Ping can use only the Internet control message protocol (ICMP) to test the reachability of the destination host and the roundtrip time of a packet to the destination. NQA (network quality analyzer) is an enhanced Ping tool used for testing the performance of protocols running on networks. Besides the Ping functions, NQA can provide the following functions:

l Detecting the availability and the response time of DHCP, FTP, HTTP, and SNMP services.

l Testing the delay jitter of the network.

l Verifying the availability of TCP, UDP, and DLSw packets.

Different from Ping, NQA does not display the roundtrip time or time-out time of each packet on the console terminal in a realtime way. In this case, you have to execute the display nqa results command to view NQA test results. In addition, NQA can help you to set parameters for various tests and start these tests through the network management system (NMS).

& Note:

For the detailed description on TCP, UDP, Jitter, ICMP, HTTP, FTP, DHCP, DLSw and SNMP, refer to the corresponding manuals.

1.1.2 NQA Server and NQA Client

In most NQA test systems, you only need to configure an NQA client. However, when you perform a TCP, UDP, or jitter test, you need to configure an NQA server. Figure 1-1 shows the relationship between an NQA client and an NQA server.

Figure 1-1 Relationship between NQA client and NQA server

The NQA server listens to test requests originated by the NQA client and makes a response to these requests. The NQA server can respond to requests originated by the NQA client only when the NQA server is enabled and the corresponding destination address and port number are configured on the server. The IP address and port number specified for a listening service on the server must be consistent with those on the client.

You can create multiple TCP or UDP listening services on the NQA server, with each listening service corresponding to a specified destination address and port number.

1.1.3 NQA Test Operation

NQA can test multiple protocols. A test group must be created for each type of NQA test. Each test group can be related to only one type of NQA test. Each test group has an administrator name and an operation tag. The administrator name and the operation tag uniquely identify a test group.

After you create a test group and enter test group view, you can configure related test parameters. Test parameters vary with the test type. For details, see the configuration procedure below.

For optional parameters common to different types of tests, refer to section Configuring Optional Parameters for NQA Tests

To perform an HW test successfully, proceed as follows:

1) Enable the NQA client.

2) Create a test group and configure test parameters according to the test type.

3) Perform the NQA test through the related enable command.

4) View the test results through the related display or debugging command.

& Note:

After you enable the NQA client, you can create multiple test groups to perform tests. In this way, you do not need to enable the NQA client repeatedly.

1.2 Configuring NQA Tests

& Note:

l You need to configure the NQA client and NQA server for TCP, UDP, and jitter tests, while you need to configure only the NQA client for other tests.

l You are not recommended to perform TCP, UDP, or jitter test on the ports from 1 to 1023 (known ports). Otherwise, the NQA probes will fail or the corresponding services of this known port will be unavailable.

l You can use the undo test-enable command to stop a test at any time, or you can stop a test by disabling the NQA client or removing a test group during the interval of performing tests.

l You can set the source or destination IP address to any IP address except 0.0.0.0 and 255.255.255.255.

l You cannot modify the parameters (that is, the parameters configured in NQA test group view) of a test group when a test is being performed, except for configuring a descriptive string for the test group or configuring trap delivery to the NMS.

This section covers these topics:

l Configuring the ICMP Test

l Configuring the DHCP Test

l Configuring the FTP Test

l Configuring the HTTP Test

l Configuring the Jitter Test

l Configuring the SNMP Query Test

l Configuring the TCP Test

l Configuring the UDP Test

l Configuring the DLSw Test

1.2.1 Configuring the ICMP Test

The ICMP test is mainly used to test whether an NQA client can send packets to a specified destination and test the roundtrip time of packets.

I. Configuration procedure

Follow these steps to configure the ICMP test:

To do…	Use the command…	Remarks
Enter system view	system-view	—
Enable the NQA client	nqa-agent enable	Required
Create an NQA test group and enter its view	nqa admin-name operation-tag	—
Set the test type to ICMP	test-type icmp	Optional The test type is ICMP by default.
Configure a destination address for a test	destination-ip ip-address	Required Not configured by default.
Configure the size of test packets sent	datasize size	Optional 56 bytes by default.
Configure a string of fill characters of a test packet	datafill text	Optional The string of fill characters of an ICMP packet is the string corresponding with the ASCII code 00 to 09 by default.
Specify a VPN instance	vpninstance name	Optional No VPN instance is specified by default. When there are multiple VPNs, you need to use this command to specify a VPN instance for test.
Specify the IP address of an interface as the source IP address of an ICMP test request packet	source-interface interface-type interface-number	Optional The interface specified by this command can only be a VLAN interface that has been configured an IP address. In addition, the interface must be up. Otherwise, the test will fail.
Configure common optional parameters	Refer to section Configuring Optional Parameters for NQA Tests	Optional
Enable the NQA test	test-enable	Required
View the test results	display nqa results [ admin-name operation-tag ]	Required You can execute the command in any view.

