Ethernet Traffic Generation and Protocol Analysis

Xena and SierraNet – a powerful test duo

Xena Ethernet Test Platform

SierraNet Protocol Analyzer/Jammer

SierraNet M1288 Protocol Analyzer and Jammer

Xena Ethernet traffic generators and SierraNet protocol analyzers serve complementary roles in network testing and analysis. The Xena generators create traffic to test network conditions as the perfect link partner, while the SierraNet captures all layers of traffic enabling analysis of the overall network performance and the ability to inject errors proving the devices under test can perform in the most rigorous datacenter environments.

Key Facts:

  • For testing all Ethernet speeds from 10Mbps to 800Gbps
  • Comprehensive Physical Layer 1 and Layer 2-3 testing and automation options
  • Two chassis options – fixed  1U desktop or modular 4U rack-mountable
  • Choose between over a dozen different traffic generators plus a network emulation solution
  • Scalable – supporting up to 72 test ports in one chassis
  • Includes all software (plus 3 years SW updates)

Key Facts

  • For analyzing and jamming of 10Gbps to 800Gbps Ethernet and 128GFC Gen 8 Fibre Channel data capture and protocol verification
  • Advanced multi-state triggering and filtering
  • Full Stack (Layers 1-7) line rate capture, analysis, and error injection
  • InFusion™ Jammer with comprehensive, multi-condition, multi-state error injection and traffic manipulation
  • The industry’s only Layer 1 protocol capture and analyzer with enhanced views for Link Training and Auto Negotiation
  • Verification Script Engine™ (VSE) for automated post capture, comprehensive analysis capabilities

The Xena Ethernet Test Platform is used to:

  • Generate streams of Ethernet traffic to simulate various conditions for testing
  • Simulate high volumes of traffic to evaluate how network devices (switches, routers, firewalls) perform under stress conditions
  • Simulate multiple users or devices accessing the network simultaneously to see how it handles loads.
  • Measure the maximum data rate that network devices or links can handle to test throughput
  • Use the E100 Chimera network emulator’s extensive range of impairments to emulate real-world conditions in the lab.
  • Creates different types of traffic with varying priorities to test QoS mechanisms
  • Simulates attacks such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) or creates traffic patterns that mimic malicious behavior
  • Helps create realistic network conditions in a controlled environment as part of network simulation and modelling

SierraNet Protocol Analyzer Jammers are used to:

  • Monitor and capture all network traffic for detailed analysis
  • Decode and accurately diagnose fabric issues including protocol violations, performance and latency issues, and validate link stability
  • Accelerates troubleshooting and identifies the links that are misbehaving
  • Verify that data packets conform to required protocol standards and specifications
  • Detects and analyzes interoperability issues to ensure different network devices and systems work correctly
  • Quality Assurance and validation for Ethernet and Fibre Channel
  • Benchmarking and competitive analysis of products
  • Allows a complete view of all communications across the fabric
  • Detect and analyze security threats such as unauthorized access and suspicious traffic patterns
  • Monitor how bandwidth is being used and identify heavy users and applications
  • Troubleshooting and field support to diagnose failing links, interoperability issues, and or performance issues of networks
  • Automated production testing

Combining Xena & SierraNet

Using the Xena Ethernet Test Platform together with SierraNet protocol analyzers provides a deep dive analysis of network performance and behavior, essential for troubleshooting and optimizing Ethernet devices and networks.

Xena Ethernet Test Platform and SierraNet Protocol Analyzer

1. Xena TG creates synthetic traffic to test device and network behavior under various conditions. It is an “active” tool that injects traffic into the network for testing load, performance, and resilience.

2. E100 Chimera is a network emulator that makes it easy to add an extensive range of impairments (latency, jitter etc) to accurately emulate real-world conditions in the lab.

3. SierraNet captures and inspects traffic on the wire to analyze network performance and diagnose issues. This tool can be used for link bring up, validation and QA, troubleshooting issues, and as a monitoring device for cybersecurity.

4. InFusion™ (Jammer) Error Injector and Traffic Modifier tool lets users verify real-world fault handling for both Ethernet network and Fibre Channel fabric systems. InFusion sits in the data path on a live system to programmatically alter or corrupt traffic.

Below you can see the Xena traffic generators that the E100 Chimera network emulator and SierraNet protocol analyzers work best with.

SierraNet Protocol Analysers ->
Xena Ethernet Traffic Generators
E100 Chimera
10G - 100G
M328Q
10G - 100G
M328
10G - 100G
T328
10G - 100G
M648
10G - 100G
M1288
50G - 800G
Odin
1G - 10G
xxxxx
Loki
10G - 100G
xxxxxx
Thor
10G - 400G
xxxxxx
Freya
50G - 800G
xx