[netperf-talk] NetPerf Alternatives

[Rick Jones]

pklemper at ece.cmu.edu wrote:
> Dear NetPerf List,
> 
> I'm sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I'm not really sure where to
> turn.  I've been enjoying using netperf to check the effect of my
> intrusion detection system against the maximum throughput capability of my
> machine, but I have an additional requirement that I do not think netperf
> can satisfy.
> 
> Is there a utility that would allow me to create a TCP stream of a defined
> throughput so that I can measure the CPU overhead of my IDS over a range
> of network loads?

Always happy to help a Tartan :)

When you ./configure include an "--enable-intervals" and two new global command 
line options will be enabled -w for the inter-burst interval, and -b for the 
size (in sends) of the burst.  You can used that to cause netperf to call send() 
at a given overall rate.

That mechanism uses the platforms interval timer.  If you desire even finer 
granularity, you can add --enable-spin to the configure and then instead of 
using the interval timer and sleeping, netperf will sit and spin.  Great for 
getting that fine interval, not so good for CPU utilization :)

happy benchmarking,

rick jones