Software virtual networks new battle field for cyber-warrior attack emulations
The software virtual network (SVN) allows the US military to test whether its countermeasures are up to the task of disabling viruses, worms and other malware. No problem if they don’t work the first time; the real network has not been affected. "[B]eing able to create an emulation in synthetic space gives you a nondestructive infrastructure where you can do multiple iterations, multiple variations, and not have to consume a lot of time and dollars and hardware just to do those tests," according to Steve Norry, director of engineering at Scalable Network Technologies.
Norry goes on to say that "In the simulations that network designers use, the message always gets through to the recipient. But if you want to test whether interference or dropped packets or any number of real-world problems are going to adversely affect your network before you deploy it, then you need to use the real-time emulation of our software virtual network."
This technology is filtering down to the private sector because, although the consequences of cyber attacks on their systems will not be as dire as ones on the military, they still need to find nondestructive ways to stress-test their systems to indentify security gaps so that they can determine how to plug these holes. Pinpointing interference from TV towers and tall buildings can also be accomplished with this WAN emulation tool.
Best-in-Class WAN Emulation Providers:
- Able to accurately determine bandwidth requirements to minimize bandwidth cost
- Enables multiple users to run different emulations at the same time
- Can test VoIP and video conferencing performance
Top Considerations Before Selecting WAN Emulation Provider:
The capabilities and cost of the products available in the marketplace is wide ranging. Thought needs to go into what your company’s needs are today and what they might be in the near future so that you don’t buy an underperforming solution because you are put off by the higher price tags on the more complex products. Troubleshooting capabilities are very helpful. In addition, some models allow emulations on redundant, backup and multi-home connections.
Key Providers:
1. iTrinegy Inc.'s Enterprise (INE Enterprise), which is designed to enable simultaneous multi-user/multi-site testing of applications, was chosen as finalist by Network Computing in the 2010 Best Testing & Monitoring Products. Other WAN Emulation products are: iTrinegy Compact (INE Compact), a small, affordable, silent and inline network simulator; INE for Windows which enables a LAN network to behave like a WAN, Wireless, GPRS/3G, Satellite, or other non-LAN network; LCD (INE-LCD) whose small size makes it easy to transport and use in the field; and Ultra (INE Ultra), a Next Generation network emulator that replicates high speed, high volume networks for large scale testing. iTrinegy Limited is a privately owned company registered in England and Wales that operates in the Americas through iTrinegy Inc. In 2008, Itheon Networks changed its name to iTrinegy.
2. Shunra Software, Ltd.’s VE Desktop for HP Software enables LAN-based, load testing environments to include real-world, WAN emulation of the production environment. Shunra reports that it is the “only company providing both hardware and software network emulator products and professional services that address the needs of all IT groups throughout the application development lifecycle.” Shunra's solutions and services are used for: data center consolidation; application performance readiness testing; VoIP testing; website testing and WAN optimization technology testing. Shunra has offices in the US, Israel, the UK and Singapore and has a global network of channel partners.
3. Apposite Technologies, Inc. has a wide range of WAN emulator products from the Linktropy Mini2, a portable, low cost WAN emulator designed “to emulate basic WAN conditions for customer and trade show demonstrations of networking products” to the Linktropy 7500 PRO that “emulates terrestrial, wireless, satellite, internet and other wide area networks to test applications under a spectrum of real-world conditions.” Customers include corporations, vendors, telecoms carriers, test labs and government and military offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. This private company is located in Los Angeles, California.
4. Santa Cruz, CA-based InterWorking Labs offers a free trial of its emulation solutions comprising: Mini Maxwell, portable, low-cost network emulator; SilverCreek SNMP Test Suite which has more than 1,000 powerful tests and 11 tools; Boreal - SNMP Security and Vulnerability Test Suite which verifies robustness of network devices; SNMP Agent Simulator enabling the creation of a customizable virtual environment populated with network devices; Maxwell, the Network Emulator (with protocol impairments) allows modification, distortion, and corruption of the flow of network traffic; TCP/IP Test Environment consisting of TCP/IP Test Suite for Security and Vulnerability with both IPv4 and IPv6; and SIP Test Environment - SIP Test Suite for Security and Vulnerability.
WAN Emulation
Definition: A wide area network (WAN) enables computers in one location to communicate with computers from another by connecting local area networks (LAN) together. WAN or network emulation is a technique typically involving the introducing a device on the WAN that enables study of an existing, planned or underperforming network to assess performance. Unlike simulation, emulation appears to be a network.
