Agilent Technologies expands router protocol testing solutions with new SessionStorm traffic generator for QA Robot family

Module provides users with enhanced control over packet contents to validate end-to-end reliability and performance in IP packet processing

PALO ALTO, CA -- Dec 6, 1999

Agilent Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard Company, today introduced the newest addition to its family of solutions for testing the carrier-class routers used to switch IP-based voice and data traffic. SessionStorm, a new traffic generation module for the QA Robot test platform, will allow users to evaluate end-to-end routing performance by analyzing the handling of "real world" traffic originating from up to 20,000 different end-user sessions. Users can easily define packet contents, packet size, transmission rates and other session characteristics to test router reliability and performance under a wide range of simulated conditions.

"SessionStorm offers a real alternative to the simple ‘packet blasting’ in use today by network equipment manufacturers and their prospective customers that simply tests raw performance under somewhat unrealistic conditions," said Paul Goransson, product operations manager of Agilent’s Advanced Networks Division. "SessionStorm provides the tools and flexibility needed to quickly define packet content, forward traffic, and analyze both throughput and accuracy of packet handling. This provides a significantly deeper and richer test environment for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of network equipment under many different scenarios and realistic conditions." 

The QA Robot system, acquired as part of the purchase of Qosnetics, Inc. by Agilent⁽¹⁾in September 1999, is a hardware/software platform that provides a complete protocol test solution for conformance and performance evaluation of network equipment that utilize BGP-4, IS-IS and OSPF -- today’s most widely used Internet routing protocols.

The SessionStorm module and QA Robot include an extensive library of predefined scripts, including RFC-compliant tests that permit users to immediately perform a wide range of equipment performance measurements and benchmarks. Using QA Robot tools, customers can modify these scripts, or create their own to profile-specific traffic patterns. Scripts can also be combined to form test suites and be stored for future use. QA Robot incorporates a complete TCP protocol implementation, including all defined TCP session functions, such as timers, connection setup and tear-down. Users can also set inter-packet delay and QoS levels -- on a per-session basis -- as well as creating fully-compliant TCP/UDP traffic and defining TCP or UDP packet content and size, to evaluate router performance under different network conditions and payloads.

In addition to analyzing and comparing incoming and outgoing packet contents, the system also measures and reports QoS and network performance statistics. Test routines can be run on an automated, unattended basis, speeding regression testing required to isolate problems.

The QA Robot System complements Agilent’s RouterTester, introduced last month. Together, RouterTester and QA Robot provide a complete solution for testing both elements of a router’s operational performance -- packet forwarding and route processing.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is a diversified technology company, resulting from Hewlett-Packard Company's plan to strategically realign itself into two fully independent companies. With approximately 43,000 employees serving customers in more than 120 countries, Agilent Technologies is a global leader in designing and manufacturing test, measurement and monitoring instruments, systems and solutions, and semiconductor and optical components. The company serves markets that include communications, electronics, life sciences and healthcare. In fiscal year 1999, the businesses comprising Agilent, then a subsidiary of HP, had net revenue of more than $8.3 billion.

Information about Agilent Technologies can be found on the Web at www.agilent.com.

Press Inquiries