows.
First In, First Out (FIFO) A queuing algorithm in which packets are processed in the order in which they are received
Prioritized FIFO A queuing algorithm in which packets are prioritized and processed according to their priority and order in which they were received. Higher priority packets are released before any lower priority packets
Leaky Bucket A queuing algorithm that restricts the queues output to a maximum rate
Token Bucket A queuing algorithm in which a queue accumulates credit during idle times which can be used to allow packet burst rates that are higher than the average rate
>>Return to Features
Packet Filters
Description
Source Address Packets are routed through specific impairments, modifiers and network queues based on its source address.
Destination Address Packets are routed through specific impairments, modifiers and network queues based on its destination address
Source Port Packets are routed through specific impairments, modifiers and network queues based on its source port.
Destination Port Packets are routed through specific impairments, modifiers and network queues based on its destination port
Protocol Packets are routed through specific impairments, modifiers and network queues based on its protocol label
ToS Packets are impaired and modified based on its Type Of Service (ToS) field value
Diff Serv Packets are impaired and modified based on its Diff Serv (DSCP) field value
MPLS Packets are impaired and modified based on its MPLS Shim value.
>>Return to Features

Data capture and replay

The PacketStorm PSCapture Network Monitor and Recorder provides the capability to transfer the production network into the test lab. Real network data is replayed in PacketStorm's hardware emulators to construct repeatable WAN emulation and network simulation.

Features

  • Captures network characteristics
  • Easy-to-use GUI
  • Data compatible with emulators
  • Real time graphs
  • Real time histograms
  • Up to sixteen simultaneous captures
  • Data saved & recalled in three formats
  • Highlight & save capability

Applications

  • Network Monitoring
  • Network Characterization
  • Application Performance
  • Network Security
  • Regression Testing

 

Traffic Conditioning Emulation

To emulate emerging IP networks utilizing Differentiated Services (DiffServ), Service Level Agreements (SLA), and Quality of Service (Qos) in IP networks, the ability to condition and police IP network traffic is essential.

The PacketStorm Traffic Conditioning emulates Queuing methods used to condition IP network traffic (i.e., Edge routers that condition traffic based upon a SLA). A description of each emulated queuing method is given below.

Network Queues
Description
Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) A queuing algorithm in which each traffic flow is given a specific proportion of the network capacity
Stochastic Fair Queuing (SFQ) A queuing algorithm in which packets are randomly assigned multiple queues and then the queues are processed on a round robin basis. SFQ is an approximation to WFQ requiring lower overhead
Weighted Round Robin A queuing algorithm in which queues are given priority (weight) and packets are released on a round robin basis according to their weight
Random Early Detection (RED) A queuing algorithm in which packets are dropped randomly as a routers queue exceeds a preset threshold. The RED algorithm is designed to interact with the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to cause TCP to reduce how fast packets are launched in flows that are experiencing congestion
Balance RED A queuing algorithm in which packets are dropped based on the buffer occupancy of the packets flow. If a flow exceeds a preset threshold, the router drops the flows incoming packets. Balanced RED ensures non-adaptive flows are penalized to prevent them from stealing bandwidth from adaptive flows.
First In, First Out (FIFO) A queuing algorithm in which packets are processed in the order in which they are received
Prioritized FIFO A queuing algorithm in which packets are prioritized and processed according to their priority and order in which they were received. Higher priority packets are released before any lower priority packets
Leaky Bucket A queuing algorithm that restricts the queues output to a maximum rate
Token Bucket A queuing algorithm in which a queue accumulates credit during idle times which can be used to allow packet burst rates that are higher than the average rate


Differential Service Emulation

The PacketStorm1800E/2600E provides the emulation of any IP network with up to sixty four levels of service. Each level has independent impairment and modifier profiles. In addition, a traffic conditioner performs marking, policing, and shaping operations on all incoming packets. Thus out-of-profile packets can be re-marked for another level, policed (dropped), or shaped (queued until they are in profile). The queuing methods include: Random Early Detection, Balanced RED, Leaky Bucket, WFQ, Weighted Round Robin, FIFO, Token Bucket, Priority FIFO, and SFQ.

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The Packetstorm Network Simulator is just one of many Phoenix Datacom network simulation and traffic generation products that can save time and money in the development and pre-deployment testing of new products, technologies and applications.

To find out more about the Packetstorm Network Simulator call Phoenix Datacom on 01296 397711, send an email to info@phoenixdatacom.com or use the Request More Info form.

For a full list of Phoenix Datacom products and applications, click here.

 

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