Test Tools for IP Multicast

Internet usage is growing at an exponential rate in recent times. The high growth rate in the number of Internet users is the main reason that has triggered the need for applications that provide data access while minimizing bandwidth requirements. IP Multicast is the technique used by various network applications to send packets from one or more senders to a group of recipients in a single data transfer operation.

IP Multicast needs to be tested adequately to prevent any kind of performance issue creeping in during peak operating hours. The network testing tools that are used with multicast operations must be able to perform number of functions to adequately test and validate all multicast devices and systems. Multicast testing is a very complicated task. It requires many intricate setup of the testing environment and analysis of the device operation to completely study its working.

1. It is essential for these tools to conduct rigorous conformance testing of the control plane of the device or system under test.

2. The tool must be able to perform scalability testing and performance testing by emulating a wide variety of topologies and hierarchies at the control plane. This will test whether the network device is able to scale up for large capacity flow.

3. The test solution must also be able to drive wire-speed traffic at the data plane level to fully stress the device under test.

Multicast is widely used by many applications related to security monitoring, chat groups, distributed computing, polling and data collection. Due to the high complexity involved in multicast testing it is required to opt for automated solutions that can efficiently create the test environment for the network device. Scripting languages like TCL (Tool Command Language) is commonly used for automation in manufacturing environments. They help perform repeatable regressions tests to check for product quality and functionality.

There are other dedicated multicast test tools like IxANVL that is purely designed for protocol conformance testing. These tools provide positive and negative test cases to probe deep into the working of the network devices. There leaves no doubt that a successful multicast operation solely depends on an efficient and robust testing tool.

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