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IPv6 Benchmarking Draft - Please provide feedback



Dear v6ops WG members,
 
We would like to ask for your feedback on an "IPv6 Benchmarking" draft (attached) we are working on within the Benchmarking Working Group. This work was started and is driven by the great demand we see for benchmarking guidelines on evaluating the IPv6 performance of network devices. This is a subject of great interest to those who deployed or consider the deployment of IPv6.
 
This draft follows, in structure and format, the recommendation of BMWG to be an IPv6 specific complement to RFC 2544 and not its replacement. As such, this document is referring the reader to RFC 2544 wherever possible and provides IPv6 specific updates wherever necessary. Recommendations are made on evaluating performance with mixed IPv4-IPv6 traffic as well. Note that in keeping with the spirit of RFC 2544, no benchmarking recommendations are made for tunneling mechanisms, the focus remaining on native forwarding. The attached version incorporates the feedback received on version -00 from BWMG members.
 
Considering the IPv6 operational expertise of this group, your comments and suggestions would be extremely valuable in developing and improving this document. Your feedback is most appreciated.
 
Best Regards,
Ciprian Popoviciu
for the authors of the draft


Network Working Group                                       C. Popoviciu
Internet-Draft                                                  A. Hamza
Expires: October 3, 2006                                 G. Van de Velde
                                                           Cisco Systems
                                                             D. Dugatkin
                                                                    IXIA
                                                                 B. Kine
                                                                 Spirent
                                                              April 2006


                     IPv6 Benchmarking Methodology
             <draft-popoviciu-bmwg-ipv6benchmarking-01.txt>

Status of this Memo

   By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any
   applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on October 3, 2006.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

Abstract

   The Benchmarking Methodologies defined in RFC2544 [1] are IP version
   independent however, they do not address some of the specificities of
   IPv6.  This document provides additional benchmarking guidelines



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   which in conjunction with RFC2544 will lead to a more complete and
   realistic evaluation of the IPv6 performance of network elements.


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Tests and Results Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   3.  Test Environment Set Up  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   4.  Test Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     4.1.  Frame Formats and Sizes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
       4.1.1.  Frame Sizes to be used on Ethernet . . . . . . . . . .  5
       4.1.2.  Frame Sizes to be used on SONET  . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     4.2.  Protocol Addresses Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       4.2.1.  DUT Protocol Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       4.2.2.  Test Traffic Protocol Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     4.3.  Traffic with Extension Headers . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     4.4.  Traffic set up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   5.  Modifiers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     5.1.  Management and Routing Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     5.2.  Filters  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       5.2.1.  Filter Format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       5.2.2.  Filter Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   6.  Benchmarking Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     6.1.  Throughput . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     6.2.  Latency  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     6.3.  Frame Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     6.4.  Back-to-Back Frames  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     6.5.  System Recovery  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     6.6.  Reset  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   7.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   8.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   9.  Conclusions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   10. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   11. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     11.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     11.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   Appendix A.  Maximum Frame Rates Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     A.1.  Ethernet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     A.2.  Packet over SONET  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . . . 18









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1.  Introduction

   The benchmarking methodologies defined by RFC2544 [1] are proving to
   be very useful in consistently evaluating IPv4 forwarding performance
   of network elements.  Adherence to these testing and result analysis
   procedures facilitates the objective comparison of product IPv4
   performance.  While the principles behind the methodologies
   introduced in RFC2544 are largely IP version independent, the
   protocol continued to evolve, particularly in its version 6 (IPv6).

   This document provides benchmarking methodology recommendations that
   address IPv6 specific aspects such as evaluating the forwarding
   performance of traffic containing Extension Headers as defined in
   RFC2460 [4].  These recommendations are defined within the RFC2544
   framework and are meant to complement the test and result analysis
   procedures described in RFC2544 and not to replace them.

   The terms used in this document remain consistent with those defined
   in "Benchmarking Terminology for Network Interconnect Devices" [2].
   This terminology document SHOULD be consulted before using or
   applying the recommendations of this document.

   Any methodology aspects not covered in this document SHOULD be
   assumed to be treated based on the RFC2544 recommendations.


2.  Tests and Results Evaluation

   The recommended performance evaluation tests are described in Section
   6 of this document.  Not all these tests are applicable to all
   network element types.  Nevertheless, for each evaluated device, all
   applicable tests described in Section 6 MUST be performed.

   Test execution and the results analysis MUST be performed while
   observing generally accepted testing practices regarding
   repeatability, variance and statistical significance of small numbers
   of trials.


