For those who test and monitor networks, measuring end-to-end performance has always been critical. With the development and rollout of faster and more complex 5G networks, however, the capacity to segment, monitor and isolate various domains has become an equally important aspect of network visibility.
Spirent says its new VisionWorks 400G 7574 Test Head is an industry first for next-generation network testing and monitoring. Source: Spirent Communications plcGreater visibility means faster troubleshooting and better mean time to repair (MTTR) response — and that’s what automated test and assurance solutions provider Spirent Communications has in mind for a new 400G probe it calls an industry first for next-generation network testing and monitoring.
As the company explains in a recent blog post, both telecom service providers and large cloud providers employing hyperscale data centers have made great progress in preparing for a shift to 400G transport. But organizations looking at line-rate 400 Gbps services, high-density mobile backhaul and other new applications are running into gaps in their testing capabilities.
Addressing those gaps is the mission of the new VisionWorks 400G 7574 Test Head series, part of Spirent’s VisionWorks platform. With support for service activations, performance monitoring and trouble resolution, the 7574 boasts several impressive capabilities:
Flexibility and scale: The 7574 can run multiple tests simultaneously, with support for 400G line-rate test, four simultaneous 100G tests or up to 30 simultaneous active or passive tests. For those moving incrementally to 400G, the 7574 also supports multi-rate services: Users can configure ports for 100G, 200G or 400G as their networks evolve.
360° visibility: The 7574 provides both active and passive testing. A full library of standards-based active tests (including MEF48, Y.1564, RFC6349 and others) can be used to emulate customer traffic for service activations and 24x7 performance monitoring. If an issue or degradation is detected, the 7574 provides passive testing and data capture to isolate and resolve the problem.
Fan-out to multiple endpoints: The 7574 can conduct 24x7 performance monitoring of up to 120,000 endpoints and millions of streams from a central location, enabling support for larger networks and more customers with less equipment. Spirent calls this a particularly capable and cost-effective solution for telecom operators embarking on 5G cell site densification.
Spirent has aimed the 7574 series squarely at end customers needing speeds higher than 100G, crossing the boundary from activation and deployment testing in the lab to deployment in live networks. For a data sheet on the 7574, click here.
