Methods, systems, and computer readable media for emulating network traffic patterns on a virtual machine

• US 10,341,215 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2016
• Issued: 07/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Keysight Technologies Singapore (Holdings) Pte. Limited. (Keysight Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Keysight Technologies Singapore (Holdings) Pte. Limited. (Keysight Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramanath, Avinash, Lvov, Sergey, Puchiu, Gheorghe Mihai
• Primary Examiner(s): Tiv, Backhean
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Linh T
• Application Number:
  US15/092,575
• Publication Number:
  US 20170295084A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,182 Days
• Field of Search: 709223, 709224, 709218, 709205, 709220, 709227, 370252, 370389, 370253, 703 23, 703135, 703134, 718 1, 717124, 717135, 717134
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/20 the monitoring system or the monitored elements being virtualised, abstracted or software-defined entities, e.g. SDN or NFV
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 Testing arrangements

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for emulating network traffic patterns on a virtual machine are disclosed. In one example, the method includes generating a user specification based on a plurality of network traffic patterns and computer processing usage patterns and receiving, at a virtual machine hosted by a DUT, the user specification containing the plurality of network traffic patterns and computer processing usage patterns. The method further includes generating a plurality of network traffic sequences based on the plurality of network traffic patterns and a plurality of computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences based on the plurality of computer processing usage patterns. The method also includes distributing each of the plurality of network traffic sequences among a plurality of virtual network interface cards (VNICs) and distributing each of the plurality of computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences among a plurality of virtual processing cores in the virtual machine.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating a user specification based on a plurality of network traffic patterns including a plurality of network traffic activities and computer processing usage patterns including a plurality of computer processing usage activities;

tagging each of the network traffic activities and the computer processing usage activities with an activity pairing identifier and a related time line data value;

receiving, at a virtual machine hosted by a device under test (DUT), the user specification containing the plurality of network traffic patterns and computer processing usage patterns;

generating a plurality of network traffic sequences based on the plurality of network traffic patterns and a plurality of computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences based on the plurality of computer processing usage patterns;

distributing each of the plurality of network traffic sequences among a plurality of virtual network interface cards (VNICs) and distributing each of the plurality of computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences among a plurality of virtual processing cores in the virtual machine;

emulating an operation of one or more applications on the virtual machine by executing the plurality of network traffic sequences and the computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences; and

synchronizing the execution of the plurality of network traffic sequences by the plurality VNICs with the execution of the computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences by the plurality of virtual processing cores in the virtual machine by exchanging synchronization messages containing the activity pairing identifiers and the related time line data values over a communication channel existing within the virtual machine.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of network traffic patterns comprises network traffic activity associated with an execution of simulated user actions associated with the one or more applications.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising emulating the operation of the one or more applications on the virtual machine by executing the usage pattern instruction sequences on the one or more virtual processing cores in a manner specified by execution parameters included in the computer processing usage patterns.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of network traffic patterns and a plurality of computer processing usage patterns are generated by a user.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising measuring a performance level of i) each of one or more virtual processing cores, ii) file input/output access, or iii) memory usage emulating an operation of an application.

6. A system for emulating computer processing usage patterns on a virtual machine, the system comprising:

a processing activity emulation machine configured to generate a user specification based on at least a plurality of network traffic patterns including a plurality of network traffic activities and computer processing usage patterns including a plurality of computer processing usage activities and to tag each of the network traffic activities and the computer processing usage activities with an activity pairing identifier and a related time line data value, wherein the processing activity emulation machine includes a first processor and a first memory;

a device under test (DUT) that includes a second processor and a second memory that is configured to host one or more virtual machines configured to receive the user specification containing the plurality of network traffic patterns and computer processing usage patterns, wherein each of the one or more virtual machines when executed by the second processor is configured to;

receive the user specification containing the plurality of network traffic patterns and computer processing usage patterns;

generate a plurality of network traffic sequences based on the plurality of network traffic patterns and a plurality of computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences based on the plurality of computer processing usage patterns;

distribute each of the plurality of network traffic sequences among a plurality of virtual network interface cards (VNICs) and distributing each of the plurality of computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences among a plurality of virtual processing cores in the one or more virtual machines;

emulate an operation of one or more applications on the one or more virtual machines by executing the plurality of network traffic sequences and the computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences; and

synchronize the execution of the plurality of network traffic sequences by the plurality VNICs with the execution of the computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences by the plurality of virtual processing cores in the one or more virtual machines by exchanging synchronization messages containing the activity pairing identifiers and the related time line data values over a communication channel existing within the virtual machine.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein each of the plurality of network traffic patterns comprises network traffic activity associated with an execution of simulated user actions associated with the one or more applications.

8. The system of claim 7 further wherein the virtual machine is configured to emulate the operation of the one or more applications by executing the usage pattern instruction sequences on the one or more virtual processing cores in a manner specified by execution parameters included in the computer processing usage patterns.

9. The system of claim 6 wherein the plurality of network traffic patterns and a plurality of computer processing usage patterns are generated by a user.

10. The system of claim 6 wherein the processing activity emulator is further configured to measure a performance level of i) each of one or more virtual processing cores, ii) file input/output access, or iii) memory usage emulating an operation of an application.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer cause the computer to perform steps comprising:

generating a user specification based on a plurality of network traffic patterns including a plurality of network traffic activities and computer processing usage patterns including a plurality of computer processing usage activities;

tagging each of the network traffic activities and the computer processing usage activities with an activity pairing identifier and a related time line data value;

receiving, at a virtual machine hosted by a device under test (DUT), the user specification containing the plurality of network traffic patterns and computer processing usage patterns;

generating a plurality of network traffic sequences based on the plurality of network traffic patterns and a plurality of computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences based on the plurality of computer processing usage patterns; and

distributing each of the plurality of network traffic sequences among a plurality of virtual network interface cards (VNICs) and distributing each of the plurality of computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences among a plurality of virtual processing cores in the virtual machine;

emulating an operation of one or more applications on the virtual machine by executing the plurality of network traffic sequences and the computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences; and

synchronizing the execution of the plurality of network traffic sequences by the plurality VNICs with the execution of the computer processing usage pattern instruction sequences by the plurality of virtual processing cores in the virtual machine by exchanging synchronization messages containing the activity pairing identifiers and the related time line data values over a communication channel existing within the virtual machine.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11 wherein each of the plurality of network traffic patterns comprises network traffic activity associated with an execution of simulated user actions associated with the one or more applications.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 12 further comprising emulating the operation of the one or more applications on the virtual machine by executing the usage pattern instruction sequences on the one or more virtual processing cores in a manner specified by execution parameters included in the computer processing usage patterns.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 11 wherein the plurality of network traffic patterns and a plurality of computer processing usage patterns are generated by a user.