NIST Net – A Linux-based Network Emulation Tool

Mark Carson, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Darrin Santay, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

11/24/2008
(Original Publish Date: 1/2/2005)

Testing of network protocols and distributed applications has become increasingly complex, as the diversity of networks and underlying technologies increase, and the adaptive behavior of applications becomes more sophisticated. In this paper, we present NIST Net, a tool to facilitate testing and experimentation with network code through emulation. NIST Net enables experimenters to model and effect arbitrary performance dynamics (packet delay, jitter, bandwidth limitations, congestion, packet loss and duplication) on live IP packets passing through a commodity Linux-based PC router. We describe the emulation capabilities of NIST Net; examine its architecture; and discuss some of the implementation challenges encountered in building such a tool to operate at very high network data rates while imposing minimal processing overhead. Calibration results are provided to quantify the fidelity and performance of NIST Net over a wide range of offered loads (up to 1 Gbps), and a diverse set of emulated performance dynamics.