About Ixia: Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is Ixia?
2. What is our vision?
3. Who uses Ixia's IP Performance Test Systems?
4. What do Equipment Manufacturers measure with Ixia Test Systems?
5. How do Equipment Manufacturers use Ixia Test Systems?
6. What do Service Providers measure with Ixia Test Systems?
7. How do Service Providers use Ixia Test Systems?
8. What do Enterprises and Governments measure with Ixia Test Systems?
9. How do Enterprises and Governments use Ixia Test Systems?
10. What distinguishes Ixia Test Systems from the competition?
11. What distinguishes Ixia as a company from the competition?
12. What is Optixia?
13. What is Aptixia?
14. What does Ixia provide for video testing?
15. What does Ixia provide for voice testing?
16. What does Ixia provide for content aware testing?
17. What does Ixia provide for Layer 4-7 security testing?
18. What does Ixia provide for application testing?
19. What does Ixia provide for router testing?
20. What does Ixia provide for Layer 2-3 security testing?
21. What does Ixia provide for switch testing?
22. What does Ixia provide for wireless testing?
23. What does Ixia provide for broadband testing?
24. What does Ixia provide for automated testing?

Who is Ixia?

Ixia is a leading provider of performance Test Systems for IP-based infrastructure and services.

What is our vision?

Communications and entertainment delivery is rapidly moving to an IP infrastructure. To achieve "utility grade" quality, this infrastructure must be thoroughly tested. It is Ixia's vision to accelerate the migration of communications and entertainment to IP by providing the best performance Test Systems in the industry.

Who uses Ixia's IP Performance Test Systems?

• Equipment Manufacturers - Manufacturers of IP-based devices
• Service Providers - Providers of public IP-based networks and services
• Enterprises and Governments - Users of private IP-based networks and services

What do Equipment Manufacturers measure with Ixia Test Systems?

• System Performance - Performance of a system of network devices under load
• Device Performance - Performance limits of a specific network device
• Protocol Performance - Performance characteristics of a protocol

How do Equipment Manufacturers use Ixia Test Systems?

They run large-scale protocol emulations, and generate extreme traffic load to verify the performance of IP-based devices.

What do Service Providers measure with Ixia Test Systems?

• Service Quality - Performance of an IP service
• Product Acceptance - Capability against a set of specifications
• Protocol Interoperability - Interoperability of network devices and systems

How do Service Providers use Ixia Test Systems?

They emulate millions of subscribers to verify the performance of the IP-based infrastructure and services.

What do Enterprises and Governments measure with Ixia Test Systems?

• Network Performance - Capacity of the IP infrastructure
• Data Center Performance - Resiliency of the data center
• Application Performance - Quality of the user experience

How do Enterprises and Governments use Ixia Test Systems?

They emulate thousands of users to determine IP infrastructure and application limits to avoid lost productivity.

What distinguishes Ixia Test Systems from the competition?

• Single Platform for Layer 2-7 that is forward and backward compatible
• Superior Functionality through granular control of a greater number of test parameters
• Universal Automation of every function throughout the test environment

What distinguishes Ixia as a company from the competition?

• 100% Focused on developing IP Performance Test Systems
• Continuous Innovation by integrating new technologies on a single platform
• Customer Responsiveness achieved by an unparalleled pace of product development

What is Optixia?

• Ixia's industry leading IP Performance Test platform. Optixia is a family of chassis and interface modules that delivers the highest performance and the most flexibility in the industry.

What is Aptixia?

• Ixia's innovative IP Performance Test Application framework. Aptixia is a family of Test Applications that have the deepest functionality and best automation capability in the industry.
  • IxLoad
  • IxNetwork
  • IxAutomate

What does Ixia provide for video testing?

Ixia's IxLoad tests the performance of video servers, multicast routers, and the video delivery network. This is accomplished by emulating video servers and millions of video subscribers in Video on Demand and Broadcast Video scenarios. Protocols supported include MPEG, IGMP and RTSP.

Ixia's IxChariot tests the video transport network. This is accomplished by emulating video traffic, and measuring end-to-end video quality. Measurements include throughput, latency, jitter, and Media Delivery Index (MDI).

What does Ixia provide for voice testing?

Ixia's IxVoice tests the functionality of VoIP and PSTN devices and services. This is accomplished by emulating end devices and servers. Testing areas supported include SIP, SCCP (Skinny), H.323, MGCP, H.248 (MEGACO), as well as TDM and analog telephony services.

Ixia's IxLoad tests the performance of SIP devices and infrastructure. This is accomplished by emulating thousands of SIP callers and callees in performance testing scenarios.

Ixia's IxChariot tests the voice transport network. This is accomplished by emulating voice traffic, and measuring end-to-end voice quality. Measurements include throughput, latency, jitter, and Mean Opinion Score (MOS).

What does Ixia provide for content aware testing?

