Connection analyse tools
-
This is not really a pfSense related question, but since I am sure there is plenty of network gurus around here, hopefully some of you can help me.
I have finished my pfSense installation, and all I can say is that it rocks. It is working even BETTER than what I was expecting, so I am already thinking on how to make it work smoother. Right now I have 3 internet connections, and I am running pfSense on a VMWARE machine with 4 virtual adapters (only one physical adapter). I use multiwan depending on a given set of rules (mainly the destination ports, so I can route traffic to the connection I want). I also use failover queues, so when one of the connections is down, the traffic that should be going out on that connection will go on another one.
All in all, this is working great so far, but I would like to try and m ove this setup to a physical machine to try and see if there are any improvements (this is a lan gaming center, so ping/latency is VERY important over here). If moving to a physical machine will make ping times go down just 1ms, it won't be worth it, but if there is a bigger difference, I would probably do it.
So, I would like to ask for advise on what network tools to use for analysis. I have never had to do precise tests like I would want to do now, so things like pinging, or using a gamer program like HLSW (or the now defunt All Seeing Eye) to see the ping times on a given server have been good for me, but I would like something to run unattended for hours on different setups/connections, so I can later have some numbers to compare over a period of x hours.
Like, I can have a program pinging several addresses over 24 hours, and using our 3 connections (or the program running on 3 computers, each one using a different connection). I could also do the tests using pfSense on VM first, using pfSense on a physical computer, and then do them direct on the internet connections, so I could actually have some info to compare. Right now all the tests I do and have done are manual tests, so it is not really scientific data I can base my decissions about or that I can share with others.
Thanks!
-
I think this might interrest you.
http://oss.oetiker.ch/smokeping/ -
LOL, from the makers of MRTG, I should have remembered that one…!!
Thanks! :D
