Systems and methods for testing WAAS performance for virtual desktop applications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9436490-B2
Application number	US-201414153966-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 13, 2014
Priority date	Jan 13, 2014
Publication date	Sep 6, 2016
Grant date	Sep 6, 2016

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for simulating performance of a wide area application service (WAAS) comprises receiving network traffic statistics and properties associated with operation of a first network comprising a first number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines. The method may also comprise establishing a second virtual network comprising a second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines, the second number being greater than the first number. The method may also comprise simulating performance of the second virtual network based on the network traffic properties associated with operation of the first virtual network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for evaluating performance of a wide area application service (WAAS), the method comprising:
receiving network traffic statistics and properties associated with a first set of traffic flow within a first network comprising a first number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines connected therebetween through a wide area application service;
establishing a second set of traffic flow associated with a second network, wherein the second set of traffic flow has a traffic volume associated with a second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines connected therebetween through the wide area application service, wherein the second number is greater than the first number;
translating the first set of traffic flow into the second set of traffic flow by scaling, based on differences of the first and second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines;
adjusting the second set of traffic flow associated with the second network so that the network traffic statistics and properties associated with the second set of traffic flow matches the network traffic statistics and properties associated with the first set of traffic flow; and
testing performance of the wide area application service with the adjusted second set of traffic flow.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first number of virtual client machines of the first network comprises a virtual desktop network.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first set of traffic flow and the second set of traffic flow includes a login virtual session indexer (VSI) traffic pattern.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring one or more policies associated with the wide area application service based on the second set of traffic flow.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein establishing the second set of traffic flow associated with the second network includes retrieving one or more meta packets associated with the first set of traffic flow and using the one or more meta packets to generate the second set of traffic flow, wherein the second set of traffic flow includes production traffic having a volume sized based on a desired test size of the second network.

6. A computer-implemented method for setting up a test environment, wherein the test environment is used for optimizing performance of a wide area application service (WAAS), the method comprising:
establishing a first number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines to transmit data communication through a wide area application service;
collecting a first set of network performance statistics and traffic properties associated with the data communication through the wide area application service between the first number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines;
establishing a second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines to transmit second data communication through the wide area application service, the second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines, collectively, forming a test environment for the wide area application service;
generating, based on the collected first set of performance statistics and traffic properties, production packets to account for differences in scale of the first and second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines for transmission between the second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines through the wide area application service;
storing, at a database accessible to a second number of virtual client machines, the generated production packets;
cause the transmission of the generated production packets between the second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines through the wide area application service;
collecting a second set of network performance statistics and traffic properties associated with transmission of the generated production packets between the second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines through the wide area application service;
comparing the second set of network performance statistics and traffic properties with the first set of network performance statistics and traffic properties; and
in response to the comparison, generating subsequent production packets for transmission between the second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines through the same wide area application service until the second set of network performance statistics and traffic properties matches the first set of network performance statistics and traffic properties.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the transmission of the generated production packets between the second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines through the wide area application service includes a login virtual session indexer (VSI) traffic pattern.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein volume of the data communication associated with the second set of network performance statistics and traffic properties is larger than volume of the data communication associated with the first set of network performance statistics and traffic properties.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising establishing WAAS optimization parameters using the generated production packets.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein establishing the WAAS optimization parameters includes establishing parameters selected from the group consisting of transport flow optimization, buffering, compression, and application-specific acceleration.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the subsequent production packets for transmission between the second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines through the same wide area application service includes using meta packets associated with the data communication between the first number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines.

12. A system for setting up a test environment for testing a wide area application service (WAAS), the system comprising:
a database for receiving and storing network traffic statistics and properties associated with a first set of traffic flow within a first network comprising a first number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines connected therebetween through a wide area application service; and
a processor, communicatively coupled to the database and configured to:
establish a second set of traffic flow associated with a second virtual network, wherein the second set of traffic flow has a traffic volume associated with a second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines connected therebetween through the wide area application service, wherein the second number is greater than the first number;
translate the first set of traffic flow into the second set of traffic flow by scaling, based on differences of the first and second number of virtual client machines and corresponding virtual server machines; and
adjust the second set of traffic flow associated with the second virtual network so that the network traffic statistics and properties associated with the second set of traffic flow matches the network traffic statistics and properties associated with the first set of traffic flow.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first network comprises a virtual desktop network.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein each of the first set of t

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Lin Hongping
• Caredio Elisa
• Lucas Solomon Thiruvarutselvan

Classifications

• G06F2201/815

  Virtual · CPC title

• G06F11/3457

  Performance evaluation by simulation · CPC title

• H04L43/50

  Testing arrangements · CPC title

• G06F11/3414

  Workload generation, e.g. scripts, playback · CPC title

• H04L41/5038

  Electricity · mapped topic