Modeling and Simulation Tools

Modeling and simulation tools perform stress testing, network reconfiguration, and network setup redesign. Consider the implications of experimenting with expensive and mission critical network systems. The risk factor is quite high in attempting to experiment on a live network. However, it is important to check network traffic modulations, network performance, required configuration, and other network statistics in various mission-critical conditions. This would enable you to set up customized networks that suit the requirements of the organization. To allow this facility, network modeling and simulation techniques are used. In case there are problems in the network design that cause performance bottlenecks, simulation and modeling enable you to redesign networks.

The products used for modeling and simulation employ object-oriented techniques to check a particular network setup with a certain set of protocols and network devices, for example, traffic and routing algorithms for a LAN or WAN setup. For example, to check the network performance and response rate of a LAN using a particular routing algorithm, the simulator would allow you to import the required configuration and test the network performance for a particular scenario. The output generated from these tools provides information on response rates; node, link, and LAN utilization; packets lost; and network throughput.

The Cisco Service Level Management Suite provides “What If” simulation techniques for testing various permutations and combinations of network devices, protocols, routing algorithms, and network traffic. This is done to determine the network performance baseline in different situations. In addition, these techniques can determine the impact of configuration changes on the network, specifically if you need to deploy new network devices or increase the size of the network. This helps increase the rate of network fault tolerance while designing a real network setup.

Another tool that provides modeling and simulation capabilities is the NetSys Connectivity Service Manager, which allows you to monitor the actual network configuration data and use it to establish service level standards. It applies the View, Isolate, Solve, Test, and Apply (VISTA) methodology for diagnosing and troubleshooting network problems.

The NetSys Performance Manager is another tool that complements the Service Manager. It provides the ability to establish models for routing and flow transport on Cisco devices. This would enable you to analyze results of different traffic flows, topologies, routing configurations, and IOS.

The NetSys WAN Service Manager is another tool that provides modeling and simulation capabilities that help analyze the behavior of Cisco devices. Using this tool, you can gauge the impact on network performance for various traffic, topology, and network devices.

The Cisco NetSys Service Level Management suite enables you to import real-time data and configurations from the network, using configuration files. This allows you to view real Layer 2 and 3 multi-protocol network topologies with traffic flows and network device configurations. As a result, you prevent the risk of experimenting on a real network to analyze various situations of network downtime and their causes.