Configuring your load test settings

Observer Analyzer : Observer Analyzer : Real-Time Statistics : Monitoring network load : Configuring your load test settings

The Traffic Generator tool has several options that can be set.

The traffic generator tool is located at Tools > Traffic Generator. Several noteworthy settings can be configured directly in the tool, and they are described in Table 8.

Note: The VIAVI capture cards do not allow the generation of network traffic using this tool.

You can also right-click anywhere in the Generated Packet Header area to reveal the following options:

♦Load Packet From File—displays the Load Packet dialog, letting you load a particular packet number from a particular buffer file.

♦Save Packet to File—lets you save the currently configured packet to a standard Observer capture file.

♦Open Packet in Decode—shows currently formed packet in Observer’s packet capture decode window.

Table 8. Traffic generator settings
Setting	Description
Packet size	Allows you to define the size of the packets to be generated.
Allow jumbo frames	Allows packet sizes to be set greater than the conventional maximum of your network type. This change is reflected in the packet size setting. Ensure the network card driver generating the traffic is also configured to support jumbo frames.
Requested utilization	If selected, the traffic generator attempts to generate packets at a fast enough rate to meet the requested bandwidth utilization. An error is displayed if the requested utilization cannot be fulfilled.
Generate sequential source MACs	If selected, the tool generates packets with MAC source addresses in a sequence, up to the number of addresses specified. If generating more packets than the number of addresses in the sequence, the traffic generator restarts the address sequence from the beginning. The start of the sequence is defined in the Edit Header dialog’s Source MAC Address field.
Generate sequential destination MACs	If selected, the tool generates packets with MAC destination addresses in a sequence, up to the number of addresses specified. If generating more packets than the number of addresses in the sequence, the traffic generator restarts the address sequence from the beginning. The start of the sequence is defined in the Edit Header dialog’s Destination MAC Address field.