wisewan 200/s1 test - tolly inc/wise wan 200s1... · sap r/3, baan 4.0 and lotus ... where between...

Premise: When frame relay was relative-ly new, it seemed the panacea of consoli-dation: After all, its inherent multiplex-ing of many circuits was perfect for max-imizing WAN utilization. Customerscould collapse multiple, expensive leasedlines onto a single private or publicframe relay backbone and, so the logicwent, guarantee performance throughsimple circuit configuration.Unfortunately, most frame relay switchesare notably ill-equipped to do the sophis-ticated traffic shaping and policingrequired to guarantee appropriate levelsof service to mission-critical, latency-sensitive applications. The result wasthat non-critical applications often crip-pled the performance of an enterprise’smost important transactions – withserious business consequences.

In response to this problem, customerslook for ways to control traffic flows andensure performance levels at the edge ofthe network. This requires products thatcan (a) monitor the network and reporton utilization by circuit, interface, appli-cation, etc., and (b) shape the trafficstream to guarantee that the perfor-mance of mission-critical traffic does notsuffer during periods of congestion.

NetReality commissioned The TollyGroup to evaluate the frame relay

statistical reporting and traffic-shapingcapabilities of its WiseWan™ 200. Inaddition to monitoring the baseline traf-fic of the network, engineers tested the traffic-shaping techniques of the Wise-Wan 200, such as prioritization, band-width guarantees and bandwidth

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Test Summary

NetReality, Inc.WiseWan 200/S1 Product Evaluation

© 1999 The Tolly Group

No. 199129 September 1999

! Increases the throughput of critical applications dramaticallywithout the need to add bandwidth

! Successfully identifies and limits low-priority traffic on theavailable bandwidth allowing precedence for higher-prioritydata

! Provides network managers with insight into costly WANbandwidth utilization for layers 2 through 7

Test Highlights

Source: The Tolly Group, September 1999 Figure 1a

Effects of WiseWan Prioritization

TOLLYG R O U P

T H E

limiting. Testing was performed inJuly 1999.

In order to test the effectiveness ofthe WiseWan 200 in managingbandwidth utilization, engineers firstconducted baseline tests for low-and high-priority traffic without the benefit of the WiseWan 200’s capa-bilities. Engineers simulated mis-sion-critical traffic consisting ofSAP R/3, Baan 4.0 and Lotus Notes4.6 transactions across a frame relaynetwork’s T-1 access links. TheTolly Group then contrasted thoseresults against the baseline results.

Test results show that the WiseWan200 effectively monitors networkutilization, tracks traffic trends andshapes traffic during periods ofbandwidth congestion. Resultsdemonstrated that when the Wise-Wan 200 was utilized in monitoringcomparisons to actual applicationthroughput, it consistently reportedaccurate statistics.

The WiseWan 200 delivered 71% ofhigh-priority traffic when configuredto support Prioritization, one ofthree traffic-shaping capabilitiestested. In addition, engineers testedthe WiseWan 200’s BandwidthGuarantees and Bandwidth Limitingfunctions. Results demonstrate thatthe WiseWan 200 can guarantee thathigh-priority traffic will receivemore than 80% of the availablebandwidth during periods of peakcongestion. When engineers config-ured the WiseWan 200 to limit low-priority traffic streams, results indi-cated that the WiseWan 200 success-fully capped the lower priority andrestored the high-priority traffic tomore than 80% of its originalthroughput.

Results

In monitoring tests, results showedthat the WiseWan 200 successfullygathered statistics that demonstrat-ed effective utilization for inbound(DCE to DTE) and outbound (DTEto DCE) traffic across all DLCIs.

In addition, the WiseWan 200 pro-vided an application/protocol distri-bution report that illustrates bothabsolute and relative bandwidth utilization by protocol across eachof the two DLCIs.

Test results show that mission-critical traffic can flow at a rate of848 Kbit/s, the baseline for testingthe mission-critical traffic over theT-1 line (806 Kbit/s outbound and42 Kbit/s inbound), when engineersestablished a baseline metric forthroughput under ideal conditionswith no congestion and no other traffic sharing the access links.When engineers introduced high-volume, non-critical traffic to thenetwork, the 848 Kbit/s throughputof mission-critical traffic plummet-ed to just 65 Kbit/s (57 Kbit/s out-bound and 8 Kbit/s inbound), a92% reduction. Following this, TheTolly Group deployed the WiseWan200 in three different schemes to

shape the network traffic to favorhigher throughput for mission-critical traffic.

