IPERF TUTORIAL

What is IPERF?:
IPerf is a useful open-source tool for measuring the speed, throughput and quality of a network link. Jperf is the GUI Java driven front-end for IPerf. The tool utilizes TCP and UDP. TCP is used for measuring link speed and throughput. UDP is used for measuring jitter (variance in latency from packet to packet) and packet loss.

GETTING STARTED:
This tutorial is intended to cover basic TCP usage of Jperf and Iperf. To get started, youll need 2 devices running Iperf or Jperf. One will act as the server; the other will be the client. Youll need to configure the role of each and run the test. The default setting tests using a single TCP stream for 10 seconds and displays the resulting information in Kbytes & Kbits per second. If you dont have baseline results, I suggest establishing one. Start with 2 machines and a crossover cable or a switch and compare your results to that. Example Gigabit throughput baselines can be found at the end of this document.

JPERF Configuration:

JPERF Server: Configure the server first so that a client can connect to it. Ensure iPerf isnt already running by clicking the Stop Iperf button. Choose the Server option in the iPerf Mode area and then click RUN iPerf. You dont need to configure anything else for simple testing.

JPERF Client: Ensure iPerf isnt already running by clicking the Stop Iperf button. Choose the Client option in the iPerf Mode area. Type the IP address of the server in the Server Address and then click RUN IPERF. You dont need to configure anything else for simple testing

JPERF Results:

The resulting information is in the form of how much data transferred and the rate at which the data was transferred at. By default, the information will be displayed in KiloBytes (amount transferred) and KiloBits Per Second (rate of transfer). The results are displayed in both the graph and the text windows. The graph windows shows plot points every 1 second. The text window will display the results for the report interval in 1 second intervals (7.0-8.0 sec, 8.0-9.0 sec, 9.0-10.0 sec, etc) and the last line will display the overall average (0.0-10.0 sec).

JPERF Options:

IPerf Command: Parallel Streams: Transmit: Output Format: Report Interval: Testing Mode:

This field is auto-filled with the CLI equivalent of whatever GUI options you select. How many tests to run simultaneously. Length of test measured in Bytes or Seconds Format of results (Bits, Bytes, MegaBits/Bytes, GigaBits/Bytesetc) How often, in time, the results are displayed. Trade = 2 Tests. Client to server followed by server to client, independent of each other. Dual = 1 Test. Client to server and server to client at the same time (Bi-Directional). Test Port: Port on which to conduct test. Representative File: File from which data will be transferred from during test.

IPERF Configuration:

IPERF Server You will need to start the server before any clients will be able to connect. To start the server, type the following (in red, BOLD):
[nino@PS-ToolKit-2 ~]$ iperf s -----------------------------------------------------------Server listening on TCP port 5001 TCP window size: 85.3 KByte (default) ------------------------------------------------------------

IPERF Client: To configure a device as an IPERF Client, type the following (in red, BOLD):
[nino@PS-ToolKit-2 ~]$ iperf -c 129.113.170.247 -----------------------------------------------------------Client connecting to 129.113.170.247, TCP port 5001 TCP window size: 64.0 KByte (default) -----------------------------------------------------------[ 3] local 129.113.29.86 port 52032 connected with 129.113.170.247 port 5001 [ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth [ 3] 0.0-10.0 sec 945 MBytes 793 Mbits/sec

IPERF Results Like with Jpef, the resulting information is in the form of how much data transferred and the rate at which the data was transferred at. By default, the information will be displayed in KiloBytes (amount transferred) and KiloBits Per Second (rate of transfer). By default, the results display the overall average (0.0-10.0 sec) instead of each intervals results. You can change this by using the -i option to change the report intervals.

