9 ms·

Ostinato – A Network Traffic Generator and Analyzer

97 points by rishabhd 10y ago

jaimex2 10y ago
Its got a pretty quirky UI but it works. I've used it when load testing some packet processing apps. Why was this posted, It's a generic packet generator?
MichailP 10y ago
Can someone recommend good lectures/book for full stack network programming focused on concepts but with enough detail? Something similar to The Elements of Computing Systems by Nisan & Schocken, but for networks?
- fapjacks 10y ago
  There's always the classic Beej's Guide to Network Programming [0], which is pretty low-level but something I always point to when mentoring. [0] https://beej.us/guide/bgnet/ https://beej.us/guide/bgnet/
  - devillius 10y ago
    This is such a classic. Used it in college and still use it to this day to find definitions / struct members.
- Kaizyn 10y ago
  https://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Modern-Networking-SDN-Cloud/dp/0134175395 https://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Modern-Networking-SDN-Clo... https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Networking-Understanding-Cloud-based-Networks/dp/0128007281/ https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Networking-Understanding-Cloud-... https://www.amazon.com/Interconnections-Bridges-Switches-Internetworking-Protocols/dp/0201634481/ https://www.amazon.com/Interconnections-Bridges-Switches-Int... https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Guide-Comprehensive-Illustrated-Protocols/dp/159327047X/ https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Guide-Comprehensive-Illustrated-P... After spending a lot of time trying to find resources to get up to speed on this networks domain for work, those are the best resources I've found.
  - fapjacks 10y ago
    I have the TCP/IP Guide you mention and I'd recommend it, also. I'd also suggest if the asker buys the Interconnections book, that they also go ahead and buy the TCP/IP Illustrated (volumes I-III) as well. They are textbooks, to be sure, but if you find this stuff interesting, you'll be happy to have them. Very high knowledge density, though a bit outdated. And while we're talking about some of those old textbooks, I'd recommend the newest editions of the Unix Network Programming books [0], the earlier editions of which were really helpful to me when I was learning this stuff way back in the day. I'm a huge fan of textbooks, so maybe I'm going a bit overboard, but I did really enjoy them. [0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/013490012X/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/013490012X/
- bogomipz 10y ago
  TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Illustrated-Protocols-Addison-Wesley-Professional/dp/0321336313 https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Illustrated-Protocols-Addison-Wes...
pmontra 10y ago
Ostinato == stubborn in Italian but I wonder if it is named after the ostinato music pattern [1], also of Italian origin but different context. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostinato https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostinato
- signa11 10y ago
  in music, ostinato is 'a continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm.' which kinda makes sense no ;) ?
- pstavirs 10y ago
  Yes, it is based after the musical term! I explained a bit about the naming in the Packet Pushers Podcast[1] (around the 6:40 mark) Disclosure: I'm the creator of Ostinato [1] http://packetpushers.net/podcast/podcasts/pq-show-52-using-ostinato-to-craft-your-own-packets/ http://packetpushers.net/podcast/podcasts/pq-show-52-using-o...
DoofusOfDeath 10y ago
Kind of off-topic, but I learned the musical term "ostinato" just a few days ago, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IX1jSVmaAs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IX1jSVmaAs I just discovered that guy's (Rick Beato's) channel the other day. I normally find music theory very dry, but even my kids found that video interesting.
- tgragnato 10y ago
  Etimologically "ostinato" is Italian and literally means stubborn. As the other musical terms it's pristinely copied.
kkirsche 10y ago
I've usually used hping3 but ostinato is good
- bogomipz 10y ago
  Those have slightly different use cases packet crafting vs load testing.
mino 10y ago
Ostinato has been there for a while. I think it is the best you can get as opensource traffic generator, if you don't have access to commercial hardware (Ixia, Spirent, etc.). Also, there's this project based on the VPP dataplane technology, which could help you achieve higher bitrates. Personally I haven't managed to play with it yet: https://trex-tgn.cisco.com/ https://trex-tgn.cisco.com/
- signa11 10y ago
  > Also, there's this project based on the VPP dataplane technology... vpp is primarily based on dpdk, specifically, it utilizes their pmd etc. implementation for fast packet-io in userland. ostinato too has this feature i.e. line-rate packet generation using dpdk.
  - bogomipz 10y ago
    Do you have good links you can share in regards to vpp and leveraging of dpdk?
    - signa11 10y ago
      > Do you have good links you can share in regards to vpp and leveraging of dpdk? sorry for the late reply. here are a few presentations: 1. https://dpdksummit.com/Archive/pdf/2016USA/Day02-Session04-ThomasHerbert-DPDKUSASummit2016.pdf https://dpdksummit.com/Archive/pdf/2016USA/Day02-Session04-T... 2. https://www.ietf.org/proceedings/96/slides/slides-96-bmwg-10.pdf https://www.ietf.org/proceedings/96/slides/slides-96-bmwg-10... you might be able to find videos on youtube as well. lemme know if you need some more info, and i can dig some more.
- bogomipz 10y ago
  >" if you don't have access to commercial hardware (Ixia, Spirent, etc.)." Is there a way with Ostinato do 10's of Gigs of traffic sustained(perhaps by leveraging a fleet of them)? I didn't see anything in my cursory look at the docs. That's one of the reasons that Ixia, Spirent are able to command the price tags they do(I think they're' baseline $100K)
ldzcoder 10y ago
There is also Scapy [0], fully operable from the Python shell. [0] http://www.secdev.org/projects/scapy/ http://www.secdev.org/projects/scapy/
ausjke 10y ago
Linux kernel has a built-in traffic generator, can rarely find documents on how to use them, but I heard Spirent etc is using that to test their generators in the making
- shakna 10y ago
  pktgen [0, PDF]? This was the first I'd heard of it. Sounds interesting. [0] https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols/2005/ols2005v2-pages-19-32.pdf https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols/2005/ols2005v2-pages-19-32.pd...
  - ausjke 10y ago
    yes it's the one
supahfly_remix 10y ago
How is the packet checking on this? What exactly does it check?
randomsofr 10y ago
So there is people still using Windows XP. I like it better than the newer versions.
kkielhofner 10y ago
A few years back I was debugging a strange issue with an ethernet controller and Ostinato was absolutely crucial. Even with access to Ixia hardware I can't recommend it enough for packet generation work!