Prioritization

In this traffic-shaping scheme, theWiseWan 200 identifies traffic forpreferential treatment but does notguarantee any amount of bandwidthto the high-priority traffic.

Results show that when The TollyGroup configured the WiseWan 200to “prioritize” high-priority traffic1

and identify all other forms of traffic as standard-priority traffic2,


The Tolly Group NetReality, Inc. WiseWan 200/S1

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Comparison of the Effects ofWiseWan Prioritization

Source: The Tolly Group, September 1999 Figure 1b

1 High-priority traffic was a mix of thefollowing applications: SAP R/3: CreateSales Order; SAP R/3: Basic Stock Inven-tory; Lotus Notes 4.6: Indexed DatabaseLookup; and Baan 4.0: Add Item.

2 Standard- or low-priority traffic usedduring testing was a mix of HTTP andFTP traffic.

the device delivered high-prioritytraffic at a rate of 602 Kbit/s (571Kbit/s outbound and 31 Kbit/sinbound). See figure 1a.

The WiseWan 200 achieved thehighest aggregate utilization forhigh-priority traffic when testedwith the Prioritization scheme. SeeFigure 1b. This graph also illus-trates that the Bandwidth Limitingfeature delivers the best overall per-formance for mission-critical traffic.The difference in mission-criticalbandwidth for all three schemes isminimal at less than 15%.

Bandwidth Guarantees

When the WiseWan 200 is config-ured in a Bandwidth Guaranteesscenario, it guarantees that high-priority traffic will receive a pre-determined amount of bandwidthwhen congestion occurs, so high-priority traffic will receive at leastthat amount of bandwidth.

When the WiseWan 200 was con-figured to guarantee bandwidth for700 Kbit/s of full-duplex mission-critical traffic, it offered throughputof 679 Kbit/s (644 Kbit/s outboundand 35 Kbit/s inbound). This demon-strates an average of 80% of theoriginal throughput of 848 Kbit/s ofmission-critical traffic. See figure 2.

Bandwidth Limiting

In a Bandwidth Limiting scheme, auser-configurable ceiling is placedon the amount of bandwidth avail-able to non-critical traffic, whetheror not any other traffic is availableon the link.

When engineers utilized theWiseWan 200’s capability to limitthe bandwidth available for non-critical or low-priority traffic to 384Kbit/s in each direction, the high-priority traffic was restored to 708Kbit/s (672 Kbit/s outbound and 36Kbit/s inbound). This result alsoshows more than 80% of the original848 Kbit/s baseline performance of

mission-critical traffic across the network. See figure 3.

Analysis

By employing a WiseWan 200, customers have the ability to con-trol WAN bandwidth with preci-sion, eliminating the need to pur-chase more frame relay bandwidth.Traffic that traverses the networkcan be controlled by simply con-necting the WiseWan 200 in linewith your WAN and configure itwith the Graphical User Interface(GUI) and the WiseWan 200



NetReality,Inc.

WiseWan200

PerformanceEvaluation

NetReality, Inc.WiseWan 200

Product Specifications*

Accelerator Platform! WAN-based accelerator prioritizes

SAP, Citrix, Baan, Oracle,PeopleSoft, Lotus Notes, more.

! Integrated traffic monitoring and shaping - all in one solution.

! Wire-speed packet processing! 19" rack mountable hardware or

desktop unit ! Topology-neutral CPE available with

integrated CSU/DSU; deploy any-where between the router and switch

! Standards-based SNMP, controllableby any SNMP manager

! RMON 2 compliant

WanXplorer Server! Sun/Solaris or MS/Windows NT

central management softwarew/industry-standard SQL database.Easy integration with third-partyapplications

! Multiple accelerators manageable

from one location, anywhere on thenetwork.

