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Candela's LANforge other features

Candela’s Specific LANforge-FIRE Example (DSL)

Suppose that you have a DSLAM you wish to test with the LANforge package. The DSLAM has one 10/100 BaseT Ethernet interface that goes towards the network, and supports ninety-six (96) CPE DSL modems. Each DSL modem has at least one Ethernet port for the customer's equipment (or LANforge) to connect to.


Candela’s Generating Line-speed UDP traffic

LANforge supports Linux kernel accelerated UDP traffic generation and reception. This feature, known as LANforge-Armageddon, generates line-speed packet rates on 10/100Mbps networks, and can currently generate up to 999Mbps on Gigabit Ethernet networks.

LANforge-Armageddon can also customize or randomize various Ethernet, IP, and UDP header fields, making it an excellent tool for break-it testing to see if your system-under-test can withstand the onslaught.

Candela’s LANforge-ICE WAN Emulator

The LANforge-ICE platform is used to simulate T1, DS3, OC-3, OC-12, GigE, DSL, Satellite, Dial-Up, and other Wide Area Networks (WANs). LANforge-ICE can simulate many attributes of a WAN, including latency, jitter, packet-loss, packet-reordering, packet-duplication and bandwidth constraints. Latency and jitter is configurable in 1ms increments, and the packet-loss, reordering, and duplication settings are X packets per million.

LANforge-ICE can be configured to run entirely on a single laptop provided by Candela Technologies or a distributor, and it can also be configured on rack-mounted units or your own machines. The Linux version is currently more accurate and faster, but the Windows solution is fine for speeds of 45Mbps and slower.

Candela’s Typical LANforge-ICE Configuration

LANforge-ICE is usually installed on a single machine with two Ethernet ports free for use by LANforge. It takes exactly two ports to simulate a WAN link, but if you wish to run several WAN simulations simultaneously, you may order a LANforge-ICE configuration with 4 or more ports. LANforge-ICE also supports 802.1Q VLANs, and when used in conjunction with a properly configured VLAN ethernet switch, a single LANforge machine can easily emulate 48 or more unique networks configurations. The devices under test do NOT need to use or support 802.1Q VLANs, just regular Ethernet.

LANforge-ICE: The Business Case

o Reduces lab and training costs by replacing expensive WAN hardware such as T1 and FrameRelay devices

o Automates testing with various scripting features and libraries

o Compact form factor and rack-mount chassis conserves valuable lab space

o Laptop form factor makes LANforge-ICE a friendly traveling companion and a good option for trade shows and customer demos

o Validates stability and functionality of devices and programs functioning across a wide variety of network conditions

o Very affordable, especially when compared to competitors

o Delivers advanced, remote, cross-platform, graphical management interface

o Implements a modular architecture that allows you to leverage your existing LANforge investment as your need for capacity increases

o Turnkey solution (LANforge systems come pre-installed and configured based upon customer supplied information - software-only packages are also available)

o Ease of use - central management of entire LANforge system from anywhere on the network

LANforge-ICE Product Features and Highlights

o Able to simulate DS1, DS3, DSL, OC-3, OC-12, GigE, CableModem, Satellite links and other rate-limited networks

o Can modify various network attributes including: line-speed, latency, jitter, packet-loss, packet-reordering, and packet-duplication

o Supports WanPath feature to allow configuration of specific behavior between different MAC/IP pairs or subnets using a single pair of physical interfaces

o Available configurations include all-in-one Laptops and rack mount systems for stationary labs

o Allows packet sniffing and network protocol decoding with the integrated Ethereal protocol sniffer

o Comprehensive management information detailing all aspects of the LANforge system including processor card statistics, test cases, and ethernet port statistics

o GUI runs as Java application on Linux and Microsoft Operating Systems (among others)

o GUI can run remotely, even over a dial-up modem link to accommodate the needs of the users

o Central management application can manage multiple units, tests, and testers simultaneously

o Supports scriptable command line interface (TELNET) which can be used to automate test scenarios (Perl libraries and example scripts are also provided!)

o Automatic discovery of LANforge processor cards simplifies maintenance of LANforge test equipment

o LANforge traffic generation and management software supported on Red Hat Linux and Microsoft Windows 2000, XP and Vista

LANforge-ICE Test Scenarios

o Simulate a full T1 with 35ms latency, 10ms jitter, and 15 packets-per-million drop rate.