II. Configuration example

1) Network requirements

Use the NQA ICMP function to test whether the NQA client (Switch 1) can send packets to the specified destination (Switch 2) and test the roundtrip time of packets.

l Switch 1 serves as the NQA client, with the IP address being 10.1.1.1/16.

l Switch 2 serves as the device to be tested, with the IP address being 10.2.2.2/16.

2) Network diagram

Figure 1-2 Network diagram for the ICMP test

3) Configuration procedure

Perform the following configurations on Switch 1:

# Enable the NQA client, create an ICMP test group, and configure related test parameters.

<Switch1> system-view

[Switch1] nqa-agent enable

[Switch1] nqa admin icmp

[Switch1-nqa-admin-icmp] test-type icmp

[Switch1-nqa-admin-icmp] destination-ip 10.2.2.2

# Configure optional parameters.

[Switch1-nqa-admin-icmp] count 10

[Switch1-nqa-admin-icmp] timeout 5

# Enable the ICMP test.

[Switch1-nqa-admin-icmp] test-enable

# View the test results with the display nqa results command.

[Switch1-nqa-admin-icmp] display nqa results admin icmp

NQA entry(admin admin, tag icmp) test result:

Destination ip address: 10.2.2.2

Send operation times: 10 Receive response times: 10

Min/Max/Average Round Trip Time: 1/3/1

Square-Sum of Round Trip Time: 29

Last succeeded test time: 2009-08-15 15:02:03.0

Extend result:

Packet lost in test: 0%

Failures due to Timeout: 0

Failures due to System Busy: 0

Failures due to Disconnect: 0

Failures due to No Connection: 0

Failures due to Sequence Error: 0

Failures due to Internal Error: 0

Failures due to Other Errors: 0

1.2.2 Configuring the DHCP Test

The DHCP test is mainly used to test the existence of a DHCP server on the network as well as the time necessary for the DHCP server to respond to a client request and assign an IP address to the client.

I. Configuration prerequisites

The interface specified by the source-interface command must be up.

Before the DHCP test, you need to perform some configurations on the DHCP server. For example, you need to enable the DHCP service and configure an address pool. If the NQA (DHCP) client and the DHCP server are not in the same network segment, you need to configure a DHCP relay. For detailed configurations, refer to DHCP Configuration in the IP Services Volume.

II. Configuration procedure

Follow these steps to configure the DHCP test

To do…	Use the command…	Remarks
Enter system view	system-view	—
Enable the NQA client	nqa-agent enable	Required
Create an NQA test group and enter its view	nqa admin-name operation-tag	—
Set the test type to DHCP	test-type dhcp	Required The test type is ICMP by default.
Specify an interface for a DHCP test	source-interface interface-type interface-number	Required The interface in the command must be up. Otherwise, the test will fail.
Configure common optional parameters	Refer to section Configuring Optional Parameters for NQA Tests	Optional
Enable the NQA test	test-enable	Required
View the test results	display nqa results [ admin-name operation-tag ]	Required You can execute the command in any view.

III. Configuration example

1) Network requirements

Use the NQA DHCP function to test the time necessary for Switch A to obtain an IP address from the DHCP server Switch B.

2) Network diagram

Figure 1-3 Network diagram for the DHCP test

3) Configuration procedure

& Note:

For the configuration of DHCP Server, refer to DHCP Configuration in the IP Services Volume.

Perform the following configurations on Switch A:

# Enable the NQA client, create a DHCP test group, and configure related test parameters.

<SwitchA> system-view

[SwitchA] nqa-agent enable

[SwitchA] nqa admin dhcp

[SwitchA-nqa-admin-dhcp] test-type dhcp

[SwitchA-nqa-admin-dhcp] source-interface Vlan-interface 2

# Enable the DHCP test.

[SwitchA-nqa-admin-dhcp] test-enable

# View the test results with the display nqa results command.

[SwitchA-nqa-admin-dhcp] display nqa results admin dhcp

NQA entry(admin admin, tag dhcp) test result:

Send operation times: 1 Receive response times: 1

Min/Max/Average Round Trip Time: 527/527/527

Square-Sum of Round Trip Time: 277729

Last succeeded test time: 2006-06-07 13:15:07.3

Extend result:

Packet lost in test: 0%

Failures due to Timeout: 0

Failures due to System Busy: 0

Failures due to Disconnect: 0

Failures due to No Connection: 0

Failures due to Sequence Error: 0

Failures due to Internal Error: 0

Failures due to Other Errors: 0

1.2.3 Configuring the FTP Test

The FTP test is mainly used to test the connection with a specified FTP server and the time necessary for the FTP client to transfer a file to the FTP server.