! Standards-based integration with leading management platforms, including HP OpenView, Cisco-Works, Concord

! Traffic data automatically stored fortrend analysis

! Full SLA reporting capability

WanShaper™ Bandwidth Managementand Traffic Shaping! Adaptive shaping based on real-time,

circuit based application monitoring! Policy-based bandwidth management

for integrated voice and data traffic! Prioritize by: users, caller/destination,

servers, applications and time of day ! Optimized for Frame Relay

congestion control

WanXplorer and WanShaper GUI! Management console GUI JAVA

application can be executed as an

application, or through a Web browser

WanTel™ On-the-WAN Voice and DataTraffic Management! Prioritize voice and data transmissions

for best bandwidth utilization! Accounting of voice and data by

conversation parties, VoIP sessiontype, time-of-day, conversationlength and data used

For more information contact:NetReality, Inc.2350 Mission College Blvd.Suite 900Santa Clara, CA 95054Tel: 408-988-8100Fax: 408-988-8109URL: www.net-reality.com

*Vendor-supplied information not verifiedby The Tolly Group

automatically detects Data LinkControl Identifiers (DLCIs) andbegins to initiate traffic-controlschemes.

In addition, the monitoring functionof the WiseWan 200 delivers real-time statistics in a graphical formatat 60-second intervals for such vitalinformation as physical link utiliza-tion, DLCI circuit utilization, andapplication/protocol distribution.

Prioritization

By allowing traffic to be prioritized,customers can identify what trafficis mission-critical that must be givena high-priority and in turn, is morelikely to successfully reach its desti-nation. Customers care more aboutmaking sure high-priority trafficarrives safely, than they do aboutoverall aggregate throughput.


By guaranteeing bandwidth for mission-critical traffic, customerscan feel safe that their high-prioritytraffic will be guaranteed the band-width necessary for delivery, evenin a congested network.

Bandwidth Limiting

When limiting the amount of desig-nated low-priority traffic on a WAN,customers can cap less importanttraffic providing more bandwidth forhigh-priority traffic. Even when noother traffic is present, the WiseWan200 limits the low-priority traffic sothe network never gets congested. Ifno high-priority traffic is present,the WiseWan 200 relies on its real-time traffic monitoring and shapingto allow low-priority traffic to flow.

Test Configurationand Methodology

The system under test was aNetReality, Inc. WiseWan 200,software version 2.1.1, configured with Java Runtime 1.1.6. The Wise-Wan 200 was configured to sitbetween a central office LAN andan ACT Networks, Inc. NetPerfor-mer SDM-9400 Frame RelaySwitch, software version v7.1.0(R1), which also serviced tworemote branch office LANs.

On the central office LAN side, theWiseWan 200 linked to a CiscoSystems, Inc. 2500 Series Router,

model number 2513, software ver-sion 11.3 (3). The Cisco 2500 con-nected to a 3Com Corp. SuperStackII Ethernet Switch 3300, modelnumber 3C16980 software version2.0, which connected to a local server running Ganymede Software,Inc. Chariot Console version 2.2Build 403 application software.

The Chariot console resided on a200-MHz Pentium-based TyanComputer Corp. PC server with128 Mbytes of RAM and 2.1Gbytes of storage, running Micro-soft Windows NT Server 4.00.1381/Service Pack 3 operating system.The Windows NT/Chariot Consolewas outfitted with a CompaqComputer Corp. Netelligent 10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet adapter,which connected the server to the3Com switch.

On the other side of the WiseWan200, the device connected to aNetPerformer SDM-9400 FrameRelay Switch, v7.1.0 (R1) over asimulated T-1 connection. TheNetPerformer then linked, via T-1,to a pair of branch office LANs,each of which was front-ended tothe frame relay network via a Cisco2500 Series Routers, model number





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Effects of WiseWan Prioritization Using Bandwidth GuaranteesPercentage of Bandwidth Consumed (Kbit/s)

Source: The Tolly Group, September 1999 Figure 2

2513, software version 11.3 (3).Two additional SuperStack IISwitch 3300 switches connectedthe branch offices to the Cisco2500s. Each branch office wasanchored by a Tyan Computer 200-MHz Pentium server with 64Mbytes of RAM and 2.1 Gbytes ofstorage. The servers ran MicrosoftWindows NT Server operating system version 4.00.1381 ServicePack 4 and Chariot Endpoints.Branch office LAN #1 supportedhigh-priority traffic consisting ofLotus Notes 4.6 client traffic, SAPR/3 and Baan 4.0 data. Both systemswere equipped with Compaq 10/100Mbit/s Netelligent adapters. Branchoffice LAN #2 simulated low-priority traffic, including HTTP andFTP data that originated from theChariot endpoint. See figure 4.