3.  Test Environment Set Up

   The test environment setup options recommended for the IPv6
   performance evaluation are the same to the ones described in Section
   6 of RFC2544, in both single-port and multi-port scenarios.  Single-
   port testing is used in measuring per interface forwarding
   performance while multi-port testing is used to measure the
   scalability of this performance across the entire platform.




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   Throughout the test, the DUT MUST be monitored for relevant resource
   (Processor, Memory, etc.) utilization.  This data is important in
   understanding traffic processing by each DUT and the resources that
   must be allocated for IPv6.  It reveals if the IPv6 is processed in
   hardware, by applicable devices, under all test conditions or it is
   punted in the software switched path.  The data collection MUST be
   done out of band and independent of any management data that might be
   recommended to be collected through the interfaces forwarding the
   test traffic.

   Note: During testing, either static or dynamic Neighbor Discovery can
   be used.  The static option can be used as long as it is supported by
   the test tools.  The dynamic option is however preferred if the test
   tool interacts with the DUT during the duration of the test in order
   to maintain the respective neighbor caches active.  The above
   described test scenarios stem from the assumption that the test
   traffic end points, the IPv6 source and destination addresses are not
   directly attached to the DUT, but is seen as one hop beyond, to avoid
   Neighbor Solicitation (NS) and Neighbor Advertisement (NA) storms due
   to the Neighbor Unreachability Detection (NUD) mechanism [5].


4.  Test Traffic

   The traffic used for all tests described in this document SHOULD meet
   the requirements described in this section.  These requirements are
   designed to reflect the characteristics of IPv6 unicast traffic in
   all its aspects.  Using this IPv6 traffic leads to a complete
   evaluation of the network element performance.

4.1.  Frame Formats and Sizes

   Two types of media are commonly deployed and SHOULD be tested:
   Ethernet and SONET.  This section identifies the frame sizes that
   SHOULD be used for each media type.  For all other media types refer
   to the recommendations of RFC2544.

   Similar to IPv4, small frame sizes help characterize the per-frame
   processing overhead of the DUT.  Note that the minimum size of a
   relevant IPv6 packet (it carries minimal upper layer information) is
   larger than that of an IPv4 packet because the former has a 40 bytes
   long header while the later has a minimum header of 20 bytes.

   The frame sizes listed for IPv6 include the extension headers used in
   testing (see section 4.3).  By definition, extension headers are part
   of the IPv6 packet payload.  Depending on the total length of the
   extension headers, their use might not be possible at the smallest
   frame sizes.



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4.1.1.  Frame Sizes to be used on Ethernet

   Ethernet in all its types has become the most commonly deployed
   interface in today's networks.  The following frame sizes SHOULD be
   used for testing the IPv6 forwarding performance over this media
   type: 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 1280, 1518 bytes.  The maximum frame
   rates for each frame size and the various Ethernet interface types
   are provided in Appendix A.

4.1.2.  Frame Sizes to be used on SONET

   The Packet over SONET (PoS) interfaces are commonly used for core
   uplinks and high bandwidth core links.  For this reason it is
   recommended to evaluate the forwarding performance of such interfaces
   if present or are an option in the DUT.  The recommended layer 2
   packet sizes for this media type are: 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 1280,
   1518, 2048, 4096 bytes.  The maximum frame rates for each frame size
   and the various Ethernet interface types are provided in Appendix A.

4.2.  Protocol Addresses Selection

   There are two aspects of the IPv6 benchmarking testing where IP
   address selection considerations MUST be analyzed: The selection of
   IP addresses for the DUT and the selection of addresses for the test
   traffic.

4.2.1.  DUT Protocol Addresses

   There is no IPv6 address range reserved for the Benchmarking
   Methodology Working Group.  In order to maintain the consistency with
   the IPv4 benchmarking recommendations, IANA SHOULD reserve an IPv6
   benchmarking prefix similar to 192.18.0.0 in RFC 3330 [7].  Similar
   to the RFC2544, Appendix C, addresses from the first half of this
   range SHOULD be used for the ports viewed as input and addresses from
   the other half of the range for the output ports.

   The prefix length of the IPv6 addresses configured on the DUT
   interfaces MUST fall into either one of the following two categories:
   o  Prefix length is /126 which would simulate a point-to-point link
      for a core router.
   o  Prefix length is smaller or equal to /64.
   No prefix lengths SHOULD be selected in the range between 64 and 128
   except the 126 value mentioned above.

