Chariot

Test current and future network performance

Chariot is a network performance management tool with prepackagedreal-world tests that let you determine how well your network is performing. Youcan also predict the effect of future changes on your network's performance.Using a unique scripting language, you can compose tests to emulatemodifications, such as application deployment, that you plan to make onyour network. You can then create network tests that use these emulation teststo measure future network performance.

Endpoint and Console
Chariot consists of two separately licensed components. The first componentis Endpoint, which handles communications for the node. Ganymede makes Endpointsoftware available for all flavors of Microsoft Windows, IBM AIX, HP-UX, SunMicrosystems Solaris, Novell NetWare, and OS/2.

The nature of your OS determines how the Endpoint software installs. Forinstance, on Windows NT, the Endpoint component installs as an NT Service thatautomatically starts each time NT boots, whereas on Windows 95 an entry in theStartup folder starts the Endpoint software.

Chariot's second component is the Console application, the graphicalinterface you use to run network tests and analyze their results. Screen 1 showsthe Console interface for a sample Chariot test. Currently, Ganymede supportsthe Console application on only two platforms: NT and OS/2. This applicationcontains a series of windows that lets you configure how the software willoperate, including where it will save test files, where it will load scriptfiles, and how it will conduct tests.

Installation
When you install Chariot, you must install the Endpoint service on at leasttwo network nodes, and the Console application on an NT or OS/2 system.Installing the Console application automatically installs Endpoint on thecomputer where the Console application resides.

The software distribution CD-ROM for Chariot includes both evaluation andretail versions of the software. The difference between the two versions is thatthe retail version asks for an authorization key and the evaluation version hasa built-in 15-day limit on use.

Currently, Chariot supports five different network protocols: AdvancedProgram-to-Program Communications (APPC--for SNA Server systems with ServicePack 2 installed), IPX, SPX, TCP, and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). Whichnetwork protocols you can use in your testing depends on the protocols supportedby the Endpoint platform you are communicating with. For example, the NetWareEndpoint does not support APPC. NT supports all the communications protocolslisted for testing in its Endpoint component.

Scripting Language
Chariot includes numerous canned test scripts you can run in your networkenvironment to test performance. These include scripts to simulate databaseupdates and long file transfers between nodes. Furthermore, the scripts includea series of Internet scripts to test the performance of FTP file transfers,transfer of Web graphics and text data, Telnet character transfer, and SimpleMail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)/Post Office Protocol (POP) simulations to testcommon email exchanges.

If the script that you need doesn't exist, you can create it usingChariot's scripting language. The scripting language includes the ability tocreate variables, initiate common communications-oriented commands, andperform loops over a period of time. The scripting language can handle iterationfor transferring data. This language is fairly complex, but it is welldocumented in a 185-page users' manual.

If you need a network performance measurement tool, Chariot is the productfor you. With its prediction capabilities, Chariot can help you evaluate networkperformance before you deploy new software; with its real-world tests, you candetermine the overall health of your network.