Switches and Network Interface Cards

Test. Improve. Repeat.

Ethernet switches have come a long way since they first hit the market in 1990. Today the focus is on enabling them to handle the ever-increasing demand for security, while coping with the ubiquitous access required for IoT and 5G. As the complexity increases, so does the need for rigorous testing.

Many customers use Xena traffic generators for Validation, Performance and Quality Assurance (QA), and QoS testing on Layer 2 and Layer 3 switches. Xena is also used extensively by manufacturers to verify switch performance during production.

Switches used in ruggedized environments or integrated into ruggedized solutions are often going through extensive QA testing.

Network Interface Cards (NICs) are one of the most ubiquitous components of the networks – the synapse that allows all the connected devices to actually become a network.

Customers around the world have been using Xena’s solutions to test NICs for over a decade: to verify new functionality during the R&D process, to verify standards compliance, to measure performance during production and to troubleshoot issues during deployment.

Smart Network Interface Cards (SmartNICs) are now being used in many Data Centers to handle the increasing volume of East-West network traffic caused by Software Defined Networks (SDN). SmartNICs typically reduce costs and power consumption by efficiently offloading networking, storage, and security functions from the server’s CPU.

SmartNICs perform both Layer 2 and 3 switching as well as Layer 1 interface functions. Since time-critical storage operations are offloaded to the SmartNIC, it must be able to perform despite being impacted by various network impairments such as varying latency and jitter. Finally, SmartNICs must be able to detect and handle malicious attacks like Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). Because SmartNICs perform a large range of diverse functions, it is important with a comprehensive test strategy when developing new SmartNICs. The testing strategy must include full wire-speed performance testing using standardized benchmarking tests like RFC-2544. It should also verify the SmartNICs performance when subjected to various forms of network impairments, as well as DDoS attacks.

Teledyne LeCroy Xena offers a comprehensive suite of Traffic Generators and Network Impairment Emulators for rigorous testing and performance validation of SmartNICs.

Xena Solutions

… to test Switches and NICs

Broad range of test modules

Xena offers a selection of test modules for testing all Ethernet speeds from 10Mbps to 800Gbps.

Our range includes the latest Ethernet technology with 112G-based SerDes and PAM-4 in our Z800 Freya product line. For testing and debugging AN/LT protocols we offer our dedicated Z800 Freya Compact ANLT Test Appliance.

Easy-to-use software

Xena’s test solutions include feature-rich software for generating Ethernet traffic and analyzing the result. The primary tool is XenaManager.

There are also test suites for running standard tests such as RFC2544, RFC2889, RFC3918 and Y.1564, and specialized AN/LT tests along with a comprehensive range of powerful scripting and test automation options such as Xena OpenAutomation (XOA), an open-source test automation framework featuring a Python API that runs on any OS.

Robust chassis choices

Choose between the robust scalable 4U XenaBay with space for up to 12 test modules, or the small, easy-to-transport 1U XenaCompact with just one test module.

Exceptional value

All our solutions include the Xena Value Pack which consists of 3 years’ SW updates, 3 years’ HW warranty, free online/email support for the lifetime of the product and free product training.

Together with our low port-pricing, this represents significant savings on the TCO of your Ethernet traffic generation and analysis solutions.

White Papers

… involving switching

CASE STORY

SWITCHING TO XENA

A Chinese switch manufacturer urgently needed a traffic generation and analysis solution to test the stability and performance of different switches in an EMC test environment. The challenge, however, was that their Devices Under Test (DUTs) were located in different labs in different buildings, and on different floors.