   Note that /126 prefixes might not be always the best choice for
   addressing point-to-point links such as back-to-back Ethernet unless
   the autoprovisioning mechanism is disabled.  Also, not all network
   elements support this type of addresses.



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   While with IPv6, the DUT interfaces can be configured with multiple
   global unicast prefixes, the methodology described in this document
   does not require testing such a scenario.  It is not expected that
   such an evaluation would bring additional data with respect to the
   performance of the network element.

   The Interface ID portion of the Global Unicast IPv6 DUT addresses
   MUST be set to ::1.  There are no requirements in the selection of
   the Interface ID portion of the Link Local IPv6 addresses.

   It is recommended that multiple iterations of the benchmark tests be
   conducted using the following prefix lengths: 32, 48, 64, 126 and
   128.  Other prefix lengths can also be used if desired, however the
   indicated range should be sufficient to establish baseline
   performance metrics.

4.2.2.  Test Traffic Protocol Addresses

   The IPv6 addresses used as sources and destinations for the test
   streams SHOULD belong to the IPv6 range to be assigned by IANA as
   discussed in section 4.2.1.  The source addresses SHOULD belong to
   one half of the range and the destination addresses to the other,
   reflecting the DUT interface IPv6 address selection.

   Tests SHOULD first be executed with a single stream leveraging a
   single source-destination address pair.  The tests SHOULD then be
   repeated with traffic using a random destination address in the
   corresponding range.  If the network element prefix lookup
   capabilities are evaluated, the tests SHOULD focus on the IPv6
   relevant prefix boundaries: 0-64, 126 and 128.

   Special care needs to be taken about the Neighbor Unreachability
   Detection (NUD) [5] process.  The IPv6 prefix reachable time in the
   Router Advertisement SHOULD be set to 30 seconds and allow 50%
   jitter.  The IPv6 source and destination addresses SHOULD appear not
   to be directly connected to the NUD to avoid Neighbor Solicitation
   (NS) and Neighbor Advertisement (NA) storms due to multiple test
   traffic flows.

4.3.  Traffic with Extension Headers

   Extension Headers (EH) are an intrinsic part of the IPv6 architecture
   [4] .  They are used with various types of practical traffic such as:
   Fragmented traffic, Mobility based traffic, Authenticated and
   Encrypted traffic.  For these reasons, all tests described in this
   document SHOULD be performed with both traffic that has no EH and
   traffic that has a set of EH selected from the following list:




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   o  Hop-by-Hop header
   o  Destination Options header
   o  Routing header
   o  Fragment header
   o  Authentication header
   o  Encapsulating Security Payload header
   o  Destination Options header
   o  Mobility header

   The Hop-by-Hop extension header MUST be processed by each node so a
   test with traffic containing this EH type will not measure the
   forwarding performance of the DUT but rather its EH processing
   ability which is dependent on the information contained by the EH.
   The processing of IPv6 packets with Hop-by-Hop EH by network elements
   is similar to the processing of IPv4 packets with IP options.  This
   is distinctly different from the way the other IPv6 EH must be
   handled where the traffic can be forwarded in the fast path without
   full EH processing.  In agreement with RFC2544 omission of tests with
   IPv4 traffic that includes IP options, this document makes no
   benchmarking recommendations for traffic with IPv6 traffic with the
   Hop-by-Hop extension header.

   All IPv6 test traffic containing extension headers SHOULD contain a
   combination of two or more EH.  Since the DUT is not analyzing the
   content of the EH, a combination of structure-less EH can be used in
   testing such as:
   o  Destination Options header - 8 bytes
   o  Routing header - 24-32 bytes
   o  Fragment header - 8 bytes
   o  Authentication header - 16 bytes

   The recommended set excludes the Hop-by-Hop EH based on the above
   analysis.  It also excludes the ESP EH since traffic with an
   encrypted payload could not be used in tests with modifiers such as
   filters based on upper layer information (see Section 5).  The
   recommended headers are commonly used with IPv6 traffic for various
   services.  The listed EH lengths represent test tool defaults.  The
   total length of the EH chain SHOULD be larger than 32 bytes.

   These extension headers add extra bytes to the payload size of the IP
   packets which MUST be factored in when used in testing at low frame
   sizes.  Their presence will modify the minimum size used in testing.
   For direct comparison between the data obtained with traffic that has
   EH and with traffic that doesn't have them, at low frame size, a
   common bottom size SHOULD be selected for both types of traffic.