I. Configuration prerequisites

Before the FTP test, you need to perform some configurations on the FTP server. For example, you need to configure the username and password used to log onto the FTP server. For the FTP server configurations, refer to File System Management Configuration in the System Volume.

II. Configuration procedure

Follow these steps to configure the FTP test:

To do…	Use the command…	Remarks
Enter system view	system-view	—
Enable the NQA client	nqa-agent enable	Required
Create an NQA test group and enter its view	nqa admin-name operation-tag	—
Set the test type to FTP	test-type ftp	Required The test type is ICMP by default.
Configure a destination address for a test	destination-ip ip-address	Required Not configured by default. The destination address for a test is the IP address of the FTP server.
Configure the source IP address of a test request packet	source-ip ip-address	Required The source IP address must be that of an interface on the device and the interface must be up. Otherwise, the test will fail.
Configure the operation type	ftp-operation { get \| put }	Optional get by default, meaning to get files from the FTP server.
Configure a login username	username name	Required
Configure a login password	password password	Optional
Specify a file to be transferred between the FTP server and the FTP client.	filename file-name	Required Not configured by default.
Configure common optional parameters	Refer to section Configuring Optional Parameters for NQA Tests	Optional
Enable the NQA test	test-enable	Required
View the test results	display nqa results [ admin-name operation-tag ]	Required You can execute the command in any view.

& Note:

l Transfer a small file for a get operation. If the file is too large, the test may fail because of time-out.

l When you perform a get operation, the file obtained from the FTP server will not be saved on the device, either. If there is no such file-name file on the FTP server, the FTP test will fail.

l When you perform a put operation, a file-name file with a fixed size and contents will be created on the FTP server, but the uploaded file will not be saved.

III. Configuration example

1) Network requirements

Use the NQA FTP function to test the connection with a specified FTP server and the time necessary for the FTP client to upload a file to the FTP server. The login username is admin, the login password is nqa, and the file to be transferred to the FTP server is config.txt.

2) Network diagram

Figure 1-4 Network diagram for the FTP test

3) Configuration procedure

& Note:

For the configuration of FTP Server, refer to File System Management Configuration in the System Volume.

Perform the following configurations on Device A:

# Enable the NQA client, create an FTP test group, and configure related test parameters.

<Switch> system-view

[Switch] nqa-agent enable

[Switch] nqa admin ftp

[Switch-nqa-admin-ftp] test-type ftp

[Switch-nqa-admin-ftp] destination-ip 10.2.2.2

[Switch-nqa-admin-ftp] source-ip 10.1.1.1

[Switch-nqa-admin-ftp] ftp-operation put

[Switch-nqa-admin-ftp] username admin

[Switch-nqa-admin-ftp] password nqa

[Switch-nqa-admin-ftp] filename config.txt

# Enable the FTP test.

[Switch-nqa-admin-ftp] test-enable

# View the test results with the display nqa results command.

[Switch-nqa-admin-ftp] display nqa results admin ftp

NQA entry(admin admin, tag ftp) test result:

Destination ip address: 10.2.2.2

Send operation times: 1 Receive response times: 1

Min/Max/Average Round Trip Time: 191/191/191

Square-Sum of Round Trip Time: 36481

Last succeeded test time: 2000-06-07 13:21:23.9

Extend result:

Packet lost in test: 0%

Failures due to Timeout: 0

Failures due to System Busy: 0

Failures due to Disconnect: 0

Failures due to No Connection: 0

Failures due to Sequence Error: 0

Failures due to Internal Error: 0

Failures due to Other Errors: 0

1.2.4 Configuring the HTTP Test

The HTTP test is mainly used to test the connection with a specified HTTP server and the time required to obtain data from the HTTP server.

I. Configuration procedure

Follow these steps to configure the HTTP test:

To do…	Use the command…	Remarks
Enter system view	system-view	—
Enable the NQA client	nqa-agent enable	Required
Create an NQA test group and enter its view	nqa admin-name operation-tag	—
Set the test type to HTTP	test-type http	Required The test type is ICMP by default.
Configure a destination address for a test	destination-ip ip-address	Required Not configured by default. The destination address for a test is the IP address of the HTTP server.
Configure the HTTP operation type	http-operation { get \| post }	Optional get by default, meaning to get data from the HTTP server.
Configure an HTTP operation string	http-string string version	Required
Configure common optional parameters	Refer to section Configuring Optional Parameters for NQA Tests	Optional
Enable the NQA test	test-enable	Required
View the test results	display nqa results [ admin-name operation-tag ]	Required You can execute the command in any view.

