The role of the Enterprise IT manager is a complex one, and has been made even more challenging by the demands for improved remote working and a proliferation of new technologies. The traditional WAN, underpinned by a leased connection between major offices, has been replaced by more agile software-defined architectures or offloading applications to the Cloud. Here we examine six ways in which a network emulator test tool can assist IT Managers replicate the effects of a WAN by modelling typical conditions such as latency, jitter or packet loss.

• New application roll out
  You need to introduce a new application into the current network and want to monitor its behaviour prior to going into production. You also want to monitor the different network segments across your network.
• Comparing user experience at different locations
  Branch A has a higher available bandwidth than Branch B. You want to make a comparison between the user experience at both locations to understand the differences in user experience for a new application you are about to deploy.
• SD WAN deployment
  You now need to model the effects on the same application, but in this case before moving to a new SD WAN service. You need to model 50+ links based on different technologies (e.g. MPLS, Internet, 5G), all with different levels of latency, packet loss or available bandwidth.
• Benchmarking new communications links
  You are considering investment into new communications links with a certain level of latency, bandwidth, etc. You want to understand how your applications will behave under the proposed conditions.
• Cloud migration
  You are considering migrating existing services to the Cloud but need to understand the impact on performance before making such a move. Alternatively, having committed to making such a move you need to establish appropriate SLAs with the service provider for latency, packet loss, etc.
• Rightsizing your network
  Feedback from within the organisation about slow application performance leads you to believe that there is insufficient bandwidth to support a particular application. You need to establish the correct service level that you need to contract.

For each of the examples above a network emulator would allow you to make an objective assessment as to whether what you are planning will work, or how to optimise your plan. And with options ranging from 1GbE up to 100GbE most circumstances will be covered.

Related product: Calnex SNE

Peter Whitten
Product Manager