   For the most cases, the network elements ignore the EH when
   forwarding IPv6 traffic.  For these reasons it is most likely that



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   the EH related performance impact will be observed only when testing
   the DUT with traffic filters that contain matching conditions for the
   upper layer protocol information.  In those cases, the DUT MUST
   traverse the chain of EH, a process that could impact performance.

4.4.  Traffic set up

   All tests recommended in this document SHOULD be performed with bi-
   directional traffic.  For asymmetric situations, tests MAY be
   performed with unidirectional traffic for a more granular
   characterization of the DUT performance.  In these cases, the
   bidirectional traffic testing would reveal only the worst performance
   between the two directions.

   All other traffic profile characteristics described in RFC2544 SHOULD
   be applied in this testing as well.


5.  Modifiers

   RFC2544 underlines the importance of evaluating the performance of
   network elements under certain operational conditions.  The
   conditions defined in RFC2544 Section 11 are common to IPv4 and IPv6
   with the exception of Broadcast Frames.  IPv6 does not use layer 2 or
   layer 3 broadcasts.  This section provides additional conditions that
   are specific to IPv6.  The suite of tests recommended in this
   document SHOULD be first executed in the absence of these conditions
   and then repeated under each of the conditions separately.

5.1.  Management and Routing Traffic

   The procedures defined in RFC2544 sections 11.2 and 11.3 are
   applicable for IPv6 Management and Routing Update Frames as well.

5.2.  Filters

   The filters defined in Section 11.4 of RFC2544 apply to IPv6
   benchmarking as well.  The filter definitions however must be
   expanded to include upper layer protocol information matching in
   order to analyze the handling of traffic with Extension Headers (EH)
   which are an important architectural component of IPv6.

5.2.1.  Filter Format

   The filter format defined in RFC2544 is applicable to IPv6 as well
   except that the Source Addresses (SA) and Destination Addresses (DA)
   are IPv6.  In addition to these basic filters, the evaluation of IPv6
   performance SHOULD analyze the handling of traffic with Extension



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   Headers.

   While the intent is not to evaluate a platform's capability to
   process the various extension header types, the goal is to measure
   the impact on performance when the network element must parse through
   the EH in order to reach upper layer information.  In IPv6 routers do
   not have to parse through the extension headers (other than Hop-by-
   Hop) unless the upper layer information has to be analyzed due to
   filters for example.

   For this reasons, in order to evaluate the network element handling
   of IPv6 traffic with EH, the definition of the filters must be
   extended to include conditions applied to upper layer protocol
   information.  The following filter format SHOULD be use for this type
   of evaluation:


        [permit|deny]  [protocol] [SA] [DA]


   where permit or deny indicates the action to allow or deny a packet
   through the interface the filter is applied to.  The Protocol field
   is defined as:
   o  ipv6: any IP Version 6 traffic
   o  tcp: Transmission Control Protocol
   o  udp: User Datagram Protocol
   and SA stands for the Source Address and DA for the Destination
   Address.

5.2.2.  Filter Types

   Based on the RFC2544 recommendations, two types of tests are executed
   when evaluating performance in the presence of modifiers.  One with a
   single filter and one with 25 filters.  The recommended filters are
   exemplified with the help of the IPv6 documentation prefix [8] 2001:
   DB8::.

   Examples of single filters are:

      Filter for TCP traffic - permit tcp 2001:DB8::1 2001:DB8::2
      Filter for UDP traffic - permit udp 2001:DB8::1 2001:DB8::2
      Filter for IPv6 traffic - permit ipv6 2001:DB8::1 2001:DB8::2

   The single line filter case SHOULD verify that the network element
   permits all TCP/UDP/IPv6 traffic with or without any number of
   Extension Headers from IPv6 SA 2001:DB8::1 to IPv6 DA 2001:DB8::2 and
   deny all other traffic.




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   Example of 25 filters:

      deny tcp 2001:DB8:1::1 2001:DB8:1::2
      deny tcp 2001:DB8:2::1 2001:DB8:2::2
      deny tcp 2001:DB8:3::1 2001:DB8:3::2
      ...
      deny tcp 2001:DB8:C::1 2001:DB8:C::2
      permit tcp 2001:DB8:99::1 2001:DB8:99::2
      deny tcp 2001:DB8:D::1 2001:DB8:D::2
      deny tcp 2001:DB8:E::1 2001:DB8:E::2
      ...
      deny tcp 2001:DB8:19::1 2001:DB8:19::2
      deny ipv6 any any

   The router SHOULD deny all traffic with or without extension headers
   except TCP traffic with SA 2001:DB8:99::1 and DA 2001:DB8:99::2.


