1. Gigabit Advisor: Module Objectives
Understand how to configure and connect the Gigabit Advisor
to your network
Use the Gigabit Advisor to look at network activity and statistics
Learn how to use the Gigabit Advisor to perform equipment
benchmarks
Learn how to stress test Gigabit networks and links with the
Gigabit Advisor traffic generation

2. HP Gigabit Ethernet Advisor
Gigabit Ethernet Analysis requires the J2901A undercradle. Many of the measurements are identical to the Ethernet Advisor, but there are some differences and unique features in the Gigabit Analyzer. This chapter will cover the following topics:
Connecting to Gigabit Ethernet Networks
Navigating through the User Interface
Using Capture Filters
New Gigabit Advisor measurements:
Line Vital Statistics
Combo View
Benchmarks
Traffic Generation

3. Physical Connections
There are three ways to connect the Gigabit Ethernet Advisor to the network:
Rx/Tx: Port A - used to generate traffic or stress test devices. This connection is also referred to as "node mode" because the Advisor is behaving like a workstation on a network.
Rx Pass Through: Ports A & B - used to passively monitor both streams of full-duplex data between two devices.
Benchmark: Ports A & B - used to run the RFC1944 suite of tests on a device.

4. Rx/Tx Port A
Select the “Rx/Tx Port A” Physical connection mode (node mode) to generate traffic or stress test devices.
The Internet Advisor acts as a standard device connected to another gigabit device. This connection is used to generate traffic or to stress test a device and is also called "node mode". For monitoring a network with this connection, it is advisable to connect to a diagnostic port that mirrors traffic on all or some of the ports of a switch.
Note - This must use this selection for traffic generation.

5. Pass through
Select the “Rx Pass Through: Ports A & B” Physical connection mode to passively monitor full-duplex conversations.
In Rx Pass Through mode, the Gigabit Advisor is inserted between two communicating devices in order to monitor and analyze frames being sent in both directions through a connection. The Advisor is completely passive in this mode.
This is a good mode to use when running baseline tests to determine how the network works at different times. These results then can be compared to results obtained by testing when there are problems with the network.
Note - Traffic generation is disabled when the Internet Advisor is in Pass Through mode.

6. Splitter
Select the “Rx Pass Through: Ports A & B” Physical connection mode to passively monitor full-duplex conversations using optical splitters.
In the Rx Pass Through mode using a splitter, the Gigabit Advisor is inserted between two communicating devices using splitters. This lets you attach and remove the Internet Advisor without interrupting network traffic and eliminates the small amount of latency added to the line by passing traffic through the Advisor. The Advisor is completely passive in this mode.
Note - Traffic generation is disabled when the Internet Advisor is in Pass Through mode.

7. Benchmark
Select the “Benchmark: Ports A & B” Physical connection mode to run the RFC1944 test suite.
The Benchmark mode is used to run the RFC1944 suite of tests on a gigabit device. RFC1944's purpose is to automatically run the RFC1944 tests on a single piece of equipment, such as a switch. This mode is designed to help network equipment manufacturers run repeatable, defined tests while developing or modifying equipment.
Note - The user interface is limited so only Benchmarks will run.

8. Debugging Gigabit Link Connections
You can debug Gigabit links connections using the Link Negotiaon Monitor.
Link Negotiation Monitor: The Decode Link Negotiation button displays the Monitor Link Negotiation dialog where you can watch two ports as they Negotiate and then connect. Pressing the Decode Link Negotiation button brings up the Monitor Link Negotiation display.
The Monitor Link Negotiation dialog decodes the interaction as two ports try to auto-negotiate. The display shows the elapsed time (in usec), the register value, and a description. You can change the Block number by pressing the next or previous block buttons and set the monitor interval from 1 to 60 seconds.
Notes:
The Monitor Link Negotiation only works when the connection mode is set to Rx Pass Through: Ports A & B.
The user interface of the Internet Advisor is unresponsive during the Monitor Link Negotiation measurement.
Don't connect all ports until after you actually start a measurement. This insures the monitor will pick up the entire auto-negotiation process.

