IT Guru Day 1
Lab 1 : Creating a Topology
Lab 2 : Adding Traffic
Lab 3 : Choose Statistics and Run Simulation
Lab 4 : View Results
Lab 5 : Create Additional Scenarios
IT Guru Day 2
Lab 6 : Building Network Topologies
Lab 7 : Application Response Time Engineering
Lab 8 : Traffic Engineering using MPLS
Lab 9 : Simulation Methodology for the Analysis of QoS
1
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Lab #1: Creating a Topology
In order to represent your networks topology, you must first gather information
about the aspects of your network you wish to model. Below is some information about
the company and its network.
2
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Change view to the one shown on the previous page:
Click on the Zoom button on the toolbar
Click and drag a rectangle over the Midwestern portion of the US
Deploy subnet to Minneapolis, and change its grid properties so that the scale is smaller:
Click and drag a subnet icon from the palette onto the workspace, placing it
on Minneapolis
Right-click to cancel placing additional subnets
Right-click the subnet and select Advanced Edit Attributes
Change the x span and the y span to .002
3
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Change Grid Properties:
Select View/Set Grid Properties
In Map Grid Properties dialog box, change units from Degrees to Feet,
change resolution to 8, and change division to 10
Close the Map Grid Properties dialog box
4
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
In Minneapolis, rapidly configure a LAN consisting of 28 workstations connected to a
3com_SuperStack_II_Switch_3900 in a star topology:
Enter the Minneapolis subnet
Select Topology / Rapid Configuration; change Bus to Star; press OK
Set Center Node Model = 3com_Superstack_II_Switch_3900
Set Periphery Node Model = ethernet_wkstn
Set Link Model = 100BaseT
Set Number = 28. Press OK
5
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Go back to WAN view of network:
Right-click in workspace and select Go to Parent Subnet
6
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Create the topology in Dallas:
Enter the Dallas subnet
Deploy 6 Sun_Enterprise_10000_server models from the Object Palette
Deploy a 3com_SuperStack_II_Switch in the middle of the servers, and
connect the servers to the switch with 100BaseT links
Place a CS7505_Router next to the switch and connect the two with a
100BaseT link
Set the name of the new router to cisco_router
Right-click on the workspace and choose Go to Parent Subnet
7
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Again when prompted for which node within the subnet to connect the link
to, choose the node name ending in cisco_router
End of Lab #1
8
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Lab #2 Adding Traffic
A simulation with no traffic would be quite boring. Lets add some traffic to the
network topology. The traffic you are most interested in is the Database traffic generated
by the Hotel Reservation Software. You will model this traffic explicitly using IT Gurus
pre-defined application traffic. There is, however, other traffic flowing to and from the
server farm in Dallas. You will simplify this other traffic by modeling as conversation
pair traffic. Lansing has run some traffic captures and stored them in a text file. You will
need to import this text file.
Optional: To view the background traffic, use the Conversation Pair Browser under the
traffic menu. Select a source and a destination, then right-click on the destination and
choose view traffic.
9
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
In the next dialogue box, fill in the following information:
Note: To choose a distribution for transaction interarrival time and transaction size, you
will need to change the Special Value from None to Not Used.
Once your attribute list matches the one above, hit OK until all the boxes are
closed
Next, you will need to create a user profile for someone who uses this database
application:
Deploy a Profile Config node from the Object Palette to the workspace
Right-click it and Edit Attributes
Change the Profile Configuration attribute from None to Edit
Click on the box that says 0 rows and change the 0 to a 1
Change the Profile Name to DB Client
Change the Start time to a uniform distribution between 200 and 400
seconds. (This gives the routing protocols enough time to find a path through
the network, it also gives you a wide enough range so that all the
workstations dont send their first query at once.)
Click on the Applications column and choose edit
Click on the Name column, choose DB User
Click OK until all dialogue boxes are closed
10
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Now you have configured the application and the user profile. The next step is to assign
the user profile to all the workstations in the network.
The servers are pre-configured to support this application, so you will not need to modify
them.
