SimpleAgentPro® Cable Modem Simulator
SimpleAgentPro® is a Cable Modem Simulator that simulates an
entire network made up of thousands of SNMP
manageable CMTS, CMs, and MTAs. Using this tool, one can develop,
test and demonstrate Provisioning Servers, DHCP Servers, and
Management applications without requiring stacks of expensive
and bulky hardware. Simulated devices can make DHCP requests,
get provisioned using TFTP to download configuration files,
make ToD requests, and respond to SNMP
queries (v1,v2c, v3, Diffie-Hellman.)
Enterprise Level simulation, made up of thousands
of devices, can be distributed over multiple servers and still be
controlled from a single user interface.
Cable Operators/MSOs can ensure that their
provisioning and management infrastructure is ready for large
scale deployment of new DOCSIS standards before
the actual roll out of new services. The Cable Simulation Wizard
supports many typical configurations and assists in setting up
large scale simulations with just a few mouse clicks. Each simulated
cable device supports its own MIBs, data, and IP Address and has
built-in support for dynamic values. The use of Tcl based scripting
makes its highly versatile in simulating advanced agent behavior
and trap generation.
Applications:
- Pre-Deployment Testing
can be easily carried out to ensure that provisioning and management
applications can scale up to manage the large scale deployment of
new technology, prior to the actual roll out. Thousands of CMs
and MTAs can be quickly simulated to generate real provisioning
requests as well as responses to performance and fault management
queries.
- Post Deployment Testing
of management applications can be carried out by simulating disaster
recovery scenarios from simple trap strorms to regional power failures
and the subsequent simultaneous recovery of a large number of devices.
Error scenarios can be scripted to check the effectiveness of the
recovery procedures in place to ensure high reliability of service.
- Training
groups can give animated, mobile demos of different networking
scenarios by using scripts to generate traps, change interface
status, create error conditions and even make the agents stop
responding to SNMP requests. Costly hardware, installation and
setup can be eliminated, and initial network environment can be
easily restored.
- Management Application Vendors
can develop applications even when the agent is incomplete or
absent. The MIB definition file alone is enough to instantly
simulate a device. These applications can be tested for
scalability without requiring large inventories in the lab.
Even large networks with thousands of devices can be quickly
simulated without a large budget.
- Sales
organizations can give demonstrations of management applications
at customer premises or trade shows without having to carry bulky
equipment and spending hours configuring it. Hundreds of different
devices can be simulated on the management station itself or on
portable notebooks.
The SimpleAgentPro is available on a variety of platforms (SUN
Solaris, Redhat Linux, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT), from
high end workstations to laptop PCs. It can even run on the
same machine that runs your management application, to create a
self-contained development and demonstration environment. The
device simulation files are ASCII files and can be
shared by everyone in the organization. Support for learning traps
and syslog events, and replaying them to re-create error scenarios
or trap storms is part of the product as are pre-learned devices
from Cisco, Motorola and Thomson/RCA.
Features:
- Supports protocols like SNMPv1, v2c, v3, DHCP, TFTP, ToD, FTP, Telnet/CLI, & Diffie-Hellman.
- Provides support for CM and MTA initialization message flows as per
the PacketCable specifications.
- Cable Modem Simulation Wizard assists in setting up large scale simulations of typical network configurations.
- Controls the value returned for each variable. Built-in dynamism with value types like randomUp, clock, sequential, lastset and utilization.
- Generates any SNMP trap or changes MIB data via Tcl scripts that get executed based on timers, user requests or within pdu processing.
- Supports dynamic row creation via RowStatus, EntryStatus and new instance methods.
- Provides the capability to learn traps from devices and re-transmit them to multiple trap managers.
- Uses Tcl based scripting to better model agent behavior and interrelationships between MIB variables.
- Exposes APIs for user defined integration.
- Provides all the capabilities via command line interface.
- Includes MIB Browser.
- Utilities available to manage distributed execution for large scale simulations.
- Keeps a log of SNMP requests in debug mode.
- Displays device vendor information in graphical thumb-nail view.
- Allows users to add their own devices to the device library.
- Simulates over 5000+ devices on one server.
Benefits:
- Pre-Rollout: Realistic estimation of the
capabilities of provisioning and management services prior to
large scale deployment of new technology and services.
- Disaster Simulation: Ensure high reliability
of services by testing ability to recover from simulated disaster
scenarios in the lab. Train personnel to troubleshoot and fix
problems by re-creating error scenarios.
- Dev/Test and Demo: Perform development,
testing and demonstration of management applications without
requiring access to thousands of real devices in the lab or at
customer sites.
System Requirements:
SimpleAgentPro can run on:
- SUN Solaris (2.6 or higher)
- Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP.
- Linux (Redhat 7.2 or higher).
Current Users Include:
Cisco, Mototola, HP, 3Com, Arris, Com21, Alopa, AT&T, Nortel,
and Alcatel.
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