9. Starting Gigabit Analysis
The Gigabit Ethernet analysis measurements is launched from the Windows 98 Start menu.
To start up the Gigabit Ethernet Advisor, you select Start, Internet Advisor, LAN Analysis, Gigabit Ethernet.
To analyze Gigabit networks, you must attach a J2901 Gigabit Ethernet Analysis undercradle.
You can run an “offline” version of the Gigabit Advisor Software by selecting: Start, Internet Advisor, LAN Analysis, DEMO Gigabit Ethernet. This version can be used to analyze data files previously captured with Gigabit Analyzer and includes a demo of the benchmarking application.
Internet Advisor
LAN Analysis
Gigabit Ethernet

10. The Gigabit Advisor Toolbar
Line Vital Statistics/Decode
Start/Stop All
Line Vital Statistics
Configuration
The Gigabit Advisor’s graphical user interface is very similar to the Ethernet Advisor.
The Gigabit Advisor has a Toolbar with buttons to represent the major analysis measurements available. The Toolbar provides a method for quickly starting measurements.
Use the Exit button to exit the Gigabit Ethernet Advisor. Use the traffic light to start or stop all open measurements.
Freeze-Resume: See next page.
Line Vital Statistics: An overview of MAC layer information such as utilization and frame errors.
Decodes: Displays the contents of every packet on your network.
Line Vital Statistics/Decode: A convenient combination view of Line Vital Statistics and Decodes.
Benchmarks: The Benchmarks measurement is a specialized test that automatically runs the RFC1944 tests on a single piece of equipment (such as a switch or router).
Configuration: Use this button to access setup tabs on the interface, Capture Filters, Logging, Traffic Generation and Simple Traffic Generation.
Freeze- Resume
Decodes
Benchmarks
Exit

11. Basic Run Operations Start Stop Freeze Resume Green Red
To start all measurements, click the tool bar button or press function key F2.
To Freeze monitor display, click the tool bar button or press function key F3. While the run is 'frozen', you can look at captured traffic or statistics held in the Advisor's buffer.
To resume monitor display, click the tool bar button or press function key F3 while holding down the Shift key.
To stop all measurements, click the tool bar button or press function key F2 while holding down the Shift key. .

12. The Status Bar Physical Connection: * Rx/Tx: Port A * Rx Pass Through:
Ports A & B * Benchmark
Buffer Mode: * Continuous
* Timed
* Run until full
Port A
Port B
Port A
Port B
Elapsed Time
for this run
Utilization
Dropped Frames: * Not Dropped (Green) * Dropped (Red)
The Status Bar is at the bottom of the screen. It reflects the choices made in the Configuration page and shows you the current running state of the Gigabit Advisor.
The physical connection field displays the type of connection selected in the interface configuration tab .
The capture filter indicator show a funnel icon if capture filters are active.
The buffer mode reflects the current choice in the interface configuration tab.
The run status indicator show that run condition and data direction.
The elapsed time for the run, utilization and dropped frames conditions are also shown on the status bar.
Capture Filter: * Not Active * Active
Run Status: * Running (Green)
* Stopped (Red)
* Data coming in (Arrow pointing at the box)
* Data going out (Arrow pointing away from the box)

13. Gigabit Advisor Block Diagram
Microsoft Windows
Display Filters
System
RAM
Main
CPU
Network
Interface +
Pre-filter Counters
Capture
Filters
Buffer
Post-filter
Counters
PCI Bus PC
Undercradle
Due to the high data rate, the Gigabit Advisor’s undercradle design is different from the Ethernet Advisor. It is useful to understand these differences before going on to capture filters and Line Vital Statistics.
Gigabit Undercradle
Frames come into the Gigabit Advisor at the network interface connectors: Port A and B Rx.
The Pre-filter Counters track totals of physical layer errors, utilization and frame counts. These counts are displayed in the Line Vitals Statistics Measurement.
After frames are counted, they are compared to any defined capture filters. Capture filters control which frames enter the capture buffer. You can also use capture filters to trigger an action to either stop or start the capture of other frames.
Frames that pass the capture filters move into the capture buffer, a special memory area that can be written to at high speed.
Frames that pass the capture filters also move to the Post-filter counters. These counts are displayed in the Line Vitals Statistics Measurement (i.e.: Filtered Broadcast and Multicast frames).
All acquired data is passed to the PC through the PCI Bus interface.

14. Capture Filters Tab
Go to the Capture Filters tab to define hardware filters
Capture filtering is done in hardware, so it is fast, and it filters the data before it reaches the capture buffer, so you can make better use of the Internet Advisor's storage capacity. This is particularly important at gigabit speeds.
By default, the Internet Advisor captures virtually all frames -- good and bad -- on both sides of the full duplex connection. Also, because the memory in the Advisor's 128-Mbyte/channel buffer (Opt 001) is pre-allocated, a maximum of only 59,998 frames can be stored in memory (standard 64 Mbyte/channel buffer stores up to 29,999 frames). At gigabit speeds, this can happen in less than one second.
To define a capture filter, go to the Capture Filters Tab in the Configuration area.