End of Lab #2
11
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Lab #3: Choose Statistics and Run Simulation
First, you must select some statistics to collect:
From the Simulation menu, select Choose Individual Statistics
Click on the plus signs next to the categories to expand them
Choose the following statistics by clicking on the gray box next to the
statistic:
o Global Statistics / DB Entry / Response Time (sec)
o Global Statistics / DB Query / Response Time (sec)
o Node Statistics / Server DB Query / Task Processing Time
o Link Statistics / point-to-point / utilization <-
o Link Statistics / point-to-point / utilization ->
Click OK
Next, you must configure and run the simulation to run for one hour:
Select Simulation / Configure Simulation
Set the duration to one hour
Press Run
End of Lab #3
12
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Lab #4: View Results
Create panels for DB Query and Entry response times and their averages:
Select Results / View Results
Check the box next to Global Statistics / DB Entry / Response Time (sec)
Press Show
In the View Results window, change the filter value from As Is to
average
Press Add and click on the graph that was just created
Uncheck the box next to DB Entry / Response Time (sec)
Repeat the steps above for DB Query / Response Time (sec)
Verify that your graphs look similar to the graphs below you may have
peaks and valleys in different places, but the range of values should be
similar
Save the project
13
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
This Database application is taking around two seconds to deliver a response. Try to
discover what is causing the slow response times. First, look at the server utilization to
see if that is the culprit.
Select Results / Find Top Results
Choose Node Statistics / Server DB Query / Task Processing Time, click
Find Top Results
Change Statistics Stacked to Statistics Overlaid
Click the Graph button and view the graph
Notice the processing time is quite low
If the servers are not causing the bottleneck, perhaps the links are over-utilized. Check
the most utilized links for bottlenecks:
Select Results / Find Top Results (the dialogue box should still be open)
Choose Link Statistics / point-to-point / utilization, click Find Top Results
Change Statistics Stacked to Statistics Overlaid
Click the Graph button and view the graph
14
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Notice which of the links have 100% utilization for part of the simulation
Save the project
In this section you diagnosed the slow response times more bandwidth is needed on the
long-distance links.
End of Lab #4
15
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Lab #5: Create Additional Scenarios
Now its time to fix the network bottleneck. Since the links are over-utilized, try
upgrading all the 56K links to DS1 links. First, youll want to create a duplicate scenario
in which to make this change.
Select Scenarios / Duplicate Scenarios
Name the new Scenario DS1
Right-click on the link connecting the Detroit Subnet to the IP Cloud and
Select Similar Links
Right-click on this link again and select Edit Attributes
Change the Model attribute from PPP_56K to PPP_DS1
Check the box that says Apply Changes to Selected Objects and press
OK
16
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
At a glance you can see that there is a significant reduction in response time. Lets see if
you can get a further improvement by upgrading to DS3 links:
Select Scenarios / Duplicate Scenarios
Name the new Scenario DS3
Right-click on the link connecting the Detroit Subnet and the IP Cloud and
Select Similar Links
Right-click on it again and select Edit Attributes
Change the Model from PPP_DS1 to PPP_DS3
Check the box that says Apply Changes to Selected Objects
Press OK
Compare the DB Entry and DB Query Response Times for each scenario:
Select Results / Compare Results
Check the box next to Global Statistics / DB Entry / Response Time (sec)
Change the filter to average
Click show
Uncheck the box next to Global Statistics / DB Entry / Response Time (sec)
Repeat these steps for Global Statistics / DB Query / Response Time (sec)
17
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Generate a Web report for the DS3 scenario, and then launch it:
Select Results / Statistic Report / Generate Web Report and press OK
Select Results / Statistic Report / Launch Last Report
18
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
View DB Query Response Time:
If you have more than one Web report, you will start at your Simulation
Reports Home Page and would then have to select the simulation report you
wish to view
If this is the first report ever generated, you will bypass this home page
Find and view the results for Report: User Selected / Global Statistics / DB
Query / Response Time
Exit the browser
Save the project
End of Lab #5
19
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Lab #6: Building Network Topologies
Background
Reduce simulation time by selecting effective topology scale and traffic types while
maintaining accuracy of database response time statistics
For the purposes of this lab, it is assumed that on average an IP packet is about 1000