Ixia's IxLoad tests the performance of content-aware networks and devices including Server Load Balancers (SLB), Firewalls, Web Servers, and Mail Servers. This is accomplished by emulating millions of clients and a variety of servers in realistic performance testing scenarios. Protocols supported include TCP, HTTP, SSL, FTP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, RTP, RTSP, Telnet, DNS, LDAP, DHCP, SIP, MPEG, and IGMP, as well as Distributed Denial Of Service (DDoS) attacks.

What does Ixia provide for Layer 4-7 security testing?

Ixia's IxLoad tests the performance of L4-7 security devices, including Firewalls, SSL Gateways, Virus Scanners, Spam Filters, and Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS). This is accomplished by emulating clients and servers, several L4-7 protocols, as well as Distributed Denial Of Service (DDoS) attacks. Key capabilities include the ability to mix valid user traffic with malicious traffic, and attaching viruses to emails.

What does Ixia provide for application testing?

Ixia's IxVerify tests the performance of enterprise applications. This is accomplished by emulating a large number of real users accessing applications. Technologies supported include JavaScript, XML, Java, Document Object Model (DOM), and databases (Oracle, SQL, Access).

What does Ixia provide for router testing?

Ixia's IxNetwork tests core/edge/customer routers and Layer 3 switches. This is accomplished by running large scale protocol emulations and generating high traffic load to verify performance. Protocols supported include IGPs (OSPF, IS-IS, RIP), BGP, MPLS (including L2/3 VPNs), and IP Multicast.

Ixia's IxAutomate tests IP routing devices and systems in an automated fashion. A set of predefined test suites is used to execute control and data plane performance and functionality testing. Tests include route capacity, route convergence, session scalability, tunnel scalability, and data plane performance.

What does Ixia provide for Layer 2-3 security testing?

Ixia's IxVPN tests IPSec VPN gateways and systems. This is accomplished by establishing and authenticating IPSec tunnels, then generating traffic load over the tunnels to verify performance. Site-to-site and remote access VPN testing is supported, as well as DES, 3DES, and AES encryption.

Ixia's IxAuthenticate tests devices supporting 802.1x authentication. This is accomplished by high scalable emulation of 802.1x clients (supplicants). Authentication modes supported include MD5, TLS, TTLS, and PEAP.

What does Ixia provide for switch testing?

Ixia's IxNetwork tests Layer 2/3 switches and forwarding devices. This is accomplished by generating traffic load across a mesh of interfaces, and then measuring results down to a per flow basis. Protocols supported include Spanning Tree, multicast, and IP routing.

Ixia's IxAutomate tests Layer 2/3 switches in an automated fashion. A set of predefined test suites is used to execute performance and functionality tests. Tests include data plane performance, QoS functionality, address cache tests, error filtering, and VLAN functionality.

Ixia's IxExplorer tests Layer 2/3 switches and forwarding devices. This is accomplished by generating traffic load with very granular control of packet parameters and detailed results analysis. Measurements include throughput, latency, inter-arrival time, data integrity, and sequence checking.

What does Ixia provide for wireless testing?

Ixia's IxWLAN tests 802.11 access points and wireless switches. This is accomplished by emulating wireless clients, and then generating traffic through those clients with other Ixia applications. Comprehensive security and authentication support includes WEP, WPA, 802.11i, and 802.1x.

Ixia's IxChariot tests the wireless transport network. This is accomplished by emulating application traffic - whether data, voice, or video - and measuring end-to-end performance and quality. Measurements include throughput, latency, jitter, Mean Opinion Score (MOS), and Media Delivery Index (MDI).

What does Ixia provide for broadband testing?

Ixia's IxAccess tests broadband aggregation devices including B-RAS, DSLAMs, CMTSs, and edge routers. This is accomplished by emulating millions of broadband clients and generating traffic load over those connections. Protocol support includes PPPoE, PPPoA, L2TPv2, and L2TPv3.

Ixia's IxChariot tests the broadband access transport network. This is accomplished by emulating application traffic - whether data, voice, or video - and measuring end-to-end performance and quality. Measurements include throughput, latency, jitter, Mean Opinion Score (MOS), and Media Delivery Index (MDI)

What does Ixia provide for automated testing?

Ixia's IxAutomate provides a complete automation environment for testing Layer 2/3 routers, switches, and similar devices. A set of predefined test suites is provided to execute performance and functionality tests. Multiple tests, whether predefined or custom developed, can be scheduled for execution together with configuration of the device under test.

Ixia's Tcl Automation Environment provides a comprehensive set of tools and APIs for automating testing with Ixia hardware and software applications. Custom test libraries covering all of a customer's Layer 2-7 testing requirements can be created in a single automation environment.

Ixia's ScriptGen is a tool that automatically generates Tcl script code from Ixia testing system configurations. This greatly speeds the development of automation code and helps train new users in the Ixia Tcl API.