Download Measuring Application Performance with the Fluke Networks

Measuring Application Performance
with the Fluke Networks Protocol
Inspector Series
With today’s mission critical business
applications, network professionals rely
on internetworking devices such as
switches, routers and firewalls to
quickly move packets through the
network. To meet these demands, such
devices are becoming more intelligent
with the inclusion of policy or protocol
based packet forwarding mechanisms.
With this increased functionality comes
the need for advanced network
monitoring hardware that can aid
network engineers in diagnosing,
troubleshooting and monitoring these
devices, as well as the overall network
performance.
The Protocol Inspector Series from
Fluke Networks was designed to meet
these challenges. It contains hardware
analyzers and software that gives
network engineers full network
visibility, enabling them to more easily
detect traffic glitches and determine
latency causes. These products are also
essential during the deployment of a
network to provide baseline information for Quality of Service assurance.
The Protocol Inspector Series
Fluke Networks Protocol Inspector
software is a full-featured, Windows-based
protocol analyzer that provides complete
seven-layer packet capture, decode, and
filtering capabilities for Ethernet and
Token Ring environments. The Distributed
Protocol Inspector series consists of
hardware analyzers that work with the
Protocol Inspector software to provide full
line-rate packet capture of every frame on
10/100 Mbps or Gigabit Ethernet links.
The Distributed Protocol Inspector
series includes two model types:
Distributed Protocol Inspector (DPI) and
Gigabit Distributed Protocol Inspector
(GPI). The DPI-11x series supports 10/100
Mbps Ethernet; the GPI-11x series
supports Gigabit Ethernet, either singlemode or multi-mode fiber media. Both the
DPI and GPI are available in half or fullduplex models. The full duplex model has
two media modules and an internal
synchronization mechanism to monitor
two network segments simultaneously or
one full duplex link. Each DPI has a
separate auto-sensing 10/100 Ethernet
RJ-45 management port that allows it to
be controlled remotely from any point on
the network through Fluke Networks
Protocol Inspector software. This
management port also enables the
Distributed Protocol Inspector to capture
packets without disrupting the traffic
being monitored.
Full visibility of overall
network performance
Application Note
Fluke Networks Tap products
provide full visibility on
switched networks
In the past, when shared media
dominated network topologies, protocol
analyzers and other network monitoring
tools could connect directly to a shared
media hub port to gain network access.
With switched networks, mirror ports or
SPAN ports provided access for the
network monitoring tools. The advent of
full-duplex lines and the high traffic load
on today’s switched networks means
monitoring via mirror port or SPAN port
can no longer provide the visibility
required. Because of the risk of losing
timing information or dropping packets as
a result of over subscription, connecting
via in-line tap products is the only way to
perform true application monitoring on
full-duplex links.
The Fluke Networks Distributed
Protocol Inspector has special siliconaccelerated hardware that provides full
line-rate packet capturing capability for
up to 1000 Mbps Ethernet traffic.
Its ability to synchronize the time
stamp of the packets captured on the two
media modules and 25 nsec resolution on
Gigabit Ethernet links makes accurate
Span/Mirror Port of Switch
Processor
100 Mbps bandwidth gives half of
the picture. Processor may block errors.
Inline tap delivers full visibility
analysis of time critical applications on
full duplex possible. By adding Fluke
Networks TAP-12, a 12-port in-line
product which enables multi-port
mirroring and segment roving, the
Distributed Protocol Inspector can
monitor full-duplex segments on switched
networks.
When to conduct application
performance testing
Application deployment
When deploying a new mission-critical
application, it is important to determine
whether the network can provide the
anticipated response time. The Distributed
Protocol Inspector is invaluable in this
process because it can capture the traffic
pattern at various critical locations of the
network, helping to create a baseline of
the application’s performance. It can also
capture a full set of packet transfers from
the new application, which can help the
network support staff better understand
the dynamics of the application on a
protocol level. Having information
regarding the protocol type or the
sequence of events for a new application,
such as Oracle or Voice over IP, can speed
troubleshooting.
Inline Tap
Full Duplex
100 Mbps Link
Two 100 Mbps bandwidth. One for
each direction with no loss of timing
and error information.
Troubleshooting
When a user complains about slow
network performance or dropped, the
network support staff must first check the
connectivity between stations and the
traffic utilization of each link between the
user and the service resource.
Troubleshooting tools, such as the Fluke
Networks LANMeter or OneTouch, can help
the technician quickly determine the
cause of the connectivity problem.