& Note:

The TCP port number for the HTTP server must be 80 in an HTTP test. Otherwise, the test will fail.

II. Configuration example

1) Network requirements

Use the HTTP function to test the connection with a specified HTTP server and the time required to obtain data from the HTTP server.

2) Network diagram

Figure 1-5 Network diagram for the HTTP test

3) Configuration procedure

Perform the following configurations on Switch A:

# Enable the NQA client, create an HTTP test group, and configure related test parameters.

<Switch> system-view

[Switch] nqa-agent enable

[Switch] nqa admin http

[Switch-nqa-admin-http] test-type http

[Switch-nqa-admin-http] destination-ip 10.2.2.2

[Switch-nqa-admin-http] http-operation get

[Switch-nqa-admin-http] http-string /index.htm HTTP/1.0

# Enable the HTTP test.

[Switch-nqa-admin-http] test-enable

# View the test results with the display nqa results command.

[Switch-nqa-admin-http] display nqa results admin http

NQA entry(admin admin, tag http) test result:

Destination ip address: 10.2.2.2

Send operation times: 1 Receive response times: 1

Min/Max/Average Round Trip Time: 15/15/15

Square-Sum of Round Trip Time: 225

Last succeeded test time: 2006-12-28 11:01:07.6

Extend result:

Packet lost in test: 0%

Failures due to Timeout: 0

Failures due to System Busy: 0

Failures due to Disconnect: 0

Failures due to No Connection: 0

Failures due to Sequence Error: 0

Failures due to Internal Error: 0

Failures due to Other Errors: 0

1.2.5 Configuring the Jitter Test

& Note:

You are not recommended to perform a UDP jitter test on ports from 1 to 1023 (known ports). Otherwise, the NQA test will fail or the corresponding services of this port will be unavailable.

The jitter test is used to take statistics of delay jitter of UDP packet transmission. Delay jitter refers to the difference between the interval of receiving two packets consecutively and the interval of sending these two packets. During the test, the source port sends data packets to the destination port at regular intervals. The destination port affixes a time stamp to each packet that it receives and then sends it back to the source port. After the source port receives the data packet, the delay jitter can be calculated.

To improve the accuracy of the statistics results, you must send multiple test packets when you perform a test. The more test packets are sent, the more accurate the statistics results are. However, it takes a longer time to complete the test. You can quicken a jitter test by reducing the interval of sending test packets. However, doing so will cause an impact on the network.

The error in the statistics results of a jitter test is big since there is a delay in both sending and receiving data packets.

A jitter test requires cooperation between the NQA server and the NQA client. You must configure the UDP listening function on the NQA server, and a destination address and a destination port on the NQA client, and ensure that the destination address and destination port on the NQA client are respectively the listening IP address and port on the NQA server.

I. Configuration procedure

1) Configure the NQA server

Follow these steps to configure the NQA server for a jitter test:

To do…	Use the command…	Remarks
Enter system view	system-view	—
Enable the NQA server	nqa-server enable	Required Disabled by default
Configure the UDP listening function on the NQA server	nqa-server udpecho ip-address port-number	Required The listening IP address and port number must be the destination IP address and port on the NQA client.

2) Configure the NQA client

Follow these steps to configure the NQA client for a jitter test:

To do…	Use the command…	Remarks
Enter system view	system-view	—
Enable the NQA client	nqa-agent enable	Required
Create an NQA test group and enter its view	nqa admin-name operation-tag	—
Set the test type to jitter	test-type jitter	Required The test type is ICMP by default.
Configure a destination address for a test	destination-ip ip-address	Required Not configured by default. The destination address is the listening IP address on the NQA server.
Configure a destination port	destination-port port-number	Required Not configured by default. The destination port is the listening port on the NQA server.
Configure the number of jitter test packets sent in a probe	jitter-packetnum number	Optional 10 by default.
Configure the interval for sending jitter test packets

Table of Contents

05-NQA Configuration

Chapter 1 NQA Configuration

1.1 NQA Overview

1.1.1 Introduction to NQA

1.1.2 NQA Server and NQA Client

1.1.3 NQA Test Operation

1.2 Configuring NQA Tests

1.2.1 Configuring the ICMP Test

I. Configuration procedure

II. Configuration example

1.2.2 Configuring the DHCP Test

I. Configuration prerequisites

II. Configuration procedure

III. Configuration example

1.2.3 Configuring the FTP Test

I. Configuration prerequisites

II. Configuration procedure

III. Configuration example

1.2.4 Configuring the HTTP Test

I. Configuration procedure

II. Configuration example

1.2.5 Configuring the Jitter Test

I. Configuration procedure