15. Gigabit Capture Filters Tab
“ORed” within MAC Station
filter type
“ANDed” between
filter groups
You can define several parameters for a capture filter. Filter parameters are organized by group types such as MAC Station, Protocol, IP Station, TCP/UDP Port, and Pattern Match.
Within one of these filter types, filter parameters are ORed together. For example, If several MAC Station filters are defined and activated, a filter match occurs when any one of the filter parameters occur.
The filter group type definitions are ANDed together. For example, if MAC Station filter and a Protocol filter are both defined and activated, both must occur for the filter condition to be a match.

16. MAC Station Filters Expand MAC Station Filters, Enter MAC Addresses,
Select Filter Mode,
Select Filter Boxes to
Enable.
Use the Filters and Attributes under MAC Station if you know the MAC address of a particular device.
Filters 1 - 4: Up to four filters can be created for each configuration. Filters can be used singly or in combination to limit and fine-tune the data which is captured and displayed. The Filters within both the MAC Station are 'ORed' when data is captured.
MAC Station Filter: To select MAC addresses from a node list that you have created, click the “…” button to select from a defined set of addresses to filter on or type in hex digits.
Filter Mode: Select one of these options:
To Station 1 - Captures only data which is being sent to Station 1.
From Station 1 - Captures only data which is being sent from Station 1.
From or To Station 1 - Captures any data being sent to or from Station 1.
From Station 1 to Station 2 - Captures only data being sent from Station 1 to Station 2.
Between Station 1 and Station 2 - Captures any data sent between the two stations.

17. MAC Frame Attributes Filter
The Frame Attributes are 'ORed' when data is captured. For example, you can capture frames with Symbol Errors and frames with FCS errors if both of these selections are checked in the Capture Filters dialog.
Symbol Error: An illegal word received. During 8B/10B coding there are only so many valid 10B words. All the rest are symbol errors due to errors induced in the transmission medium.
Sequence Error: At the symbol level there are special 10B words (called K characters) that denote line conditions like idle, start of packet, end of packet and link negotiation. If these symbols come in an unexpected sequence like EndOP before StartOP, then the Advisor declares a sequence error.
FCS Error: The checksum at the end of the MAC frame is incorrect. Probable causes are collisions in half duplex or bit errors in the transmission medium.
Length Error: Any frame less than 64 bytes and greater than 1522 bytes.

18. Capture Filter Trigger Actions
Selecting these filter boxes
allows you to start capture,
center in the capture buffer,
halt on capture or store the
frame when the frame is
matched.
When using Protocol, IP Station, TCP/UDP Port or Pattern Match filters you can select a number of trigger actions. The trigger actions control how the Gigabit Advisor operates when these filters matches a frame:
Start Capture - frames stored in the capture buffer will be started when a frame matching the trigger is found.
Center in Capture - data capture will be halted when the incoming frame that satisfies the conditions you set is roughly centered in the capture buffer.
Halt Capture - data capture will be halted (the measurement is stopped) when a frame matches the trigger. The matched frame is at the end of the capture buffer.
Store Frame - only frames that match the filter will be stored in the capture buffer. Other incoming frames will not be saved.
Note: After you have captured the data, you can display the trigger frame by pressing the trigger frame button in the decode view.

19. Protocol Capture Filters
Protocol capture filters match any frame using the specified protocol. You can use protocol filters by themselves or together with other capture filters.
Create protocol capture filters by following these steps:
Select from a defined set of protocols to filter on. Click on one of the buttons to create a unique protocol list.
Click Add to select a protocol and the filter action for it.
Click Edit to change the filter choices.
Click Delete to remove a protocol from the list

20. IP Station Capture Filters
IP Station capture filters match any frame using the specified IP address. These filters are very similar to protocol filters with the following additions:
IP Filter Mode: Select one of following options: To Station 1, From Station 1, From or To Station 1, From Station 1 to Station 2 or Between Station 1and Station 2.
Address Mask: Enter the address for the IP Address Mask. This value can be entered in hex, binary, or decimal. Use this Address Mask field to select the network address for the network, subnet or host part of an IP address.
You can use an address mask to compare or not to compare particular bits in an address. The different portions of an IP address can be determined by comparing the binary version of the mask to the binary version of the IP address.
A "0" bit in the mask ignores any comparison ("don't care") at that bit location.
Binary Hex Decimal
A "1" bit in the mask allows a comparison at that bit location.
Binary Hex Decimal
FF.FF.FF.FF
Note: The Address Mask is not the same as a Subnet Mask. If you want to filter on an exact match of an IP Address, leave the Address Mask =

