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README.NX
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1990-04-30
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NetFRAME Systems Inc.
NX
A Network Exerciser for NetWare 386 (TM)
WHAT IS NX?
NX (Network eXerciser) is a portable performance analysis tool. It can be run
on systems that run Novell's NetWare 386 (TM). NX was developed at
NetFRAME Systems Inc., in response to a need to analyze and characterize
network performance without using clients over a variety of operating
conditions.
NX is a NetWare Loadable Module, or NLM. It can be loaded and run from
the operator's console of a NetWare 386 system. It can provide a variety
of system configuration options in examining network transmission throughput.
It is portable and easy to use, providing users a variety of reproducible
conditions.
BEFORE YOU START
NX is provided on either a 3.5" or 5.25" floppy, along with this file.
Its filename is NX.NLM. You must have a system capable of running NetWare 386,
a copy of NetWare 386, Rev 3.0 or higher, and at least one network.
NX WILL stress the network. Therefore, disgression is advised in
exercising NX on any networks with active users that are sensitive to load on
the network.
NX does not have to "bind" to a network to run. It only requires that
the lan driver is loaded for the particular processor/port to be tested.
HOW TO RUN NX
First, bring up NetWare 386 on your system. Be sure to load the appropriate
lan driver(s) to exercise your network. Other NLMs could be loaded
(e.g. INSTALL, MONITOR) as required, but they are not necessary to run NX.
Either download the nx.nlm into your DOS partition, copy into the system
directory of the Netware 386 volume, or load from a floppy drive. At the
operator's console, type LOAD NX. NX will clear the screen and ask a series
of questions:
1. Packet Length Type [F=Fixed R=Random]? F
The answer to this question determines how NX will process the packet.
In fixed mode, NX will transmit and/or receive packets of a specified size.
In random mode, NX will process packets of random sizes. Random sizes are
determined by a random number generator with a uniform distribution bounded
between 64 to 1472 bytes per packet.
Fixed packet size is useful in evaluating network performance of most
file server environments that maximizes data transmission by using the
largest packet size possible. Random packet size is useful in examining
how both network adapters and drivers process packets of varying sizes.
2. Bytes per packet [64:1472]? 64
If you selected fixed mode, NX will prompt you for the packet size. This
answer instructs NX on how big each packet should be--64 to 1472 bytes.
NX will round the packet size to the nearest 64-bytes increment. The default
is 64 bytes per packet. A small packet size (such as 64 bytes) generally
represent a request packet for information or data. A large packet size
generally represent data transmission between the client and server such as
file reads/writes or program loading. Therefore, the larger the packet size,
the greater the amount of data that could be transmitted. The default
Netware 386 physical receive packet size is 1130 bytes.
4. Number of concurrent sends to queue per device [1-32]? 3
NX is able to build and maintain a queue of packets for each device before
calling the lan driver to act on those packets. This number lets NX know
how deep to keep this queue. This feature is useful for intelligent
drivers and/or adapters that are capable of processing multiple packets.
The default queue depth is 3.
5. Screen Update Interval in seconds [1-60]? 5
This tells NX how often to calculate and display statistics on the console.
The default is 5 seconds.
6. Exercise NFLAN [port=1]? y
For each device in the system with a network interface adapter and lan driver
loaded, NX will ask if you want to include that device in the test. This is
useful for excluding certain networks that are sensitive to load, or to
characterize your system on a network by network, transmit and/or receive,
or system wide basis. The format of device selection is by port number.
7. Device Activity [T=Transmit R=Receive B=Both]? B
For each device you selected, NX will ask which mode you want to test.
Transmit will only send packets out onto the wire. Receive will only receive
packets from the wire. Both will do both transmits and receives from the
same wire.
There is much flexibility in how you want to set up the networks for
testing. All the network adapters in a server may be connected to only
one wire to do both transmits and receives. Since the networks do not
have to "bind" to run NX, the restriction on discreet networks does not
exist. If discreet networks are desired, NX will run when properly terminated
at the adapter without requiring additional wiring.