bits in size
Instructions
Open 1203_Lab1 project
1. Use Hide/Show All Graphs button to view saved results
2. Observe that DB traffic represents less than 10% of total traffic on network
3. Note that all sites contain explicitly defined workstations
4. Switch to second scenario, Explicit_Web_Traffic_Only
5. Use Hide/Show All Graphs button to open saved results
6. Each graph shows the average throughput on a WAN link in either direction
7. Note the amount of traffic that flows between each city
Example: Traffic between Dallas and Denver
Observe steady state traffic in both directions
Dallas -> Denver = 2200bps
Denver -> Dallas = 100,000bps
Arrows
indicate
direction of
traffic flow
20
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
8. Complete the matrix below using the same technique as in previous step.
Avg throughput
Source Destination (bps)
Atlanta.Router Denver.Router 6000
Atlanta.Router Miami.Router
Atlanta.Router Tampa.Router 100000
Chicago.Router Denver.Router 12000
Chicago.Router Detroit.Gateway
Dallas.Router Denver.Router 2200
Miami.Router Atlanta.Router 2000
Tampa.Router Atlanta.Router 2100
Washington DC.Router Pittsburgh.Router 2100
ii. Use throughput values from matrix in step 9 to fill in values in spreadsheet
iii. Set Avg Pkt Size value to 1000 for all entries
iv. Save file and exit from Excel
v. Import modified file into topology using Import Conversation Pairs /
Spreadsheet option in the Traffic menu making sure that existing traffic is
overwritten
14. Run a simulation for two hour duration and note time to complete simulation (wall-
clock time)
21
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
15. Compare results for DB Query Response Time statistic for all scenarios
Select Compare Results option from the Results menu
Select Global Statistics / DB Query / Response Time (sec)
Press Show button to plot results
Right click on panel and select Draw Style / Discrete option
Change As Is field in compare results window to average
Press Show button to plot additional results graph
Optional
Model the effect of twice as many users on the network.
1. Scale conversation pair traffic by 100% by using the Scale Network Traffic option
in the conversation pair browser
2. At each site, double the number of workstations in each LAN object
3. Run simulation for two hours and note simulation run time (wall-clock time)
4. Compare database application response time for all three scenarios
Conclusion
Aggregating workstations into LANs and modeling HTTP traffic as conversation pair
traffic significantly reduced time to run simulation while maintaining accuracy of
results.
Using methodologies to build network topologies and select traffic can allow you to
run studies efficiently without sacrificing accuracy.
22
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
LAB #7: Application Response Time Engineering
Background
Apply SMARTE to deploy application for EuroBank and meet the defined Service Level
Agreement (SLA).
EuroBank has 12 branches located across Europe with a central office in London
Data center is located in Zurich along with a data warehouse server that replicates
bulk information from central offices located across the world
New database application to replicate branch data is being deployed at all European
branches characterized by an ACE model.
SLA for new application is defined as <25s response time 95% of the time
Effect of additional applications on network elements has been configured as
conversation pair traffic and device loads
Instructions
1. Use Hide/Show All Graphs button to show application response time and SLA
compliance graphs
2. Use Find Top Results option in Results menu to help determine bottlenecks
3. Duplicate the scenario to test a solution
4. Run a simulation for one hour duration
5. View results to see if solution meets SLA requirements
Press Hide/Show All graphs button
Go to Results Menu and select Panel Templates followed by Create from All
Panels option
To load graphs with new data, go to Results Menu and select Panel Templates
followed by Load with Latest Results option
6. If SLA is not met, repeat steps 2 through 5
Optional
Edit the data rate attributes on WAN links so that the values are in multiples of T1
data rates (i.e., 1.544 Mbps, 3.088 Mbps, 4.632 Mbps, etc.).