For performance tests, The TollyGroup tested the WiseWan 200 infour different scenarios. Engineersinitially conducted baseline testswith no WiseWan 200 shapingenabled in the following three environments: high-priority trafficonly, low-priority traffic only, and a mix of high- and low-priority traffic. Engineers simulated mis-sion-critical traffic consisting of

SAP R/3, Baan 4.0 and Lotus Notes4.6 transactions across the framerelay network’s T-1 access links.Following this, engineers addedhigh-volume, non-mission-criticaltraffic consisting of FTP, Web andE-mail. Engineers comparedthroughput statistics of the Wise-Wan 200 to those from the Chariotapplication to corroborate that theactual monitoring reports of theWiseWan 200 were correct.

The WiseWan 200 was then config-ured to test the bandwidth whenengineers gave specific high-prioritytraffic precedence over other traffic.The WiseWan 200 was also config-ured in Bandwidth Guarantees andBandwidth Limiting scenarios.

Prioritization

Engineers configured the Chariotendpoints to forward traffic and the WiseWan 200 was configured tospecify high-priority traffic withoutlimiting or prioritizing any othertraffic. Engineers ran three differenttests: first, the Chariot endpoint for-warded high-priority traffic only;second, the Chariot endpoints for-warded low-priority traffic only;and third, the Chariot endpoints

forwarded both high- and low-priority traffic. Engineers ran threeiterations of each test.


For Bandwidth Guarantees perfor-mance tests, engineers configuredthe WiseWan 200 to guarantee 700Kbit/s, out of 768 Kbit/s, of band-width for high-priority traffic with-out granting priority to any type oftraffic. Engineers ran three differenttests: one with high-priority trafficonly, a second with low-prioritytraffic only and a third with high-and low-priority traffic.

Bandwidth Limiting

When engineers tested theBandwidth Limiting capabilities ofthe WiseWan 200, they configuredthe device to limit low-priority traf-fic to 384 Kbit/s, out of 768 Kbit/s.Engineers ran three different tests:one with high-priority traffic only; asecond with low-priority trafficonly; and a third with high- and low-priority traffic.





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Effects of WiseWan Prioritization Using Bandwidth LimitingPercentage of Bandwidth Consumed (Kbit/s)




Test Bed


The Tolly Group gratefully acknowledges the providers of test equipment used in this project.

Vendor Product Web address Ganymede Software, Inc. Chariot http://www.ganymede.com

Since its inception, The TollyGroup has produced high-quality tests that meet three overarching criteria: All testsare objective, fully documentedand repeatable.

We endeavor to provide com-plete disclosure of informationconcerning individual producttests, and multiparty competi-tive product evaluations.

As an independent organization, The Tolly Group does notaccept retainer contracts from vendors, nor does it endorseproducts or suppliers. This open and honest environmentassures vendors they are treated fairly, and with the necessary care to guarantee all parties that the results ofthese tests are accurate and valid. The Tolly Group hascodified this into the Fair Testing Charter, which may beviewed at http://www.tolly.com.

Project Profile

Sponsor: NetReality, Inc.

Document number: 199129

Product class: Traffic shaper

Product under test:" WiseWan 200

Testing window: July 1999

Software status: " Readily available

For more information on this document, or other services offered by The Tolly Group, visit our WorldWide Web site at http://www.tolly.com, send E-mail to [email protected], call (800) 933-1699 or(732) 528-3300.

Internetworking technology is an area of rapid growth and constant change. The Tolly Group conducts engineering-caliber testing inan effort to provide the internetworking industry with valuable information on current products and technology. While great care istaken to assure utmost accuracy, mistakes can occur. In no event shall The Tolly Group be liable for damages of any kind includingdirect, indirect, special, incidental, and consequential damages which may result from the use of information contained in this docu-ment. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The Tolly Group doc. 199129 rev. clk 21 Sept 99

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