IPerf2

Designed for network administrators and security experts, IPerf2 is a console-based software utility that works as a performance measurement tool with support for both the TCP and the UDP protocols. The application provides ways to measure network bandwidth and speed with concern to both latency and throughput, relying on a multithreaded engine that ensures prompt responses and quick processing of all the requests.

As mentioned before, there is no standard GUI available, but that should not pose any issues to the application’s target users, who usually have a background experience with the Windows command line.

There are three command sets available in IPerf2: client/server commands, server-specific commands and client-specific commands. You can explore them all and read all about their functions using the “--help” command. Keep in mind that you must establish both a server to receive traffic and a client to send data for any test to take place, either on different hosts or on the same one.

IPerf2 can provide detailed reports concerning the TCP or UDP transfers and traffic-related information. You get to control the port number or listen or connect to, configure the time interval between periodic reports related to bandwidth, and choose the measurement format or the buffer size.

There are also TCP-specific commands that allow you to set the maximum segment size, choose the socket IP TOS field or toggle no delay options by disabling Nagle’s algorithm in TCP data transfers.

When running in server mode, IPerf2 allows you to choose the port to listen and connect to and configure a series of parameters such as the timeout for a permit key, the TCP receive window clamp size, the time interval between new listening sessions, and so on. IPerf2 can enable latency histograms with TCP or UDP transfers. By default, IPerf2 runs using a multithreaded configuration, but you can activate a single-threaded mode to run your tests.

The client is the state that generates traffic by sending data to the server. IPerf2 allows unidirectional and bidirectional traffic, as well as full-duplex and multiple data streams. Multicast and SSM joins are supported.

IPerf2 is a powerful tool in the right hands. It can measure TCP and UDP performance, both related to latency and throughput, based on the simulation of data traffic via network sockets. There are plenty of commands for users to experiment with and lots of client-server examples available to see how everything works.