o Simulate a DSL connection with 15ms latency, 10ms jitter, and 150 packets-per-million drop rate, running 784Kbps downstream and 256Kbps upstream.

o Insertion duplicate and reordered packets to verify your RTP streaming protocols can handle it gracefully.

o Create regression scripts using LANforge Perl libraries or your own favorite scripting language.

http://www.candelatech.com

Candela's LANforge Testing Specific Protocols

LANforge directly supports: Ethernet, PPPoE, UDP/IP, TCP/IP, FTP, PING, GOPHER, VoIP (SIP, H.323, RTP, RTCP), HTTP and HTTPS. Generally, these protocols will be sufficient to test any network. Some users may want to specify their own packets for specific tests, and to that end, LANforge gives you the ability to input any Ethernet packet directly onto the network. The LANforge-GUI also offers some protocol builders for common protocols like TCP/IP, UDP/IP, and Ethernet.

o       Generating World Wide Web (HTTP) Traffic

The World Wide Web generally uses the HTTP protocol, which runs on top of TCP/IP. Typical traffic is highly bursty and contains random sized packets. It is also largely unidirectional, with the bulk of the traffic flowing downstream towards the customer. Because TCP/IP is a stream based protocol, if you are testing a device that routes (as opposed to a simple layer-two bridge) then you will most likely want to have many relatively slow connections flowing from a few LANforge ports representing servers to many LANforge ports representing the clients. These Cross-Connects should have bursty traffic rates, as well as random payload sizes.

You can set up a web server (potentially on another LANforge machine) and tell LANforge to download URLs at some specified rate (URLs-per-10-minutes). Unlike browser tests, LANforge will not try to cache any values, so you will always get the traffic patterns you request!

Most other, non-streaming, protocols also run over TCP/IP. It has the nice feature of using all available bandwidth, but it also slows down when the network becomes congested. If you are trying to gauge the total throughput of a system, TCP/IP Cross-Connects with large (4000 bytes or higher) payloads will be the easiest method. Just tell the LANforge to run at a speed higher than your system-under-test can handle, and then watch the actual rate that LANforge displays.

o       Generating FTP Traffic

Another popular Internet protocol is FTP. FTP generates highly unidirectional traffic in either the upload or download direction. LANforge-FIRE supports FTP uploads as well as downloads. LANforge machines also come with an FTP server, so you will not need any external equipment to do your testing, though you may use your own FTP server if you so wish.

o       Generating File-System Traffic

LANforge-FIRE can be used to generate file-system traffic (i.e., read and write to files on the local machine). You can specify, among other features, the size and number of files to read/write and the size of the individual calls to the read and write system calls. You can also calculate and check a 32-bit checksum on the reads & writes for correctness checking. Because Linux can mount file systems over the network, including NFS, SAMBA (SMB), and iSCSI, this feature can allow you to generate network file protocols as well.

o       Using LANforge to integrate generic programs

LANforge-FIRE can launch and display results from almost any command-line Linux tool, such as ping and traceroute. LANforge facilitates your testing by providing a framework in which to run such tools and store their results in a centralized place. Contact Candela Technologies if you have questions about a specific program.

o       Generating VoIP & RTP traffic

Voice Over IP (VoIP) and other streaming media protocols usually run over UDP/IP. This is a connectionless protocol, and it may lose or re-order packets from time to time. However, it has much less overhead than TCP/IP, and because most streaming protocols are real-time sensitive, it is better to be fast and occasionally lose a packet, than to always run slow(er).

LANforge supports the SIP and H.323 VoIP messaging protocols and can generate the RTP media stream as well. A male and female voice wav file is included and the customer can provide other wav files as well. Several RTP codecs are supported including G711u, G729, G726-16, G726-32 and Speex. More codecs will be supported as customers request them. A high-end LANforge chassis can emulate 140 or more VoIP phones, including all SIP messaging and RTP media streams. Multiple LANforge machines can be clustered together for even more call capacity.

o       Simulating TFTP (BOOTP/DHCP)

The Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) and Boot Protocol (BOOTP)/Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) are often used to boot network computers and Customer-Premise-Equipment (cable/DSL modems). All three protocols run over UDP/IP. Generally, these protocols run as fast as their network will allow, so if you are trying to simulate this protocol you will want to tell LANforge to run at the highest speed possible without dropping more than 1% of the traffic. These Cross-Connects should be of type UDP/IP and the payload size should fit into the MTU for your network.