21. TCP/UDP Port Capture Filters
TCP/UDP Port capture filters match any frame using the specified port number. These filters can be set up with the following options:
Port Filter Mode: Select one of following options: To Port 1, From Port 1, From or To Port 1, From Port 1 to Port 2 or Between Port1 and Port2
Port Mask: Enter the address for the Port Mask. This value can be entered in hex or binary.
Use this Port Mask field to identify a single port or a group or range of port addresses shown in the Port List box. You can use an address mask to compare or not to compare particular bits in an address.
Port Type: Select TCP or UDP.
Port List: Create a Port List by entering up to 20 ports. Select from a defined set of ports by clicking the button to select from a defined set of ports to filter on or type in your own ports to filter on. Click on one of the following buttons to create a unique list:
Click Add to select a new Port address and the capture action for it.
Click Edit to change the Port List choices.
Click Delete to remove an item from the list
Note: When a TCP/UDP Port filter is activated, an IP Protocol is automatically present in the Protocol filter list.

22. Pattern Capture Filters
Pattern matching is a specialized filter which lets you further define and capture frames with specific searching conditions. You can look for different patterns on frames after the encapsulation or from the beginning of a frame.
Pattern Match capture filters can be set up with the following options:
Pattern Offset: This field is where you can enter the starting point for the offset, and decide where to start the offset.
Offset Start: From Start of Frame - start this offset from the beginning of the frame. After Encapsulation - start this offset after the encapsulation header.
Note: If you have Protocol filters activated, the pattern matching is automatically set to start after encapsulation. If you have more than one protocol filter activated, the pattern matching is automatically set to start after the appropriate encapsulation per frame.
Pattern Mask: Enter the value for the Pattern Mask. This value can be entered only in hex.
Pattern List: This field is where the pattern to be compared with the Pattern Mask is entered. You can enter up to 20 different patterns to search on. To enter a pattern in the list, select 'Add' and enter up to 15 bytes of hex, binary, or decimal format. Then select if this pattern is to be filtered, captured or both.
Note: When entering the pattern list, you can use the Tab key to fill with 00's to the end of the string.

23. Line Vital Statistics (F4) Instantaneous Utilization Display
The Line Vital Statistics view shows MAC-level utilization and errors on a network.
Data is shown in the Line Vital Statistics measurement in two modes:
Graph: The Instantaneous Utilization graph shows the current utilization calculated over one second intervals. The vertical axis shows the utilization, and the horizontal axis shows the last one minute of the run. When data reaches the edge of the graph area, the data shifts to the left.
Spreadsheet: The values shown in the spreadsheet give an indication of activity on the network, such as minimum/maximum/average utilization rates and counts of various errors.
The first eight values shown are 100% performance statistics. The last four values are "filtered" statistics meaning these statistics reflect what has actually been captured (these values may be limited by performance or filters).
Utilization,
Network Activity
and Errors

24. Line Vital Statistics Pre-filter and Post-Filter Counters
Network
Interface +
Pre-filter Counters
Capture
Buffer
Post-filter
Counters
PCI Bus
Undercradle
Filters
The information displayed in Line Vitals Statistics are collected by two types of counters: Pre-filter and Post-filter. Counters include:
Average Util %: This is the average percentage of the available physical bandwidth which has been used over the last 30 seconds.
Max Util %: This is the maximum percentage of the available physical bandwidth which has been used since the start of a run.
Min Util %: This is the minimum percentage of the available physical bandwidth which has been used since the start of a run.
FCS Errors: Counts the number of receive packets with FCS (Frame Check Sequence) errors.
XOFF Count / XON Count: Counts the flow control (stop / start) instructions.
Filtered Broadcasts: A Broadcast frame occurs when a frame with a destination address of FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF is transmitted. These frames are commonly used and can be expected in moderate quantities. These frames are significant because each device on the network must spend time receiving and processing them.
Filtered Multicasts: A Multicast frame occurs when a frame is received with a group destination address. A group destination address has the least significant bit of the most significant byte set to 1. These frames are significant because they represent processing overhead for all devices which are members of the group.
Filtered Total Frames: The total number of frames which have been processed since the start of a run.
Filtered Total Octets: The total number of bytes which have been processed since the start of the test.

25. Combination View Line Vital Statistics and Decodes
(F8)
The Combination view provides a split screen view of the Line Vital Signs and the Summary Decodes. With this view, you get an excellent look into the overall health of your network.
This view gives you answers to questions such as:
What is the utilization of my network?
How does traffic on Port A compare with traffic on Port B?
Are there any fundamental errors?

