Coincidentally, this week I was asked to specify current and next-gen equipment for a new network testbed at $DAYJOB. This lab would be used to test software used to monitor large networks. Specifically I need to setup an environment similar to that of large SPs, with emphasis on MPLS, STP, OSPF and BGP. What present and next-gen hardware would you recommend to include in such a testbed? I have vendor C pretty well covered, and I am really trying to look outside the box on this, but whatever you want to recommend is welcome. Private replies are also welcome, I can post a recap once I've received some feedback. Thanks, -Jim P. On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 17:23, Brian Feeny <bfeeny@mac.com> wrote:

I have the need to stress test a LAN and WAN. The primary concern is the WAN which is at most OC-3. The LAN would be an additional bonus if I could do that as well. I am familiar with tools such as those from Spirent and IXIA which are very expensive. I was wondering if someone has had to do this and can recommend some open source tools that would work well. I need to test a few different types of traffic, specifically trying to push traffic into various switch/router policies to make sure everything is performing as expected. If anyone knows of some software that works well for this I would appreciate letting me know.

Thanks,

Brian