Candela’s LANforge-FIRE Test Scenarios

o       Run simultaneous Raw Ethernet, UDP/IP, TCP/IP, FTP, VoIP, and HTTP over the same Ethernet ports

o       Identify dropped, duplicate, reordered and corrupted packets

o       Create streams of various packet sizes and payloads, including:

Fixed payload size and contents

Random payload size and contents

Custom packets, including all headers, as specified by the user

o       Use fine grain control over packet rate, including the ability to specify bursty traffic to give a true representation of customer usage patterns

o       Blast your system-under-test with line speed 64 byte packets with randomized MAC and TCP addresses, to see if it can survive!

o       Create regression scripts using LANforge Perl libraries or your own favorite scripting language

o       Change MAC Addresses and IP information dynamically with a script, simulating mobile clients

o       Generate file system traffic to test local machine's performance

o       Generate NFS, SMB, and/or iSCSI file system traffic to test network and network-storage devices

Candela’s LANforge-WiFIRE 802.11a/b/g Traffic Generator Feature Highlights

o        Useful for testing Wireless Access Points and deployments

o        Can emulate up to 31 802.11a/b/g wireless client stations (Virtual STAs)

o        Each Virtual STA can be associated with a particular Access Point (AP)

o        Each Virtual STA has unique MAC address, IP address and routing table

o        128bit WEP supported

o        Supports all LANforge-FIRE traffic generation features, including HTTP, TCP, UDP, VoIP (SIP, RTP) and more.

http://www.candelatech.com

Candela’s LANforge VoIP/RTP Call Generator Feature Highlights

o       SIP and/or H.323 protocol used for call management

            SIP currently supported only on Linux, H.323 supported on both Windows and Linux

            SIP/UDP supported, H.323 uses both UDP and TCP

            Can use directed mode, where VoIP phones call directly to themselves

            Can also use Gateway mode where the VoIP phones register with a SIP or H.323 gateway

o       RTP protocol used for streaming media transport, and supports the following CODECS (more codecs will be supported in the future):

            G.711u: 64kbps data stream, 50 packets per second (SIP, H.323)

            Speex: 16kbps data stream, 50 packets per second (SIP ONLY)

            G.726-16: 16kbps data stream, 50 packets per second (SIP only)

            G.726-24: 24kbps data stream, 50 packets per second (SIP only)

            G.726-32: 32kbps data stream, 50 packets per second (SIP only)

            G.726-40: 40kbps data stream, 50 packets per second (SIP only)

            G.729a: 8kbps data stream, 50 packets per second (SIP only)

            NONE: A messaging-only configuration is now supported (SIP only)

o       Supports PESQ automated voice quality testing (not supported on Windows)

o       RTCP protocol used for streaming media statistics (SIP only)

o       Each LANforge VoIP/RTP endpoint can play from a wav file and record to a separate wav file (almost any sound file can be converted to the correct wav file format with tools bundled with LANforge - sample voice files included)

o       Current benchmarks show support for 140 or more emulated VoIP phones per machine

o       LANforge VoIP/RTP endpoints can call other LANforge endpoints or third-party SIP or H.323 phones like Cisco and Grandstream (third-party phones can also call LANforge endpoints and hear the WAV file being played)

Candela’s LANforge-FIRE features

LANforge-FIRE: The Business Case

o Validates stability and data throughput on devices under evaluation

o Useful for testing any network, and especially cost effective for efforts requiring many data-generating ports, such as DSL, Cable Modem, and Satellite modems

o Turnkey solution - LANforge systems come pre-installed and configured based upon customer supplied information (software-only packages are also available)

o Implements a modular architecture that allows you to leverage your existing LANforge investment as your need for capacity increases

o Ease of use - central management of entire LANforge system from anywhere on the network

LANforge-FIRE Product Features and Highlights

o Supports real-world protocols: (benchmarked on Candela Technologies-supplied hardware)

Layer 2: Raw-Ethernet (150Mbps, bi-directional, per processor)

Layer 3: Armageddon accelerated UDP/IP (960Mbps on Gigabit, 97Mbps on 10/100bt)

Layer 3: UDP/IP (250 Mbps, bi-directional, per processor)

Layer 3: IGMP Multicast UDP

Layer 3: TCP/IP (250 Mbps, bi-directional, per processor)

Layer 4: FTP (200Mbps, bi-directional, per processor)

Layer 4: HTTP (200Mbps, download, per processor)

