The perfSONAR Performance Toolkit (pS-Performance Toolkit) is a customized version of a Knoppix Live-CD bootable disk. The software consists of an ISO disk image that can be used in one of two ways: burn the image to a disk (recommended); or mount the ISO file system and run as a virtual machine (for example, under VMware, QEMU or xen). After performing either step, the result is a fully-configured system capable of running and using many advanced network tools and methodologies, serving either as a testing point or a means to solve performance issues.
| current version: 3.2.2 |
pS-Performance Toolkit Recommendations for Use with Firewalls
The pS Performance Toolkit development team, working closely with the NTAC Performance Working Group, has produced a comprehensive guide to configuring site and host firewalls for use with the measurement tools. This information is provided because:
- Well known ports will make it easier for sites that are using firewalls to specify the requirements of measurement on the host itself, and all network devices in the middle
- Sites that are not using firewalls will be able to test to firewalled sites (as well as firewalled sites testing to them) and be guaranteed of success. Previous attempts in this space could have involved sites choosing different 'ranges' for their tools, and the tools did not effectively negotiate on a strategy that would lead to working measurement.
More information is available here.
pS-Performance Toolkit 3.3 RC2 released
RC2 of the 3.3 version of the pS-Performance Toolkit is now available for download. This is considered a "release candidate" and NOT a production release. Please do NOT install this version on your production perfSONAR hosts. Release notes are available detailing changes.
pS-Performance Toolkit 3.2.2 released
Version 3.2.2 of the pS-Performance Toolkit is now available for download. This update includes package upgrades and numerous bug fixes. Release notes are available to denote all changes since the 3.2.1.1 release.
purpose
When serving as a measurement point, a use case adopted by Large Hadron Collider (LHC) affiliated Tier 2 sites in the United States, the disk becomes a part of a global registry of perfSONAR tools. Affiliated sites and other interested parties may perform any number of tests (on demand, or in some cases regularly scheduled) to the installation including:
- BWCTL - Bandwidth Test Controller
- Iperf
- Thrulay
- Nuttcp
- Cacti - Network data polling and graphing
- NDT - Network Diagnostic Tool
- NPAD - Automatic diagnostic server for troubleshooting end-systems and last-mile network problems
- OWAMP - One-way Ping
- perfSONAR-PS Services
- Lookup Service - perfSONAR registration and discovery
- PingER Measurement Archive and Measurement Point - Perform and archive latency measurements
- perfSONAR-BUOY Measurement Archive and Collection Framework - Perform and archive bandwidth and one way latency measurements
- SNMP Measurement Archive - Archive SNMP data
- Ping
- Traceroute
When used in the role of a network debugging infrastructure, the various tools can be used to methodically find, diagnose, and aid in the correction of network performance issues. Additional supporting components include:
- Apache2 - Web server with supporting modules and extensions
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MySQL - Relational database management system
- NTP - Network Time Protocol
- Oracle DB XML - XML Database
installation and disk contents
Please visit pS-Performance Toolkit QuickStart wiki for a complete set of instructions regarding installation and configuration. Click here for a complete list and explanation of the Disk Contents.
background
The original idea for the pS-Performance Toolkit came from the Network Performance Workshop series sponsored by Internet2. The old format of this workshop consisted of a day of tool installation (e.g. installing the Web100-enhanced kernel and other performance tools) followed by some time to test and use them. This particular format did not allow enough time to get to the primary reason many participants choose to sign up: solving network performance problems.
To lower the bar on this complex topic, this product offers a complete network performance suite pre-installed (and in many cases pre-configured) that is ready to be dropped directly into a network operations center (NOC) of any size. With the integration of perfSONAR tools, the results of both passive and active measurements can be shared in a federated environment with your peers enabling the early detection of performance issues.
“These tools give us better visibility into the network, allowing us to troubleshoot performance issues quickly.” -- Network Performance Workshop participant
mailing lists
performance-node-announce and performance-node-users, hosted at internet2.edu, are publicly archived and open to subscriptions.