6.  Benchmarking Tests

   This document recommends the same benchmarking tests described in
   RFC2544 while observing the DUT setup and the traffic setup
   considerations described above.  The following sections state the
   test types explicitly and highlight only the methodology differences
   that might exist with respect to those described in Section 26 of
   RFC2544.

   The specificities of IPv6, particularly the definition of EH
   processing, require additional benchmarking steps.  In this sense,
   the tests recommended by RFC2544 MUST be repeated for IPv6 traffic
   without and with one or multiple extension header.  The testing
   approach that addresses this aspect of the protocol in a systematic
   manner is presented below.

   The benchmarking tests described in this section SHOULD be performed
   under each of the following conditions:

      IPv6 traffic with no extension headers
      IPv6 traffic with one extension header from the list in section
      5.3
      IPv6 traffic with the chain of extension headers described in
      section 5.3

   The modifiers defined are independent of EH type so they can be
   applied equally to each one of the above tests.

   IPv6's deployment in existent IPv4 environments and the expected long
   co-existence of the two protocols leads network operators to place



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   great emphasis on understanding the performance of platforms
   forwarding both types of traffic.  While resource sharing between the
   two protocols, it is important for IPv6 enabled platforms to not
   experience degraded IPv4 performance.  In this context the IPv6
   benchmarking SHOULD be performed in the context of a stand alone
   protocol as well as in the context of its co-existence with IPv4.

   The benchmarking tests described in this section SHOULD be performed
   under each of the following conditions evaluating the IPv6-IPv4 co-
   existence:

      IPv4 ONLY traffic benchmarking
      IPv6 ONLY traffic benchmarking
      IPv4-IPv6 traffic mix with the ration 90% vs 10%
      IPv4-IPv6 traffic mix with the ration 50% vs 50%
      IPv4-IPv6 traffic mix with the ration 10% vs 90%

   Combining the test conditions listed for benchmarking IPv6 as a
   stand-alone protocol and the co-existence tests leads to a large
   coverage matrix.  A minimum requirement is to cover the co-existence
   conditions in the case of where IPv6 with no extension headers is
   used.

   The subsequent sections describe each specific tests that MUST be
   executed under the conditions listed above for a complete
   benchmarking of IPv6 forwarding performance.

6.1.  Throughput

   Objective: To determine the DUT throughput as defined in RFC1242.

   Procedure: Same as RFC2544.

   Reporting Format: Same as RFC2544.  While reporting the network
   element performance at the minimum frame size might be of interest,
   it is recommended that the performance at the IMIX average frame size
   or higher SHOULD also be reported.  This data point would have a more
   useful value in practice.

6.2.  Latency

   Objective: To determine the latency as defined in RFC1242.

   Procedure: Same as RFC2544.

   Reporting Format: Same as RFC2544.





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6.3.  Frame Loss

   Objective: To determine the frame loss rate, as defined in RFC1242,
   of a DUT throughout the entire range of input data rates and frame
   sizes.

   Procedure: Same as RFC2544.

   Reporting Format: Same as RFC2544.

6.4.  Back-to-Back Frames

   Objective: To characterize the ability of a DUT to process back-to-
   back frames as defined in RFC1242.

   Procedure: Same as RFC2544.

   Reporting Format: Same as RFC2544.

6.5.  System Recovery

   Objective: To characterize the speed at which a DUT recovers from an
   overload condition.

   Procedure: Same as RFC2544.

   Reporting Format: Same as RFC2544.

6.6.  Reset

   Objective: To characterize the speed at which a DUT recovers from a
   device or software reset.

   Procedure: Same as RFC2544.

   Reporting Format: Same as RFC2544.


7.  IANA Considerations

   IANA SHOULD reserve an IPv6 prefix for benchmarking purposes similar
   to 192.18.0.0 in RFC 3330 [7].


8.  Security Considerations

   There are no security issues that are or need to be addressed in this
   document.



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9.  Conclusions

   The Benchmarking Methodology for Network Interconnect Devices
   document, RFC2544 [1], is for the most part applicable to evaluating
   the IPv6 performance of network elements.  This document is
   addressing the IPv6 specific requirements that MUST be observed when
   applying the recommendations of RFC2544.  These additional
   requirements stem from the architecture characteristics of IPv6.
   This document is not a replacement of but a complement to RFC2544.