Layer 4: HTTPS (250Mbps, download, high-end dual-processor system)

Layer 4: GOPHER (not benchmarked)

Layer 4: TELNET (not benchmarked)

Layer 4: PING (not benchmarked)

Layer 4: VoIP Call Generator (SIP, RTP, RTCP), 70+calls per machine

o Supports over 2,000 connections on a single machine

o Supports PPPoE, including automated creation and deletion of the PPPoE interfaces

o LANforge-WiFIRE feature provides advanced testing and traffic loading on 802.11a/b/g Wireless networks

o Supports real-world compliance with ARP protocol

o Supports ToS (QoS) settings for TCP/IP and UDP/IP connections

o Uses publicly available Linux networking stack for increased standards compliance

o Utilizes libcurl for FTP, GOPHER, HTTP and HTTPS protocols

o Supports file system test endpoints (can be used for NFS, SMB and iSCSI file systems too!)

o Supports custom programs, like ping and traceroute

o Comprehensive traffic reports include: Packet Transmit rate, Packet Receive rate, Packet Receive Drop %, Transmit Bytes, Receive Bytes, Latency, various ethernet driver level counters, and much more

o Supports generation of reports that are ready to be imported into your favorite spread-sheet

o Allows packet sniffing and network protocol decoding with the integrated Ethereal protocol sniffer

o GUI runs as Java application on Linux, Solaris and Microsoft Operating Systems (among others)

o GUI can run remotely, even over a dial-up modem link to accommodate the needs of the users

o Central management application can manage multiple units, tests, and testers simultaneously

o Supports scriptable command line interface (TELNET) which can be used to automate test scenarios (Perl libraries and example scripts are also provided!)

o Comprehensive management information detailing all aspects of the LANforge system including processor card statistics, test cases, and ethernet port statistics

o Contains 12 or more physical data-generating ethernet ports per 2U LANforge chassis, and can be purchased in a variety of form factors

o Emulates up to 250 unique machines with one physical interface with the MAC-VLAN feature!

o Supports up to 250 802.1Q VLANs

o Automatic discovery of LANforge processor cards simplifies configuration of LANforge test equipment

o LANforge traffic generation and management software supported on Red Hat Linux and Microsoft Windows 2000, XP and Vista

http://www.candelatech.com

Candela’s Typical LANforge-FIRE Configuration

The LANforge system consists of a single manager process, and one or more traffic generator machines (clients/cards). The cards are connected to the manager over an Ethernet management interface so that all management traffic is out-of-band, which ensures accurate reports regardless of the state of the network under test. Only the data-producing ports should be connected to the device or devices under test.

The LANforge Manager runs the management server, and potentially, the LANforge-GUI (graphical user interface). Because the LANforge-GUI connects to the manager over TCP/IP, it can be run remotely, and because it is written in Java, it will work on many different types of computers, including Windows, Solaris, and Linux. Depending on your hardware and speed requirements, you can also run the GUI, Management Server, and traffic-generation server on a single Linux system. That allows the minimum LANforge-FIRE installation to be a single machine with 2 or more Ethernet interfaces.

In order to have a fully functional LANforge-FIRE testing system, you will need at least one of the Data Generator units with at least two Ethernet ports. From this basic configuration, you can add more data generators and more ports to each data generator. If you do not have Candela's Linux kernel patches installed, the minimal configuration is two machines with at least one port each.

http://www.candelatech.com

Candela’s LANforge-FIRE Network Traffic Generator

The LANforge-FIRE platform can generate FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, VoIP (SIP, H.323, RTP, RTCP), TCP/IP, UDP/IP, Ethernet, PPPoE, PPP-over-T1, and custom payloads. It currently supports Ethernet (up to Gigabit), 802.1Q VLAN, PPP-over-T1, and Token Ring networks. LANforge software includes support for testing file systems, including network file systems like NFS, SMB, and iSCSI. LANforge-FIRE can be configured in many different ways, offering Gigabit Ethernet support on the high end, and high-density and inexpensive 10/100 Ethernet ports for lower speed applications. The MAC-VLAN feature allows you to emulate an entire subnet of machines with a single LANforge machine. It is specifically designed to meet the requirements of testing today's Last-Mile and Metro-Edge systems which must handle simultaneous customer traffic across a large number of ports, equipment including Digital Subscriber Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs), Cable Access Systems, and their respective Customer Premise Equipment like DSL and Cable modems. LANforge is a capable tool for testing higher-speed networks up to Gigabit line speeds.

