Choosing the right test appliance

[jma...@gmail.com]

Hello,

I'm trying to decide on a network/application test appliance. Broadly
speaking, my requirements are:
1) Emulate users with different IP addresses;
2) Users will generate network traffic with varied protocols including
HTTP, POP3, FTP, DNS, DHCP, etc.;
3) Test appliance should be able to perform standard based benchmarks
such as RFC 2544.

Some of the candidates I've seen so far are the Spirent Avalanche 220
and Agilent Framescope Pro N2620A.

Obviously, pricing is a factor. Any recommendations?

Thanks-

[dansch...@gmail.com]

I have a Spirent TestCenter and it is very capable. Only problem is
that it can be rather pricey. I'd also look at Anritsu (I think it
was an MD1230B), it was very slick and about 40% cheaper than the
Spirent. It couldn't mimic as high a number of streams, but depending
on the size you need it could be a good fit.

Good luck,
Dan

[Eirik Seim]

I've worked with Ixia, and find their products comfortable to use.
Unfortunately, I have no experience with Spirent or Agilent, and
my company is an Ixia distributor, so obviously I'm not entirely
objective.

One of the things I've seen from Ixias marketing material is that
not all the competitors generate "real" stateful network traffic,
for example http clients that can test against a real http server.
If that's a misunderstanding on my part then I'm truly sorry; as
I said, I'm not intimate with the competitors products.

Have a look at www.ixiacom.com and decide for yourself.

regards,
- Eirik