10.  Acknowledgements

   Scott Bradner provided valuable guidance and recommendations for this
   document.  The authors acknowledge the work done by Cynthia Martin
   and Jeff Dunn with respect to defining the terminology for IPv6
   benchmarking.  The authors would also like to thank Benoit Lourdelet
   for his feedback.


11.  References

11.1.  Normative References

   [1]  Bradner, S. and J. McQuaid, "Benchmarking Methodology for
        Network Interconnect Devices", RFC 2544, March 1999.

11.2.  Informative References

   [2]  Bradner, S., "Benchmarking terminology for network
        interconnection devices", RFC 1242, July 1991.

   [3]  Simpson, W., "PPP in HDLC-like Framing", STD 51, RFC 1662,
        July 1994.

   [4]  Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6)
        Specification", RFC 2460, December 1998.

   [5]  Narten, T., Nordmark, E., and W. Simpson, "Neighbor Discovery
        for IP Version 6 (IPv6)", RFC 2461, December 1998.

   [6]  Malis, A. and W. Simpson, "PPP over SONET/SDH", RFC 2615,
        June 1999.

   [7]  IANA, "Special-Use IPv4 Addresses", RFC 3330, September 2002.

   [8]  Huston, G., Lord, A., and P. Smith, "IPv6 Address Prefix
        Reserved for Documentation", RFC 3849, July 2004.



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Appendix A.  Maximum Frame Rates Reference

   This appendix provides the formulas to calculate and the values for
   the maximum frame rates for two media types: Ethernet and SONET.

A.1.  Ethernet

   The maximum throughput in frames per second (fps) for various
   Ethernet interface types and for a frame size X can be calculated
   with the following formula:

                    Line Rate (bps)
             ------------------------------
             (8bits/byte)*(X+20)bytes/frame

   The 20 bytes in the formula is the sum of the Preamble (8 bytes) and
   the Inter Frame Gap (12 bytes).  The calculated maximum throughput
   values for each Ethernet interface type and frame size can be found
   in Appendix B of RFC2544.

A.2.  Packet over SONET

   ANSI T1.105 SONET provides the formula for calculating the maximum
   available bandwidth for the various Packet over SONET (PoS) interface
   types:

             STS-Nc (N = 3X, where X=1,2,3,etc)

             [(N*87) - N/3]*(9 rows)*(8 bit/byte)*(8000 frames/sec)

   Packets over SONET can use various encapsulations: PPP [6], HDLC [3]
   and Frame Relay.  All these encapsulations use a 4 bytes header, a 2
   or 4 bytes FCS field and a 1 byte Flag.  The maximum frame rate for
   various interface types can be calculated with the formula:

                    Line Rate (bps)
             ------------------------------
             (8bits/byte)*(X+1)bytes/frame

   The maximum throughput for various PoS interface types and frame
   sizes:










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             Size   OC-3     OC-12      OC-48      OC-192      OC-768
             Bytes  fps      fps        fps        fps         fps

             64     288,000  1,152,000  4,608,000  18,432,000  73,728,000
             128    145,116  580,465    2,321,860  9,287,442   37,149,767
             256    72,840   291,362    1,165,447  4,661,790   18,647,160
             512    36,491   145,965    583,860    2,335,439   9,341,754
             1024   18,263   73,054     292,215    1,168,859   4,675,434
             2048   9,136    36,545     146,179    584,714     2,338,858
             4096   4,569    18,277     73,107     292,429     1,169,714









































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Authors' Addresses

   Ciprian Popoviciu
   Cisco Systems
   Kit Creek Road
   RTP, North Carolina  27709
   USA

   Phone: 919 787 8162
   Email: cpopovic@cisco.com


   Ahmed Hamza
   Cisco Systems
   3000 Innovation Drive
   Kanata  K2K 3E8
   Canada

   Phone: 613 254 3656
   Email: ahamza@cisco.com


   Gunter Van de Velde
   Cisco Systems
   De Kleetlaan 6a
   Diegem  1831
   Belgium

   Phone: +32 2704 5473
   Email: gunter@cisco.com


   Diego Dugatkin
   IXIA
   26601 West Agoura Rd
   Calabasas  91302
   USA

   Phone: 818 444 3124
   Email: diego@ixiacom.com











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   Bill Kine
   Spirent
   1515 Seal Way
   Seal Beach  90740
   USA

   Phone: 562 598 0631
   Email: Bill.Kine@SpirentCom.COM











































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