Additionally, network-monitoring
software, such as the Fluke Networks
Network Inspector, can be used to view
inter-switch link traffic-loading status.
Fluke Networks Network Inspector TraceSwitch
Route screen
After determining that network
connectivity or traffic loading is not the
problem, the next step is to investigate
issues around application-specific
problems: server health and response
time, and internetworking device latency.
The server monitor, via an SNMP query,
CPU utilization, memory usage or disk I/O
congestion, can usually determine server
health parameters. To isolate the device
that caused the delay, individual device
response time or latency testing is
required.
Application Examples
Measurement of server latency
A DPI can be connected in-line in front of
the server to capture traffic between the
server and the switch using the in-line
tap product. A DPI and a Fluke Networks
Single Tap can be used in the following
configuration:
The Protocol Inspector Capture View
presents Throughput and Delta Time
information for the data stream. Time
stamp resolution is 35 nsec for 100 Mbps
link with DPI and 25 nsec for 1000 Mbps
link with GPI. For example, under normal
situations, the throughput between the
client and server should be a minimum of
700 Kbps. However, at frame 1350, the
throughput degraded to about 70 Kbps. If
the client is experiencing slow response,
you can use these tools to easily identify
and isolate the event that is causing the
problem.
TAP-1
Server
Link
Power
100
Status
Link
100
Link
100
DPI-112
Capture View with Throughput
Server Latency Test Configuration
Up to 64 MB of data can be captured from
a 100 Mbps link, and up to 128 MB from a
1000 Mbps Ethernet full-duplex link.
During the packet capture process,
packets of interest can be isolated using
the Protocol Inspector capture filter
feature without performance degradation.
This feature allows the network engineer
to filter by source and destination
addresses, protocols, and bit pattern in
the frame.
Display Filter for a NetBIOS Session Service between the service
and a client
Testing of device latency
To determine the throughput of a router
used to segment the network, for
instance, this setup can be used.
In this setup, two in-line taps are used
to provide access to both the input and
output data stream of the interconnection
device. By synchronizing its two
measurement modules, the Distributed
Protocol Inspector has the ability to show
the time it takes for a packet to travel
through the device, hence showing the
latency of the device. The device could be
a switch, router or firewall offering LANto-LAN packet filtering and forwarding
service.
In addition, if the device is supposed
to block certain packet types, this method
could be used to determine if the firewall
or blocking mechanism works. The ability
to capture all the packets is very
important in providing an indication of
the filtering capability of other devices.
Router
TAP-1
Link
Power
100
Status
Link
100
TAP-1
Link
100
DPI-112
Ordering Information
Model Name
DPI-112
GPI-112
PIP-050
TAP-1
TAP-12
FTAP-101
FTAP-102
NIS-UNL
Description
Distributed PI, FDX 10/100 Mbps Ethernet
Gigabit Distributed PI, FDX 1000BASE-SX
Protocol Inspector Standard Edition with Expert Analysis and
Remote Control Option
Single-Port Tap, 120V
12-Port Tap
Multi-Mode Fiber Tap, 1 port
Single-Mode Fiber Tap, 1 port
Network Inspector with Switch Inspector, unlimited node discovery, 1 console
Conclusion
The Distributed Protocol Inspector and
tap hardware provide a means for network
professionals to gain full visibility of the
performance of their network applications
and interconnection devices. The detailed
network information received via these
monitoring tools is essential in creating a
network baseline. In addition, these
powerful tools can analyze the
performance of internet-working devices
such as servers, routers and firewalls to
determine the cause of a connectivity
problem.
Contact your local Fluke Networks
representative today about the Protocol
Inspector Series and our bundled suite
offer.
N E T W O R K S U P E R V I S I O N
Fluke Networks, Inc.
P.O. Box 9090, Everett, WA USA 98206
Fluke Europe B.V.
P.O. Box 1186, 5602 BD
Eindhoven, The Netherlands
For more information call:
U.S.A. (800) 283-5853 or Fax (425) 446-5043
Europe/M-East/Africa (31 40) 2 675 200 or
Fax (31 40) 2 675 222
Canada (800) 36-FLUKE or Fax (905) 890-6866
Other countries (425) 446-4519 or Fax (425) 446-5043
E-mail: [email protected]
Web access: http://www.flukenetworks.com
©2000 Fluke Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
Printed in U.S.A. 9/2000 1568702 A-ENG-N Rev A