From owner-freebsd-net@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Jun 11 17:18:14 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-net@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 636971065673 for ; Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:18:14 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from security@jim-liesl.org) Received: from smtp2.mc.surewest.net (qsmtp.mc.surewest.net [66.60.130.145]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 3ADE78FC2A for ; Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:18:14 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from security@jim-liesl.org) Received: (qmail 1293 invoked from network); 11 Jun 2008 09:51:32 -0700 Received: by simscan 1.1.0 ppid: 1289, pid: 1290, t: 0.1989s scanners: regex: 1.1.0 attach: 1.1.0 spam: 3.1.7-deb X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.1.7-deb (2006-10-05) on smtp2.surewest.net. X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.0 required=10.0 tests=none autolearn=disabled version=3.1.7-deb X-Spam-CMAE-Analysis: v=1.0 c=1 a=_gmmSJ4pHMQAR5b-KBAA:9 a=EAXpBrJZP6GKjT1duwRDP9IX7b8A:4 a=ufO146cb3fEA:10 Received: from unknown (HELO smtp.jim-liesl.org) (66.60.173.44) by smtp2 with SMTP; 11 Jun 2008 09:51:32 -0700 Received: from smtp.jim-liesl.org (localhost.static.surewest.net [127.0.0.1]) by smtp.jim-liesl.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A56D05C6E; Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:51:31 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [IPv6:::1] (daemon.static.surewest.net [192.168.1.15]) by smtp.jim-liesl.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 490575C5A; Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:51:27 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <4850028F.6090103@jim-liesl.org> Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:51:27 -0700 From: security User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.14 (Windows/20080421) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Steve Bertrand References: <484F3E1B.9050104@ibctech.ca> In-Reply-To: <484F3E1B.9050104@ibctech.ca> X-Enigmail-Version: 0.95.6 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV using ClamSMTP Cc: freebsd-net@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Throughput rate testing configurations X-BeenThere: freebsd-net@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Networking and TCP/IP with FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:18:14 -0000 Steve Bertrand wrote: > Hi everyone, > > I see what I believe to be less-than-adequate communication > performance between many devices in parts of our network. > > Can someone recommend software (and config recommendations if > possible) that I can implement to test both throughput and pps > reliably, initially/primarily in a simple host-sw-host configuration? > > Perhaps I'm asking too much, but I'd like to have something that can > push the link to it's absolute maximum capacity (for now, up to 1Gbps) > for a long sustained time, that I can just walk away from and let it > do it's work, and review the reports later where it had to scale down > due to errors. > > What I'm really trying to achieve is: > > - test the link between hosts alone > - throw in a switch > - test the link while r/w to disk > - test the link while r/w to GELI disk > - test the link with oddball MTU sizes > Iperf or netperf are probably what you're looking for. Both try real had NOT to tweak other subsystems while they run, so if you want to throw disk activity in, you'll need to run another tool or roll your own to create disk activity. You probably don't want to run them for extended periods in a production network. Depending on the adapters at each end, you may or may not be able to drive the link to saturation or alter frame size. The Intel adapters I've seen allow jumbo frames, and generally good performance (as opposed to say the realtek). It's also useful to have a managed switch in between so you can look at the counters on it. jim