Xgig 16G Fibre Channel Load Tester for Switch and Fabric Load Testing

The Xgig Fibre Channel Load Tester adds Fibre Channel traffic generation to the Xgig Unified Protocol Analysis and Test platform, which combines multiple protocols and test functions in one chassis. It is the first-generation tool offering a 14 Gbps Fibre Channel (16 GFC) protocol. Eight traffic profile engines assigned to each physical Xgig port transmit traffic patterns at and above the maximum legal data rate, up to 14 Gbps, to simulate extreme traffic conditions.

Stress-testing a network at and above the maximum legal data rate is a key step in verifying the reliability of Fibre Channel equipment. The load tester replaces test setups built from multiple servers and storage arrays: users construct fully meshed data communication topologies, generate traffic loads, and monitor both transmitted and received data streams. It is used to test Fibre Channel fabrics and switches for performance, data integrity, robustness, flexibility, and scalability, and offers a cost-effective alternative for high-port-count switch testing.

By emulating N_Port and N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) behaviour, with up to 255 NPIV ports per physical port, the load tester conducts fabric and port login processes and configures a variety of port topologies among ports in the same zone, which also exercises fabric and switch virtualization features. Tests are configured in a three-step process through the graphical user interface: configure ports (port group, data speed, NPIV port count, minimum IPG, buffer-to-buffer credit, RSCN, login retry, OX_ID mode), configure traffic patterns (continuous or burst mode, payload pattern and size, topology, error insertion) and configure the link (laser on/off, manual link initialization, manual FLOGI, PLOGI and NPIV login, automatic global start/stop).

Triggering other Xgig functions

The load tester shares its hardware with the other Xgig functions (analyzer, jammer and BERT). Because it generates the traffic, it can detect missing, out-of-order or misdirected frames and trigger analyzer ports through the trigger port on the Xgig chassis to start or stop filling the trace buffer. The trigger frame lists key information such as S_ID, D_ID, SEQ_CNT and OX_ID, which can be used to set up search and filter criteria in TraceView. Control frames can also be captured directly from the load tester and viewed in .CAP format with Xgig TraceView or Wireshark.

Statistics and automation

The load tester monitors received and transmitted traffic and presents statistics in spreadsheet pane views, per port or per stream, including data frames, actual and average bandwidth and data rate, login frame count, min/average/max latency and error counters for code violations, CRC and disparity errors, dropped, out-of-order and misdirected frames, and sequencing errors. Statistics are saved automatically to a .csv file. All functions and configurations are accessible through C/C++ and TCL/TK APIs for automated and regression testing.

Maestro software

The load tester is configured with VIAVI Maestro Software, the same GUI used to manage other Xgig functions such as the Fibre Channel and Gigabit Ethernet BERT, the Fibre Channel and 10G Ethernet Load Tester, the 10G Ethernet Delay Emulator, the SAS/SATA Jammer and the SAS/SATA Generator.