This prevents over provisioning of bandwidth in the network and would be a more
cost effective method of addressing bandwidth and transmission delay issues in the
network.
23
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Suggestions and Hints
To deploy a new server which supports an ACE application:
1. Use object palette to add server object to topology
2. Connect server to the network
3. Set Application: ACE Tier Configuration attribute to Server in the new
servers attribute table
4. Remove support for ACE application from original server by setting attribute
in step 3 to Unspecified
Increasing the speed of a link will not only increase bandwidth but will also reduce
transmission delay
Conclusions
Use of SMARTE with ACE helps study effect of deploying custom applications on
existing network
IT Guru can help isolate potential bottlenecks and test different solutions in a virtual
network environment
24
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
LAB #8: Traffic Engineering using MPLS
Background
Use MPLS to address the problem of under-utilized links in a WAN
Instructions
Baseline Scenario:
1. Study the README for details about traffic flows
2. Use the Hide/Show All Graphs button to look at included results
3. Note the amount of traffic on links between LSR4 & LSR2 as well as LSR2 & LSR5
TrafEng_using_MPLS scenario:
1. Create FECs for traffic going to sites 7 and 14
Edit MPLS Configuration Utility attributes
Edit FEC Specifications table
o Add row to table
FEC Name: site_7_traffic
FEC Details / Destination Address: 192.0.27.2
o Add 2nd row to table
FEC Name: site_14_traffic
FEC Details / Destination Address: 192.0.21.2
2. Create traffic trunk profile
Edit MPLS Configuration Utility attributes
Edit Traffic Trunk Profile table and add one profile with the following
characteristics:
o Trunk Name: 10 Mbps AF1x
o Max Bit Rate: 10,000,000
o Avg Bit Rate: 4,000,000
o Max Burst Size: 1,000,000
o Traffic Class: EF
3. Define LSPs from LER1 to LER4 and LER2 to LER5
o Using the 1203_Labs3_4_Palette, use the MPLS_E-LSP_Static Path
object to set up LSPs following the paths below:
LER2 LSR1 LSR3 LSR2 LSR5 LER5
LER1 LSR1 LSR4 LSR2 LSR5 LER4
4. Configure MPLS on LER1
Edit the MPLS Parameters table located in router attributes table
25
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Edit the Traffic Engineering Configuration table
o Insert new row
o Click on Interface In field and apply binding to Intf #1 only
o Select site_7_traffic in the FEC field
o Select 10 Mbps AF1x in the Traffic Trunk field
o Select LER1 LER4 as the primary LSP in the LSP field
5. Configure MPLS on LER2
Edit the MPLS Parameters table located in router attributes table
Edit the Traffic Engineering Configuration table
o Insert new row
o Click on Interface In field and apply binding to Intf #1 only
o Select site_14_traffic in the FEC field
o Select 10 Mbps AF1x in the Traffic Trunk field
o Select LER2 LER5 as the primary LSP in the LSP field
6. Select Update LSP Details from the Protocols / MPLS menu
7. Run a simulation for one hour duration
8. Compare FTP upload time for two sites
In the Scenario menu, select the Scenario Components option followed by Import
Select Analysis Configuration in the drop down list
Select 1203_Lab3-Baseline from the list
Go to Results Menu and select Panel Templates followed by Create from All
Panels option
To load graphs with new data, go to Results Menu and select Panel Templates
followed by Load with Latest Results option
Conclusion
Traffic Engineering methodology can be used within IT Guru to test variety MPLS
configurations in virtual environment before they are deployed
26
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
LAB #9: Simulation Methodology for
the Analysis of QoS
Goal
Set up QoS on the network to provide differentiated services for FTP sessions between
two sites. Traffic from one site should be given priority over the other without creating
unacceptable response time for the low priority traffic.