97 points by rishabhd 10y ago

Its got a pretty quirky UI but it works. I've used it when load testing some packet processing apps. Why was this posted, It's a generic packet generator?

MichailP 10y ago

Can someone recommend good lectures/book for full stack network programming focused on concepts but with enough detail? Something similar to The Elements of Computing Systems by Nisan & Schocken, but for networks?

fapjacks 10y ago
There's always the classic Beej's Guide to Network Programming [0], which is pretty low-level but something I always point to when mentoring. [0] https://beej.us/guide/bgnet/ https://beej.us/guide/bgnet/
- devillius 10y ago
  This is such a classic. Used it in college and still use it to this day to find definitions / struct members.
Kaizyn 10y ago
https://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Modern-Networking-SDN-Cloud/dp/0134175395 https://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Modern-Networking-SDN-Clo... https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Networking-Understanding-Cloud-based-Networks/dp/0128007281/ https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Networking-Understanding-Cloud-... https://www.amazon.com/Interconnections-Bridges-Switches-Internetworking-Protocols/dp/0201634481/ https://www.amazon.com/Interconnections-Bridges-Switches-Int... https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Guide-Comprehensive-Illustrated-Protocols/dp/159327047X/ https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Guide-Comprehensive-Illustrated-P... After spending a lot of time trying to find resources to get up to speed on this networks domain for work, those are the best resources I've found.
- fapjacks 10y ago
  I have the TCP/IP Guide you mention and I'd recommend it, also. I'd also suggest if the asker buys the Interconnections book, that they also go ahead and buy the TCP/IP Illustrated (volumes I-III) as well. They are textbooks, to be sure, but if you find this stuff interesting, you'll be happy to have them. Very high knowledge density, though a bit outdated. And while we're talking about some of those old textbooks, I'd recommend the newest editions of the Unix Network Programming books [0], the earlier editions of which were really helpful to me when I was learning this stuff way back in the day. I'm a huge fan of textbooks, so maybe I'm going a bit overboard, but I did really enjoy them. [0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/013490012X/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/013490012X/
bogomipz 10y ago
TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Illustrated-Protocols-Addison-Wesley-Professional/dp/0321336313 https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Illustrated-Protocols-Addison-Wes...

