How to test the network speed and data throughput of a LAN

The most common problem for network administrators is the network connection problem. Maybe the computer of the company's employees cannot access the Internet, so we can detect the problem through a few simple steps, however, there is a network connection problem that makes us feel at a loss. That is, employees reflect the slow speed of the network.

Because there are many factors that determine the network speed, it is impossible to detect the speed through simple operations. As a qualified network administrator, we need professional tools to measure network bandwidth and data throughput. Today we will introduce the simple usage of chariot, a professional evaluation tool.

The most direct cause of slow network speed is that the bandwidth is insufficient or the line is faulty. We can use chariot to measure the connected bandwidth between any two computers in the network, in addition, the software can display the measurement results in graphs, making it easier for us to compare and browse. Of course, to successfully measure the bandwidth throughput, the two computers need a route between them to guide the data packet transmission direction.

1. Chariot introduction:

Chariot is currently the only application-layer IP network and network device testing software recognized in the world. It provides end-to-end, multi-operating systems, multi-protocol testing, and multi-application simulation testing. Its application scope includes wired, wireless, local area, wide area networks and network devices; Network Fault Locating, user complaint analysis, system evaluation, network optimization, etc. Test network or network parameters (throughput, response time, latency, jitter, packet loss, etc.) from the user's perspective ).

Ii. How chariot works:

Chariot is essentially different from general network management systems and some online monitoring systems. The network management system and some online monitoring systems adopt passive monitoring, while chariot adopts active monitoring and measurement. The network management system and some online monitoring systems provide qualitative measurement, while chariot adopts quantitative measurement.

The chariot testing principle is to use the end to end method to test the performance of network devices or systems in the real environment by generating simulated traffic. It can be widely used in switch, router, wireless, QoS, multicasting and network functions and performance tests.

The basic components of chariot include the chariot console and endpoint. The Chariot console can run on Microsoft's various Windows platforms. You can define various possible test topology structures and test business types on the chariot console. The endpoint can run on almost all the popular operating systems. The chariot endpoint can fully utilize the resources of the running host and execute the script command published on the chariot console to complete the required tests.

Iii. Chariot functions:

Chariot can provide up to 10000 concurrent connections to better simulate the real environment for comprehensive measurement of devices and networks. Chariot can evaluate the performance and capacity of network applications and perform stress tests on networks and devices. Chariot, as a testing software for pressure, fault locating, and device and network application layer performance evaluation, is a reliable tool for maintaining healthy, fast, and reliable networks and R & D and production of high-performance network devices. Chariot can also be used as an online testing tool for network devices and networks, providing active online network performance analysis and monitoring.

In addition, chariot has over 120 built-in business scripts, such as FTP, HTTP, IPTV, netmeeting, and RealAudio, which can be easily applied to different environments. It also supports services such as IP ToS, gqos, DiffServ, multicast, and VoIP. During the test, chariot can simulate a single host into more than 2000 hosts, so that the measurement results are more authoritative.

TIPS:

Chariot provides quantitative online network performance analysis. Some evaluation institutions use this software to provide network performance evaluation services for customers' network systems. He is compatible with many operating systems. In addition, Chariot is evaluated based on individual scripts. Therefore, you can write your own scripts to meet the actual requirements, which is not very difficult to compile.

Iv. Practical application:

We will introduce how to use chariot 5.0 through several instances. Through chariot, we can measure the real maximum bandwidth between any two nodes in the network, so that it will not be cheated by the ISP and enjoy low bandwidth at a high price.

Instance 1: measure the bandwidth of any two nodes in the network:

Task Description:

It is often reported that the network speed is slow. How can we determine the bandwidth between networks? Sniffer can only capture packets and cannot provide the actual bandwidth. Chariot is needed to help. We assume that we want to measure the actual bandwidth between computer A 10.91.30.45 and computer B 10.91.30.42.

Implementation Method:

Step 1: first, run the customer-Side Software endpoint.double-click endpoint.exe of charioton the AB computer, as shown in Figure 2. After confirmation, you will find that there is another process named endpoint in the task manager.

Step 2: The tested machine is ready. Now we need to run chariot on the control side. We can choose other computers on the network or directly run chariot on computer A or computer B.

Step 3: Click the new button in the main interface. In the displayed interface, click the Add pair button in the top row.

Step 4: Enter the pair name in the add an endpoint pair window, enter the IP address 10.91.30.45 of computer A at endpoint1, and enter the IP address 10.91.30.42 of computer B at endpoint2. press the select script button and select a script. Because we are measuring bandwidth, select the built-in throughput software. SCR script.

TIPS:

Chariot can measure a variety of network transport layer protocols, including TCP, UDP, and SPX. You can select the default TCP protocol when measuring bandwidth.

Step 5: After confirming, click Run in the main menu to start the measurement. Of course, you can also click the run button in the above row directly.

Step 6: The software then tests 100 packets sent from computer A to computer B. Because the default data packet transmitted by the software is very small, the measurement will soon end. In the result, click the throughput label to view the bandwidth of the specific measurement. 6. The actual maximum bandwidth between computer A and computer B is 83.6mbp S.

TIPS:

Due to the loss of switches and network cables, the actual bandwidth is usually less than 100 Mbps. Therefore, the 83.6mbps in this example basically indicates that the maximum bandwidth between the AB computers is 100 Mbps, the transmission speed can be reduced to more than 80 Mbps.

Summary:

This article introduces the basic functions and working principles of chariot and provides a simple example of bandwidth throughput measurement. Of course, Chariot is powerful, many techniques can help us make measurements more accurate and authoritative.