Background
FTP Application has already been configured and profiled for use by Site 3 and Site 4
LSPs have been pre-configured in the model
Response time for user at site 3 should be less than 60 seconds on average
Response time for user at site 4 should be less than 80 seconds on average
Additional information about each scenario is included in an associated README
file
Instructions
1. Study the README for the details about the configured FTP traffic
2. Create a FEC for FTP traffic
Edit the MPLS Configuration Utility attributes
Edit the FEC Specifications table, add one row and set values to:
o FEC Name: FTP Traffic
o FEC Details / Destination Port: FTP Server
3. Create a traffic trunk profile for Site 4
Edit MPLS Configuration Utility attributes
Edit Traffic Trunk Profile table and add profile with the following
characteristics:
o Trunk Name: 64 Kbps AF1x
o Max Bit Rate: 64,000
o Avg Bit Rate: 32,000
o Max Burst Size: 32,000
o Traffic Class: AF11
o Out of Profile Action: Transmit Unchanged
9. Create a traffic trunk profile for Site 3
Edit the MPLS Configuration Utility attributes
Edit the Traffic Trunk Profile table and add profile with the following
characteristics:
o Trunk Name: 64 Kbps AF3x
o Max Bit Rate: 64,000
o Avg Bit Rate: 32,000
o Max Burst Size: 32,000
27
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
o Traffic Class: AF31
o Out of Profile Action: Transmit Unchanged
10. Configure queuing scheme
Edit the QoS configuration utility attributes
Edit the WFQ Profiles table
Edit PHB Based queues configuration table
o Classification Scheme table in each row defines Diffserv codepoint associated
with defined weight
o Select weight to produce response times defined in Background Information
section for this lab.
11. Configure MPLS on LER2
Edit the MPLS Parameters table located in router attributes table
Edit the Traffic Engineering Configuration table
o Insert a new row
Click on Interface In field and apply binding to Intf #1 only
Select FTP Traffic in the FEC field
Select 64 Kbps AF3x in the Traffic Trunk field
Select LER2 LER5 as the primary LSP in the LSP field
o Insert 2nd row
Click on Interface In field and apply binding to Intr #2 only
Select FTP Traffic in the FEC field
Select 64 Kbps AF1x in the Traffic Trunk field
Select LER2 LER5 as the primary LSP in the LSP field
12. Enable QoS on outgoing interface of LER2
Edit the IP Routing Parameters table for LER2
Edit the Interface Information table
Edit the QoS Information field for IF0
Select WFQ as the queuing scheme and PHB Based as the profile
13. Run a simulation for one hour duration
14. Compare FTP upload time for two sites
In the Scenario menu, select the Scenario Components option followed by Import
Select Analysis Configuration in the drop down list
Select 1203_Lab4_REF-MPLS_with_Diffserv_REF from the list
Go to Results Menu and select Panel Templates followed by Create from All
Panels option
To load graphs with new data, go to Results Menu and select Panel Templates
followed by Load with Latest Results option
15. If response times are not within defined limits, adjust the weights that were set in step
5 and re-run the simulation until response time limits are met
28
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Optional
Configure a SLA to validate results of the QoS configuration
Try using a queuing scheme other than WFQ to meet the SLA
Conclusion
Use SMAQ to conduct QoS studies and test different queuing schemes in virtual
network environment
29
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Lab #10 Creating Node Model
Purpose: Create 2 node models, one representing the transmitter node in Washington DC,
and the other representing the receiver node in Philadelphia.
Note: Throughout this lab and others, screenshots have been included. As you are going
through the steps in the labs, look for these to help guide you.
Part 1: Create the transmitter node. Build a node model to represent the transmitter of
bank transactions originating in Washington, D.C.
4) Create packet stream: Press the Create packet stream button on the toolbar and
left-click on the processor, and then the transmitter. Right-click to stop creating
packet streams
5) Your node model should look like the above picture
6) Configure Node Interfaces: Select Interfaces Node Interfaces.
7) In the Node Type table:
a. set: mobile = no
b. set: satellite = no
8) Change the icon for the node. Under default icon click on fixed_comm. A
window comes up with icons. Click on green_terminal.
