10-Gigabit Ethernet Switch Performance Testing - Ixia

Contents
Abstract .....................................................................................................................................5
Introduction ..............................................................................................................................5
10-Gigabit Ethernet LAN ...................................................................................................6
10-Gigabit Ethernet Metro ................................................................................................6
10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ..................................................................................................6
What Is Inside a Multi-10GE Port Switch? ..............................................................................7
Packet buffer .....................................................................................................................7
Packet processing function ..............................................................................................7
Classification tables ..........................................................................................................7
Context memory ................................................................................................................7
Traffic management function ...........................................................................................7
Switch fabric ......................................................................................................................7
What Happens to a Packet When It Enters a 10GE Port? .....................................................8
Storing the packet .............................................................................................................8
Processing the packet .......................................................................................................8
Metering and statistics recording .................................................................................. 10
Packet modification ....................................................................................................... 10
Traffic management ....................................................................................................... 10
Switch fabric ................................................................................................................... 10
What Are the Challenges in Processing Packets at 10G Rates? ....................................... 11
Stress Point 1: Ingress packet buffer ............................................................................ 11
Stress Point 2: Packet classification ............................................................................. 11
Stress Point 3: Traffic management ............................................................................. 13
Stress Point 4: Crossbar switch and backplane interconnect .................................... 14
Stress Point 5: Multicast replication and queues ........................................................ 14
Stress Point 6: Control plane ......................................................................................... 15
Developing the Right Test Methodology .............................................................................. 16
Test methodology example ............................................................................................ 16
Module-level testing ....................................................................................................... 16
System-level testing ....................................................................................................... 16
Test methodologies ........................................................................................................ 16
Anticipating the behavior of the 10GE switch .............................................................. 18
Ixia’s Test Solution ............................................................................................................... 20
IxExplorer ........................................................................................................................ 20
IxScriptMate .................................................................................................................... 20
Appendix: 10GE Testing Examples ...................................................................................... 22
1. Throughput Testing: RFC 2544 Throughput Test .................................................... 22
2. Testing for Latency: RFC 2544 Latency Tests ......................................................... 24
3. Testing how 10GE ports handle prioritized streams based on QoS parameters .. 25
4. 10GE OSPF Convergence Test .................................................................................. 27
Glossary ................................................................................................................................. 29
Acknowledgements ...............................................................................................................30
10-Gigabit Ethernet Switch Performance Testing Copyright © 2004, Ixia 3