IPERF Options:
[nino@PS-ToolKit-2 ~]$ iperf h Usage: iPerf [-s|-c host] [options] iPerf [-h|--help] [-v|--version] Client/Server: -f, --format [kmKM] format to report: Kbits, Mbits, KBytes, Mbytes -i, --interval # seconds between periodic bandwidth reports -l, --len #[KM] length of buffer to read or write (default 8 KB) -m, --print_mss print TCP maximum segment size (MTU - TCP/IP header) -o, --output <filename> output the report or error message to this specified file -p, --port # server port to listen on/connect to -u, --udp use UDP rather than TCP -w, --window #[KM] TCP window size (socket buffer size) -B, --bind <host> bind to <host>, an interface or multicast address -C, --compatibility for use with older versions does not sent extra msgs -M, --mss # set TCP maximum segment size (MTU - 40 bytes) -N, --nodelay set TCP no delay, disabling Nagle's Algorithm -V, --IPv6Version Set the domain to IPv6 Server specific: -s, --server -U, --single_udp -D, --daemon Client specific: -b, --bandwidth #[KM]

run in server mode run in single threaded UDP mode run the server as a daemon

for UDP, bandwidth to send at in bits/sec (default 1 Mbit/sec, implies -u) -c, --client <host> run in client mode, connecting to <host> -d, --dualtest Do a bidirectional test simultaneously -n, --num #[KM] number of bytes to transmit (instead of -t) -r, --tradeoff Do a bidirectional test individually -t, --time # time in seconds to transmit for (default 10 secs) -F, --fileinput <name> input the data to be transmitted from a file -I, --stdin input the data to be transmitted from stdin -L, --listenport # port to receive bidirectional tests back on -P, --parallel # number of parallel client threads to run -T, --ttl # time-to-live, for multicast (default 1) -Z, --linux-congestion <algo> set TCP congestion control algorithm (Linux only)

Miscellaneous: -x, --reportexclude [CDMSV] exclude C(connection) D(data) M(multicast) S(settings) V(server) reports -y, --reportstyle C report as a Comma-Separated Values -h, --help print this message and quit -v, --version print version information and quit

Example Baseline Results:

Hardware: Dell Lattitude D630 with a Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller MACBook Pro (2010) with a Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet HP PROCURVE 2520G-8-POE (8 Port Gigabit switch) Operating Systems: Windows 7 SP1 Mac OS X v 10.7 PERFSONAR Live CD (CENTOS 5.6) Software: IPERF 2.0.5 (Default settings, 10 second test duration) RESULTS:
IPERF BASELINE TEST RESULTS CLIENT Dell Dell MacBook MacBook Dell Dell Macbook Macbook Dell Dell MacBook MacBook Dell Dell MacBook MacBook WINDOWS 7 SP1 MAC OSX 10.7 CENT OS 5.6 SERVER MacBook MacBook Dell Dell MacBook MacBook Dell Dell Macbook Macbook Dell Dell MacBook MacBook Dell Dell Transfer Amt. 557Mbytes 519MBytes 972MBytes 980MBytes 1.12GBytes 1.11GBytes 1.12GBytes 1.12GBytes 1.09GBytes 1.1GBytes 1.09GBytes 1.09GBytes 1.04GBytes 1.02GBytes 909MBytes 909MBytes Transfer Rate 467 Mbits/Sec 435Mbits/Sec 815Mbits/Sec 822Mbits/Sec 941 Mbits/Sec 957Mbits/Sec 941Mbits/Sec 941Mbits/Sec 940Mbits/Sec 942Mbits/Sec 935Mbits/Sec 939Mbits/Sec 896Mbits/Sec 856Mbits/Sec 761Mbits/Sec 762Mbits/Sec

Downloads & Additional Information:

IPerf Download (CLI): http://sourceforge.net/projects/iPerf/ JPERF Download (GUI Requires Java): http://sourceforge.net/projects/jperf/ Java Download: http://java.com/inc/BrowserRedirect1.jsp?locale=en Alternate Tutorial: http://openmaniak.com/iPerf.php Document history: v1.2 - 10.15.12 Nino Avila