9) Click OK
30
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
10) Save the node model: select File / Save and name the model
<your_initials>_transmitter_nd
11) Configure the Processor. Edit the attributes of the processor module and enter
these values:
a. name = gen
b. process model = simple_source
c. Packet Interarrival Time
i. Distribution Name = exponential
ii. Mean Outcome = 0.5
iii. Click OK
d. Packet Size
i. Distribution Name = normal
ii. Mean Outcome = 3200
iii. Variance = 400
iv. Click OK
e. packet format = <initials>_trans_pkt
f. Click OK
31
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
12) Edit the attributes of the transmitter module and enter these values:
a. name = trans
b. channel -> data rate = unspecified, click OK
c. Click OK
Note: By entering a data rate of unspecified, we are telling the transmitter to use the
data rate of whatever link gets connected to it.
32
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
13) Specify Node Statistics
a. Select Interfaces/Node Statistics
b. Left-click in the first field of the Orig. Name column.
c. Select the statistic:
i. point-to-point transmitter/trans.channel [0].queue size (bits)
ii. Click the Promote button
d. Left-click in the second field of the Orig. Name column.
e. Select the statistic:
i. point-to-point transmitter/trans.channel[0].throughput (bits/sec)
ii. Click the Promote button
f. Click OK.
14) Select File Save.
15) Close the <your_initials>_transmitter_nd Node Editor window. The transmitter
node is now finished.
33
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Lab 10, Part 2: Create the Receiver Node
1) Select File New - Node Model
2) Place one point-to-point receiver and one processor in the workspace
3) Connect them with a packet stream
4) Your node should look like this:
6)
34
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
<End of Lab 10>
Lab #11 Create Link Model
Purpose: Create a link model
A link model includes a set of attributes that specify which Pipeline Stages the link will
use. The Pipeline Stages specify how packets are transmitted from source to destination.
They determine such things as the transmission delay, propagation delay, bit errors,
interference, etc. There are Pipeline Stages available to model the three types of
transmission mechanisms available in Modeler:
- Point-to-point
- Bus
- Radio
For the purposes of this lab, we are going to set this link to use the default behavior for
point-to-point links by setting these attributes:
35
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Lab #12: Completing the Bank Network
Purpose: To create a project to include the bank network discussed.
In the last lab, we created nodes to represent the Philadelphia bank and the Washington
DC bank (<your_initials>_receiver_nd and <your_initials>_transmitter_nd). We also
created a type of link to connect them. We will now create this simple network, run a
simulation, and view our results.
36
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
6) Place nodes and link
a. Place a <your_initials>_transmitter_nd near Washington D.C.
b. Place a <your_initials>_receiver_nd near Philadelphia
c. Name the two WDC_src and Philly_dest
d. Draw a simplex link (<your_initials>_pt_base_9600) from Washington
to Philadelphia
7) Close the object palette
8) Verify links
a. Press Verify Links button
b. Click OK
c. If the link between Washington and Philadelphia becomes marked with a
red X, check the following:
i. Are you using a simplex link?
ii. Is the link pointing from Washington to Philadelphia?
iii. Is the Washington DC node of the type
<your_initials>_transmitter_nd?
iv. Is the Philadelphia node of the type
<your_initials>_receiver_nd?
d. If you cant get Verify Links to be successful, a TA or the instructor can
help you
37
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
9) Save the project: press File Save
Now that we have drawn the topology, we need to tell Modeler what statistics we are
interested in collecting.
10) In the Project Editor select Choose Individual Statistics from the Simulation
menu. This brings up the Choose Results dialog box
11) In the Choose Results dialog box, select the following
a. Node Statistics
i. point-to-point receiver / throughput (bits/sec)
ii. point-to-point transmitter / queue size (bits)
iii. point-to-point transmitter / throughput (bits/sec)
b. Link Statistics
i. point-to-point / utilization
c. Click OK
The node statistics available should look familiar. When we created the transmitter_nd
and receiver_nd nodes, these are the statistics we specified in the Node Statistics dialog
box (see Lab #6). By selecting them there, we told Modeler that those were the statistics
that would be of most interest to someone using that node. They therefore show up in the
Choose Results dialog box in steps 10 and 11 above.