When interpreting NX results, care should be taken on how the networks are
setup. Aggregate transmit throughput on one wire, regardless of the number
of adapters transmitting, can only be up to 1.25 MB/second for Ethernet 802.3.
But, each adapter receiving packets, on the same wire, could each receive up
to the maximum throughput the wire is transmitting. An example of this is
illustrated below where three adapters are connected to the same wire. One
adapter is selected to transmit only, the other two are selected to receive.
Therefore, both ports 2 and 3 are each receiving all the packets being
transmitted on the wire.
THE NX DISPLAY
After questioning you about all the devices with network drivers loaded, NX will
clear the screen and start exercising the network(s) you specified in the manner
you requested. After the screen update interval, it will display the statistics
it has gathered so far. Here is a sample display:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NetFRAME Network Test with 6 sends queued per device Page 1 of 1
Device Cur. Send Cur. Recv. Ave. Send Ave. Recv.
Name KB/s Pkt/s KB/s Pkt/s KB/s Pkt/s KB/s PKt/s
Generic [port=1] 1036 721 0 0 1036 721 0 0
Generic [port=2] 0 0 1036 721 0 0 1036 721
Generic [port=3] 0 0 1036 721 0 0 1036 721
All Devices 1036 721 2072 1442 1036 721 2072 1442
Server Utilization 16%
Q to quit or page number to view
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: The numbers supplied above are provided for reference only and do not
reflect the physical network performance of any system.
The top line identifies NX, the type of test it is running, and the page
being displayed. NX can display statistics on very large systems. Aggregate
statistics are shown on every page.
To display the information on any page, type in the page number on the
keyboard at the operator's console. After the next display interval, that page
will be shown until a new page number is typed, or you exit NX.
To exit NX, type "q" (the letter only). NX will ask you if you really want
to exit. Type y or n at the prompt, which will appear at the bottom line of
the display. The default is yes.
You may also do other things while NX is running. You may use the
<ALT-EXC> or <CTL-ESC> key combinations to cycle through any other NLMs you
have running, or to the console. However, other activities on the system
could perturb your results.
The next two lines consist of column heading, to identify which statistics
are collected in that column. The Name column identifies which device is
being tested. The KB/s column identifies how many kilobytes per second were
processed during the last display interval. The Pkts/s column shows how
many physical packets per second were processed during the last display
interval. The Cur. Send/Recv. columns show the current average send/receive
rates since the last display interval. The Ave. Send/Recv. columns displays
the average rates since the beginning of the test.
Finally, the CPU utilization for the server is displayed. CPU utilization
is the percentage of processor time used marginally to process the benchmark
results and mostly to process the packets. The remainder (unused CPU cycles)
is the processor time available to perform other functions on the system.
CAVEATS
To receive packets with size greater than the Netware default of 1130 bytes,
set maximum physical receive packet size=1536 in the startup.ncf file and
reboot the server.
To change test parameters, you must quit the program and reload it.
There is no explicit way to capture NX displays to a file or files.
NX only displays information about completed packets.
NX has no provision for gathering statistics on a per wire basis.
NX tests can be stressful to the network.
NX is not a capacity planning tool and does not predict total system demands
for particular customer environments.
When running both DX and NX, be sure to load both NLMs before starting
either. If you don't, server CPU utilization percentages will be
in error. This is due to the way NetWare 386 handles the loading of NLMs
in relation to server CPU utilization.
NX is provided as is, with no warranty, explicit or implied. NetFRAME Systems
Inc. assumes no responsibility for any information provided by NX, nor any
effects, direct or indirect, on your system. NX has been tested on NetFRAME
systems, and on a limited number of ISA, EISA, and MCA systems, and has shown
no deleterious side effects to systems under test. However, NX may exhibit
side effects on your system.
TRADEMARKS
Novell, NetWare, NetWare 386, NetFRAME, and NetFRAME Systems, are the trademarks
of Novell, Inc. and NetFRAME Systems Inc.
(c) 1990 NetFRAME Systems Inc., 1545 Barbar Lane, Milpitas, CA 95035