pmontra 10y ago

Ostinato == stubborn in Italian but I wonder if it is named after the ostinato music pattern [1], also of Italian origin but different context. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostinato https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostinato

signa11 10y ago
in music, ostinato is 'a continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm.' which kinda makes sense no ;) ?
pstavirs 10y ago
Yes, it is based after the musical term! I explained a bit about the naming in the Packet Pushers Podcast[1] (around the 6:40 mark) Disclosure: I'm the creator of Ostinato [1] http://packetpushers.net/podcast/podcasts/pq-show-52-using-ostinato-to-craft-your-own-packets/ http://packetpushers.net/podcast/podcasts/pq-show-52-using-o...

DoofusOfDeath 10y ago

Kind of off-topic, but I learned the musical term "ostinato" just a few days ago, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IX1jSVmaAs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IX1jSVmaAs I just discovered that guy's (Rick Beato's) channel the other day. I normally find music theory very dry, but even my kids found that video interesting.

tgragnato 10y ago
Etimologically "ostinato" is Italian and literally means stubborn. As the other musical terms it's pristinely copied.

kkirsche 10y ago

I've usually used hping3 but ostinato is good

bogomipz 10y ago
Those have slightly different use cases packet crafting vs load testing.

mino 10y ago

Ostinato has been there for a while. I think it is the best you can get as opensource traffic generator, if you don't have access to commercial hardware (Ixia, Spirent, etc.). Also, there's this project based on the VPP dataplane technology, which could help you achieve higher bitrates. Personally I haven't managed to play with it yet: https://trex-tgn.cisco.com/ https://trex-tgn.cisco.com/

signa11 10y ago
> Also, there's this project based on the VPP dataplane technology... vpp is primarily based on dpdk, specifically, it utilizes their pmd etc. implementation for fast packet-io in userland. ostinato too has this feature i.e. line-rate packet generation using dpdk.
- bogomipz 10y ago
  Do you have good links you can share in regards to vpp and leveraging of dpdk?
  - signa11 10y ago
    > Do you have good links you can share in regards to vpp and leveraging of dpdk? sorry for the late reply. here are a few presentations: 1. https://dpdksummit.com/Archive/pdf/2016USA/Day02-Session04-ThomasHerbert-DPDKUSASummit2016.pdf https://dpdksummit.com/Archive/pdf/2016USA/Day02-Session04-T... 2. https://www.ietf.org/proceedings/96/slides/slides-96-bmwg-10.pdf https://www.ietf.org/proceedings/96/slides/slides-96-bmwg-10... you might be able to find videos on youtube as well. lemme know if you need some more info, and i can dig some more.
bogomipz 10y ago
>" if you don't have access to commercial hardware (Ixia, Spirent, etc.)." Is there a way with Ostinato do 10's of Gigs of traffic sustained(perhaps by leveraging a fleet of them)? I didn't see anything in my cursory look at the docs. That's one of the reasons that Ixia, Spirent are able to command the price tags they do(I think they're' baseline $100K)

ldzcoder 10y ago

There is also Scapy [0], fully operable from the Python shell. [0] http://www.secdev.org/projects/scapy/ http://www.secdev.org/projects/scapy/

ausjke 10y ago

Linux kernel has a built-in traffic generator, can rarely find documents on how to use them, but I heard Spirent etc is using that to test their generators in the making

shakna 10y ago
pktgen [0, PDF]? This was the first I'd heard of it. Sounds interesting. [0] https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols/2005/ols2005v2-pages-19-32.pdf https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols/2005/ols2005v2-pages-19-32.pd...
- ausjke 10y ago
  yes it's the one

supahfly_remix 10y ago

How is the packet checking on this? What exactly does it check?

randomsofr 10y ago

So there is people still using Windows XP. I like it better than the newer versions.

kkielhofner 10y ago

A few years back I was debugging a strange issue with an ethernet controller and Ostinato was absolutely crucial. Even with access to Ixia hardware I can't recommend it enough for packet generation work!