You may remember that there were other statistics that were available, which we did not
add to that list. Where are these statistics?
The statistics you do not add to the Node Statistics list (when creating a node model)
are still available for collection, it just requires a different method. If you want to collect
a statistic that does not show up in the Choose Results dialog box, you need to use the
Probe Editor. The Probe Editor will not be covered in this session.
38
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
12) Configure and Run the Simulation
a. Click on the Configure/Run Simulation button on the toolbar:
b. Set the duration to 30 minutes
c. Click on the Run button
While the simulation runs, view the attributes of the Washington DC node (packets/sec,
size of the packets) and the link (data rate) to help determine what the results should be:
- What is the throughput (in bits/second) at the WDC transmitter?
________ bits/second
- What is the throughput (in bits/second) at the Philadelphia receiver?
________ bits/second
- What is the utilization of the D.C. to Philadelphia link? ________
- Does the queue size of the WDC transmitter steadily increase? ________
To figure answers, we need to look at the load offered to the 9600 baud modem at the
WDC node.
Load = (1 pk/ 0.5 sec)(3200 bits/pk + (64 bits/field)(2 fields)) = 6656 bits/sec.
13) Once the simulation is complete, graph the results for the statistics we collected,
to verify our calculations
39
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
a. Click on the View Results button on the toolbar:
b. To view a statistic by itself in one graph, follow these steps:
i. Uncheck other statistics you may already have checked
ii. Check the statistic of interest
iii. Choose a filter (average, as is, CDF, etc)
iv. Click the Show button
c. Using the above method, graph the following statistics
i. Object Statistics/Philly_dest/point-to-point receiver/throughput
ii. Object Statistics/WDC_src/point-to-point transmitter/queue size
iii. Object Statistics/WDC_src/trans/channel [0]/point-to-point
transmitter/throughput
iv. Object Statistics/WDC_src->Philly_dest [0]/point-to-point
/utilization
Your graphs should look like this:
If your results do not match, a TA or the instructor can help you determine why.
<End of Lab 12>
Lab #13: Expanding the Bank Network
40
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Purpose: To expand our original bank network to include more sources and destinations,
and to include a new switch node. We will modify an existing process model to match be
behavior we wish from our new switch.
Before creating this topology, we need to create a new node to represent our switch. Here
are the specs we have for this switch:
- It supports 4 inputs and 2 outputs
- It takes an input from any input port and sends it to a random output port
- The internal queue behaves as acb_fifo, with a processing rate of 76,800
bits per second
Create a new node model that looks like the following picture. Try to create it without
the step-by-step instructions on the following page. The transceivers should take any
packet format, and have a data rate of unspecified. The queue module uses the process
acb_fifo, with a service rate of 76800
41
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
c. Place 2 point to point transmitters
d. Connect the modules with packet streams
3) Edit the queues attributes
a. Change its process model from sink to acb_fifo
b. Set the service rate to 76800
c. Name the queue fifo_queue
4) Change the channel data rates
a. Select all the transceivers
b. Edit attributes of one of the transceivers
c. Select the Apply Changes to Selected Objects checkbox
d. Change the data rate of the channel from 1024 to unspecified
5) In the Interfaces / Node Interfaces menu:
a. Change mobile and satellite to no
b. Change the node icon to switch
6) Save the node model as <your_initials>_switch_node
At first glance, this node model seems to be finished. However, upon examining the
acb_fifo process model, we would see that it is designed to accept packets from any
number of sources and autonomously forwards them to a single destination module. In
other words, if we leave it like it is, it will forward all packets to the first transmitter.
What we want is for it to randomly choose between the two transmitters. We will need to
create our own version of the acb_fifo process model to do this.
Try not to use the notes on the next page to make the change.
