MACsec

MACsec delivers strong, hardware‑based security at the Link Layer, protecting data on local network segments with integrity, confidentiality, and defense against on‑link attacks. This offers a key advantage over Layer 3 security protocols, which cannot stop threats  originating within the same Layer 2 domain.

In addition to the standard Ethernet testing options offered by XenaManager 3 (XM3), the MACsec Solution Track adds IEEE 802.1AE functionality for testing MACsec on 10G and 25G ports.

Available for use with the four-port Z100qx Loki traffic generators, the MACsec Solution Track can generate MACsec‑encrypted frames at wire speed, control re-keying behavior, and log throughput and key performance metrics, providing comprehensive validation of MACsec implementations.

The MACsec Solution Track is primarily intended for:

• Developers of devices that support MACsec and need to verify performance under realistic traffic loads.
• Operators of secure networks who must validate performance before deployment and troubleshoot issues during operation.

It enables verification and performance testing of a device’s reception, forwarding and transmission of MACsec encrypted frames.

Testing can be performed with various traffic loads up to wire speed 100Gbps.

Once enabled, all these extra features are made available via the XenaManager3 interface.