Spirent completes 10 Gb Ethernet test

BANGALORE, INDIA: Spirent Communications plc, a provider of performance analysis and service management solutions, successfully completed the industry's largest-ever public 10 Gigabit Ethernet test on Friday.

Supplying its Spirent TestCenter platform, the test demonstrates the company's leadership in validating next-generation Ethernet devices that power the Internet's continued expansion, said a press release.

Communications industry leaders such as Cisco are depending on multi-functional, comprehensive solutions from Spirent to help ensure that the multi-play networks and multi-technology platforms of tomorrow deliver the Quality of Experience (QoE) which service providers are demanding today, it said.

In a test involving a 256 port 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch, Spirent TestCenter authenticated the performance of the Cisco Nexus 7000 Data Center Switch in several areas including high availability and resiliency as well as performance of IPv4 unicast and multicast traffic.

This test was commissioned by Network World magazine and conducted by industry leading independent test lab, Network Test, the release added.

"The rapid growth of data centers and 10 Gigabit Ethernet make performance validation a strategic imperative for equipment vendors like Cisco," said David Newman, president, Network Test, a Network World Test Alliance partner.

"Using Spirent TestCenter to assess Cisco's latest data center switch was a logical choice since the test system provided the necessary scalability, density and flexibility at 10 Gigabit Ethernet rates."

In addition to measuring throughput and latency of unicast and multicast traffic in these tests, Spirent TestCenter also measured high availability and resiliency.

These tests examined how the Cisco Nexus switch recovered from an OSPF process restart, how it handled the loss of one or more fabric cards, and how it handled in-service software upgrades and downgrades, according to the release.

Simulating 10 Gigabit Ethernet traffic to 256 ports at line rate speeds, Spirent TestCenter validated the ability of the Cisco Nexus switch to meet the high availability requirements of even the largest data centers.

"In one of the largest public tests of its kind, Spirent continues to demonstrate why it is the preferred network performance analysis system for some of the largest telecom equipment manufacturers and service providers," said Tim Jefferson, general manager, Converged Core Solutions at Spirent Communications.

Spirent TestCenter, a Layer 2-7 network performance testing platform, is specifically designed for multi-play networks and multi-device technologies, the release said.