42
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
6) Since were making modifications, lets change the default service to meet our
specifications:
a. Under the menu Interfaces, choose Model Attributes
b. Change the service rate default value from 9600 to 76800
c. Click OK
7) Save the process model: File Save (in the process editor)
8) Compile it with the orange button on the right of the taskbar.
9) Close the Process Editor
Now that we have a new process to replace acb_fifo, we need to update our switch node
to use it.
Now that we have our new node model complete, we can place the topology.
43
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
i.There are 4 transmitter nodes
ii.There are 12 switch nodes
iii.There are 3 receiver nodes
iv. Each switch must have two outgoing links, and no more than four
incoming links
b. Name the servers Philly_dest, Philly_dest_0, and Philly_dest_1
5) Since you duplicated the previous scenario, statistics are already chosen. Run the
simulation to collect the same statistics for this new topology
6) When the simulation is complete, use the View Results button to graph the Point-
to-Point Receiver Throughput for the three destination nodes (results are from one
topology; yours may differ). To graph many statistics together on one panel,
follow these steps:
a. Unselect statistics you are not interested in
b. Select all of the statistics you want in one graph
c. Select Statistics Overlaid from the left pulldown menu
d. Select a filter (As Is, average, etc)
e. Click on the Show button
44
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Purpose: To create a new process model from scratch. You will learn how to write your
own statistics in a process model.
There is more than one way to create any process model. The instructions in this lab will
create the desired model using 3 states, and will look like this:
The INIT state, specified as a forced (green) state, for statistic registration.
ETE_Destroy, specified as a forced (green) state, to process a packet (in this
case, compute its ETE delay and destroy it)
WAIT, specified as an unforced (red) state because the process is waiting for an
interrupt
45
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
3) Connect the states in the following manner
Note: Left-clicking while drawing a transition will add vertices to your transition.
When you reach the next state, left click again and the transition will have a curved
shape if you havent drawn a straight line.
Next, we will create some variables that our process will be using. Variables in a Process
Model can be declared as state, temporary, or global
- State variable
46
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
i. Private to the process
ii. Retains its value between invocations
iii. Needed to store persistent information
iv. Declared in the State Variable Block
- Temporary variable
i. Private to the process
ii. Retains its value only until control is returned to the Simulation
Kernel
iii. Useful to support transient calculations
iv. Declared in the Temporary Variable Block
- Global variable
i. Provides means for multiple processes to store information in a
common location
ii. Declared in the Header Block
double ete_delay;
double creation_time;
double current_time;
int stream_index;
Packet* pkptr;
These are temporary variables because we dont need to remember their values from the
last interrupt. Every interrupt we receive will give us new values for these. We will see
them used later in this lab.
47
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
ii. Name = ete_gsh
c. Click OK
The OPNET data type Stathandle is used to store a handle or pointer to a statistic. We
will use this variable to write our statistic values to throughout the simulation. Since we
will be using this Stathandle throughout the simulation, we need to make it a State
Variable, so we can refer to it whenever we want to write a value to it.
There are 4 steps required for writing out statistics in a process model
1. Create a State Variable of type Stathandle
2. Declare the statistic (Under the Interfaces menu)
3. Use op_stat_reg() to tie 1 and 2 together
4. Use op_stat_write() to actually write values to it
Steps 1 3 need to only be done once in your code for each statistic.
48
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
ete_gsh = op_stat_reg("ETE Delay", OPC_STAT_INDEX_NONE,
OPC_STAT_GLOBAL);
b. Click File / Save (In the Enter Execs window) (This completes step 3
for using our ETE Delay stat)
49
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
Compile the
Process Model by
left-clicking on
this button.
Now that we have a new Process Model to calculate our ETE delay, we need to modify
our <your_initials>_receiver_nd node model to use this new process.
16) Open the bank_net project and switch to the baseline scenario
a. File / Open / Project / bank_net
b. Scenarios / Switch To Scenario / baseline
17) Double-click on the Philly_dest node to enter the Node editor.
50
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
c. Save and close the Node Editor
51
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.
<End of Lab 14>
52
Copyright 2001 OPNET Technologies, Inc.