Test IP Services and Underlying Layers
-- Test & Measurement World, 6/22/2004
Agilent’s N2X multiservice tester combines three instruments into one.
Combining a router tester, bit-error-rate tester (BERT), and storage-area
network (SAN) tester, the N2X tests Internet Protocol (IP) services at protocol
layer 2 as well as protocols at layers 1 and 2.
The tester is a chassis that uses “blades” that contains network interfaces to connect to network elements such as core routers, edge routers, multiservice provisioning platforms (MSPPs), and enterprise switches. With it, you can test services such as multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), metro Ethernet, IP/virtual-private networks (IP/VPN), and underlying transport services such as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and Frame Relay.
The N2X emulates a network from layer 1 through layer 3. It can detect a lost packet and tell you at which layer the error occurred. To do that, it looks at both services and packets, showing the interaction between layers.
For physical interfaces, the N2X has all of those interfaces available for the router tester, BERT, and SAN tester. It also has a 40 Gbps OC-768 optical interface and a tri-rate (10/100/1000 Mbps) Ethernet interface and a 10 Gbps line-interface card.
