4.5 Testing

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Until recently, SAN test solutions were typically developed in-house, using real servers, storage equipment, and internally developed software. With the increasing scale of SAN infrastructures, however, even Fibre Channel SAN equipment manufacturers and SAN solution integrators needed a way to perform interoperability and scalability testing that is less resource-intensive and physically challenging.

Off-the-shelf test platforms have become available that enable the realistic characterization of fabric performance. One of these test platforms is Agilent’s 1730 SAN test system, which provides the controlled environment necessary for efficiently testing complex SANs before they are deployed. Using a combination of hardware and software, the Agilent 1730 SAN test system enables Fibre Channel traffic generation at wire speeds of 1 or 2 Gbps, with allowances for any combination of data, error, link, fabric control, and fabric server traffic.

The system’s test controls can be used to set a number of variables that simulate specific traffic conditions in the target SAN under test. These variables include port behavior, frame level parameters, specific error types, interframe gap size, traffic topology, buffer-to-buffer credit, and burst mode traffic.

Live measurement results can be monitored while a test is running so observations can be made on how the fabric handles various traffic conditions and recovers from unexpected disruptions, such as a link down at multiple ports. Traffic loads can also be changed while the test is running, which provides insight into network performance. Customized test suites can be developed using TCL/CK scripting language, and all SAN test system features and capabilities are accessible through APIs.

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