Hardware recommendations and questions about Ostinato

[Manuel Marin]

Hi Ostinato community. We are considering Ostinato for BW testing purposes and I would appreciate it if you can help me with the following questions:

1. What is the HW recommendation for <=100Gbps BW. Any specific model of Intel NICs? What CPU type  and cores and memory?
2. Can we run other applications in the same bare metal server? We are considering running speedtest app that is typically used by enterprise customers to test their Internet service. The idea is yo use same servers for both purposes
3. How many agents can be controlled by a single GUI/controller? Is the GUI multitenant, for example can the same GUI be used simultaneously by two or more engineers running tests with different agents or do they have to install the GUI in their computers and connect to the agents in a independent way. The idea would be to use a centralized GUI where they can see all available agents (Drones) and run the tests as needed.
4. Considering that the app will be used by multiple engineers, not at the same time as typically the engineers only test the services/circuits during the turn-up or when troubleshooting a network issue, what is the recommended or needed licensing? Is a license needed by concurrent user?

Thank you

[Srivats P (Ostinato)]

Hi Manuel,

Ostinato Founder - Srivats here! I'm happy to help.

1. What is the HW recommendation for <=100Gbps BW. Any specific model of Intel NICs? What CPU type  and cores and memory?

If you are looking for 100G, then Intel E810 is the only option.

CPU type generally doesn't matter much as long as it is a reasonably modern Xeon (or even i7/i9) CPU, number of CPU cores depends on what packet size you want to use for a 100Gbps bandwidth test - lower packet sizes like 64 bytes will need more cores (around 8 to 10 cores per 100G port) compared to 1518 bytes or 9000 byte jumbo packets which will need fewer number of CPU cores. Memory needed is around 4GB per port.

 

1. Can we run other applications in the same bare metal server? We are considering running speedtest app that is typically used by enterprise customers to test their Internet service. The idea is yo use same servers for both purposes

You mean something like this - https://www.speedtest.net/apps/cli?

If so, yes you can install and run it on the same bare metal server. Ideally you should be able to run both speedtest and Ostinato at the same time, but I will not recommend that because I'm not sure about the CPU/cores/memory consumption and behaviour of the speedtest app. More specifically don't run bandwidth tests from both the speedtest app and the Ostinato agent at the same time. You can have the Ostinato agent running (without an active bandwidth) test while the speedtest app is doing a test.

 

1. How many agents can be controlled by a single GUI/controller? Is the GUI multitenant, for example can the same GUI be used simultaneously by two or more engineers running tests with different agents or do they have to install the GUI in their computers and connect to the agents in a independent way. The idea would be to use a centralized GUI where they can see all available agents (Drones) and run the tests as needed.

The GUI is not multi-tenant. Each engineer will have to install and run their own GUI. As of now there's no centralized GUI and agent discovery - but our professional services can build bespoke features for you, if required.

 

1. Considering that the app will be used by multiple engineers, not at the same time as typically the engineers only test the services/circuits during the turn-up or when troubleshooting a network issue, what is the recommended or needed licensing? Is a license needed by concurrent user?

As of now, a license is needed by each engineer that will use the system - whether they do it concurrently or non-concurrently. A more enterprise-friendly licensing scheme is planned to be introduced later.

Happy to answer any doubts or follow up questions.

Srivats (Founder, Ostinato)
Now generate up to 100Gbps 🚀 with the Ostinato Turbo add-on!