remote speedtesting for routers?

[stuartfawcett]

Why can't I ask my router to run a test of the maximum speed to a location and then return the answer to me?  (Security protected of course)

A remote speed test if you will?

[Joseph W. Doherty]

Disclaimer

The Author of this posting offers the information contained within this posting without consideration and with the reader's understanding that there's no implied or expressed suitability or fitness for any purpose. Information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as rendering professional advice of any kind. Usage of this posting's information is solely at reader's own risk.

Liability Disclaimer

In no event shall Author be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of use, data or profit) arising out of the use or inability to use the posting's information even if Author has been advised of the possibility of such damage.

Posting

Possibly the answer is routers, by design, route packets and they don't usually provide a maximum speed test, although some Cisco routers used to have a hidden command for TTCP and many today support various SLA tests.

I also found you can configure the echo service, although more often than not, having a router echo packets sent to is seems to crush the CPU of the router before it crushes the link.  (NB: router software has been optimized to forward transit packets, services supported by the router are often not as well implemented for optimal performance.)

[stuartfawcett]

Thank you Joseph; where routers are hardware based i'd agree that they only really have one function. But with more powerful devices and extra memory I was hoping that a local iPerf utility might be loadable within the unit. Its often a confidence thing, knowing that a particular segment can achieve the Mb/s expected and if you not able to do this remotely then its expensive to prove.

I'd seen the TTCP notes but as its not supported its not necessarily a common trusted platform. The  SLA tests seems much better.

Is there a particular Cisco IP SLA function you think I could use?

Many thanks

Stuart

[stuartfawcett]

Also the SLA licence required seems like an unnecessary cost to prove something perhaps just once.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

Disclaimer

The Author of this posting offers the information contained within this posting without consideration and with the reader's understanding that there's no implied or expressed suitability or fitness for any purpose. Information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as rendering professional advice of any kind. Usage of this posting's information is solely at reader's own risk.

Liability Disclaimer

In no event shall Author be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of use, data or profit) arising out of the use or inability to use the posting's information even if Author has been advised of the possibility of such damage.

Posting

For crushing a link, to verify bandwidth, typically SLA wouldn't be to useful, as it's more about insure performance service levels are being met.

I think you're correct, a simple traffic generator shouldn't be too difficult to include in an IOS.  Cisco just hasn't seen it as useful feature, or they might be worried about the impact such a feature might cause.