26. Benchmark Measurement
(F7)
The Benchmarks measurement is a specialized test that automatically runs the RFC1944 tests on a single piece of equipment (such as a switch or router). This measurement is designed to help network equipment manufacturers run repeatable, defined tests while developing or modifying their equipment.
The Benchmarks measurement tests the following items and are run in this order:
Frequency
Latency
Frame loss
There is also a "Quick Test" to check for connectivity. The benchmarking suite of tests can take quite a while to run, so it is a good idea to verify your connection is good before starting a measurement. Simply press Quick test and wait a moment for the connectivity results.
Note: The Monitor Type and Logging functions are not available during Benchmark measurements.

27. Benchmark View: Throughput
Throughput tests are the first set of measurements performed. This display shows the chart of the maximum number of frames/second successfully transmitted per second determined at pre-set frame sizes as specified by RFC1944. The Benchmark tests vary the frame rate until the maximum is reached at which all frames make it through the device under test successfully.
Throughput Table
Frame Size (bytes): This column shows the frame sizes tested. The default values are determined by RFC1944, or you can input different values in the Options dialog. The default frame sizes are - 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 1280 and 1518.
Max Frame Rate (frames/s): This column shows the maximum theoretical frame rate that can be achieved with the corresponding frame size. You can compare these values to the measured values, which are shown in the last column.
Throughput (frames/s): This column shows the measured maximum throughput attained at each frame size.
Throughput Graph
The Max Frame Rate (fixed line) shows the maximum theoretical throughput for each tested frame size.
The active line shows the measured throughput at each frame size.
The maximum Reliable Throughput line shows the highest receive capabilities of the Gigabit Advisor.

28. Benchmark View: Latency
Latency tests are the second set of measurements performed. This display shows the chart of the frame transmit time determined at pre-set frame sizes and using the throughput values measured by the Throughput test. The results are displayed in a spreadsheet-style table and graph.
Latency Table: This table's three columns present the following information:
Frame Size (bytes): This column shows the frame sizes tested The default values are determined by RFC1944, or you can input different values in the Options dialog. The default frame sizes are - 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 1280 and 1518.
Frame Rate (frames/s): This column shows the measured maximum throughput attained at each frame size. These values are those shown in the Throughput column of the Throughput Table.
Latency (microseconds): This column shows how many microseconds it took for a particular size frame to go through the device.
Latency Graph: The graph shows a single line showing the measured latency against the tested frame size.

29. Benchmark View: Frame Loss
Frame Loss tests are the third set of measurements performed. This display shows the chart of the frame loss determined at pre-set frame sizes and traffic loads, as specified by RFC The results are displayed in a spreadsheet-style table and graph.
Frame Loss Table
This table plots the frame loss for each of the tested frame sizes against an RFC1944-defined load. The value shown is the percentage of frames lost per total frames transmitted, which is the number that didn't make it through the device under test.
Frame Loss Graph
The graph shows a line for each frame size and shows the frame loss at each load value. If there is no frame loss for a particular frame size at any load value, a line is not displayed.

30. Simple Traffic Generation
Simple Traffic Generation provides a way to send IP frames to a specific device on the network to test the device's capabilities.
The Advisor’s IP address should be a legal and unused address on your network. This will be the IP source address in test packets. The Advisor itself does not run an IP stack, it will not respond to PINGs or ARPs.
Notes:
Ethernet (MAC) source and destination addresses must be entered.
Before running Simple Traffic Generation, you must set the Physical Connection mode in the Interface tab of the configuration menu to Rx/Tx: Port A.

31. Full Traffic Generation
Full Traffic generation can be used to inject specialized traffic patterns of variable length, utilization, frame rate, and content into the network. You can select and arrange pre-defined traffic patterns and you can edit and playback your own customized traffic patterns for special testing situations.
The Global Information group defines the blocks of frames that will be sent out on the network.
Selecting and creating Gigabit traffic generation frames is very similar to Ethernet Advisor traffic generation as described in the previous module and will not be discussed here.
Note: Before entering Full Traffic Generation, make sure that you have selected Rx/Tx: Port A connection mode.

32. Lab 8.1
Gigabit Ethernet Advisor

33. Module 8: Review
The Gigabit Advisor allow you to monitor and send traffic on a
Gigabit network.
Gigabit Advisor Traffic Generation stresses your network.
Benchmark tests allows you to compare Gigabit Ethernet
equipment from different vendors.