LANforge-FIRE can also be an excellent choice for stress testing your own Linux hardware, especially server type configurations that rely heavily on real-world networking performance. For example, if you are trying to get an idea of how well your new dual-CPU system with 2 Gigabit NICs performs, you could load LANforge on each one (with your own custom compiled kernel if you wish), and drive Ethernet, UDP, TCP, FTP and other traffic against other LANforge enabled stations.

The affordable cost per port, ease of use, and standards compliant networking stack makes the LANforge an essential piece of equipment in every test lab.

http://www.candelatech.com

Healthcare Solutions

Healthcare Visibility Solutions to Improve Quality of Care, Reduce Capital and Operational Expenses and Increase Safety

Healthcare organizations today face numerous challenges due to lack of visibility – low utilization rates, over rental and over purchasing of medical equipment, non compliance with regulatory mandates, inefficient use of staff time, loss and theft of equipment and more. AeroScout leverages the existing hospital Wi-Fi network to provide visibility over a single unified solution at the lowest cost of ownership, combining a wide variety of location, status and condition information about valuable medical assets, patients and staff. Our solutions span all hospital departments and serve the needs of clinical staff, IT, materials management, clinical and biomedical engineers, laboratory personnel and others.

AeroScout is the chosen solution for over 100 hospitals around the world and the only Wi-Fi Visibility solutions provider endorsed by the American Hospital Association (AHA).

AeroScout's suite of healthcare solutions includes:

Equipment Maintenance:
Clinical and bio-med engineers maintain thousands of medical devices periodically. In many cases, a high percentage of the equipment is not maintained on time since assets cannot be found, leading to non compliance and quality of care issues. With the AeroScout solution, any tagged equipment throughout the hospital campus can be located according to preventive maintenance pickup schedules, and automated maintenance alerts can also include equipment location and status. The solution can also be integrated to any existing clinical engineering system.

Asset Management:
Mobile medical equipment inventory management poses many challenges: clinical staff is constantly searching for medical devices such as infusion pumps and wheelchairs, wait times for ordered equipment are long, clean utility rooms do not have the appropriate par levels for equipment, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets are lost and stolen on an annual basis and assets have low utilization rates. With a visibility solution hospitals can automate all the inventory management and receive real-time inventory counts at the click of a button, full control of rental equipment inventory is achieved, par level management is automated and material management and distribution services can receive automated alerts. In addition, trends in equipment availability and utilization can be easily identified and analyzed.

Temperature Monitoring:
Lab, pharmacy and nursing staff are required to perform manual temperature monitoring and logging several times a day on hundreds of refrigerators and freezers (i.e. storage of blood, organs, drugs, vaccines, tissue samples or food) to ensure safe temperature ranges. The Joint Commission and other regulatory bodies require maintaining daily records of the temperature logs. AeroScout offers the simplest and most cost efficient solution for temperature monitoring that requires no hard wires and no additional network infrastructure. AeroScout's temperature sensing Wi-Fi tags are battery powered and can be easily placed in each hospital refrigerator or freezer sending the temperature reads over the Wi-Fi network every few minutes. AeroScout's MobileView software sends out alerts on exceeded temperature ranges, displays graphical reports of temperature trends and includes an event dashboard and corrective action logging.

Workflow and Resource Management:
In OR and ER/ED environments, knowing the exact location and status of patients, physicians, available rooms and key clinical equipment is critical to improving patient care, automating departmental workflow and increasing throughput. In these departments it is important to be able to get not only to a room or zone level accuracy, but also to a bay level accuracy (i.e. in Pre-Op or Recovery areas), and the AeroScout solution is the only Wi-Fi solution enabling this. In addition, all the location and status data can be integrated with relevant OR/ER information systems, enabling to prioritize and automate procedures and manage resources efficiently.

Patient and Staff Safety:
At-risk patients (i.e. psychiatric, dementia, Alzheimer, elderly) may need to alert staff in case of emergency when out of bed. In addition they may be wandering into restricted areas or exiting the building in an unauthorized manner. Hospital staff may also need to trigger an alert should there be a patient problem or if patients are posing risk to them. The AeroScout solution enables pervasive monitoring throughout the hospital automatically alerting on such safety events in real-time and enabling constant tracking of patients and staff for overall improved safety.

http://www.aeroscout.com/content/healthcare

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