Table Of Contents

The last several years has seen a sharp increase in the number of products and options for products that utilize an Ethernet connection as a method for connecting multiple end-points in a functioning system. If the data flowing between these end-points is disrupted, the voice and/or performance becomes less than acceptable for mission critical applications. Usually the biggest hindrance to deploying any IP-based telephony/radio dispatch system is knowing the condition of the IP network that will carry the voice traffic. All too often the network is thought to be ready for deployment only to find out otherwise during installation.

Zetron^® ZNet Tester is a software based network assessment tool that helps the user qualify the condition of their network and determine if there are areas of performance that might need to be improved prior to product installation.

NOTE Networks are ever-changing and as such this tool is not a guarantee that the network will not pose any problems to passing the necessary voice traffic with certain quality. This tool is intended to help point out any gross anomalies in the network that may become an issue later. Networks used for any of Zetron's IP-based products must meet the minimum network requirements outlined in the product spec sheet.

NOTE This tool is not for use in measuring and testing networks that span the Internet or use a VPN connection over the Internet. The network reliability is very unpredictable and the latency with such a connection is typically too high for the range this tool is intended to measure.

The ZNet Tester software package from Zetron combines the functionality of several network analysis tools that are available as freeware over the Internet. Zetron^® ZNet Tester combines this functionality in a single, easy to use package that can be removed from the system when you are finished using it with one simple step.

ZNet Tester supports running a Z-Burst or a Quick test to check network link connectivity as well as performing tests multiple times over a period of several days. The data are logged in order to develop an accurate picture of network resources balanced against various levels of system traffic loading.

The ZNet Tester package is for use on PCs running one of the Microsoft Windows^® operating systems such as Windows 2000 and up; preferably Windows XP Professional or Windows 2003.

Zetron specializes in mission critical communications. As such, when Zetron IP-based products are used in mission critical applications (e.g. where voice loss is to be avoided) the associated IP network should be dedicated to the Zetron product, and not shared with other IP-based applications. This is because the risk of impaired operation significantly increases when non mission critical traffic might conflict with mission critical traffic.

There are situations where Zetron products are used in non mission critical applications (where life and property are not at risk). In those situations, it may be feasible for an IP network to be shared between Zetron products and other IP devices or services.

The purpose of ZNet-Tester is to help evaluate a shared IP network to see if it can support reasonable performance of a Zetron IP-based product.

ZNet-Tester should be used only by qualified IT professionals. This is because the preparation of the test host PCs is fairly involved, and because the parameters of the test, if not properly selected, can have a detrimental effect on the network while running. And because if network improvements are needed, the IT professional will know how to make those improvements.

The network performance measured by ZNet-Tester is valid for the times during which it runs. If the test is run frequently enough and for a long enough duration during a time of typical and peak network loading, the measurements can be assumed to be valid for at least the near future of the network (See note below). The more frequently the test is run, and the longer the duration, the greater the chances are of obtaining valid information. However, if the test is run too frequently, it can degrade the network being measured. Therefore the user may find it helpful to start out with infrequent and short duration tests and increase the frequency and duration of the tests gradually. Ideally the tests would be repeated no less than every 15 minutes for a least one week (preferably one month).

Prior to the running tests the user specifies the bandwidth that the test will attempt to consume during operation. To help avoid degrading the network during the test, this too should be gradually increased until the selected bandwidth matches the requirements of the Zetron product.

At the completion of the tests, the user will be armed with data about the network's delay, jitter and packet loss. This information can be compared against the network performance requirements of the Zetron product to be deployed (these values may be found on the product spec sheet posted on the Zetron web site). If the values are within the limits of the product, your network is probably ready to have the Zetron product installed (See note below). However, if any of the values are outside the limits, this is an indication that improvements need to be made to the network. The decision on how to make those improvements is best left to the IT professional; Zetron is unable to make improvement recommendations in most cases. If you choose to deploy Zetron products despite exceeding the value limits, Zetron will be able to supply little if any support.

NOTE Test results from ZNet-Tester that are within the limits of the Zetron product to be deployed are no guarantee that the Zetron product will always work satisfactorily on your network. This is because the ZNet-Tester measurements are only from a snap-shot in time, and may not have been made under the worst case situations that could occur during actual operation of Zetron products. The only way to guarantee proper network performance is to deploy a network designed to the product requirements, and dedicated entirely to the Zetron product.

ZNet Tester must be run on dedicated computers. The following list defines the minimum recommended requirements for the machines.

• 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 2.66 GHz or faster, with Hyper-Threading or Dual-Core technology
• 512 MB of system memory and up
• 100 Mbps network interface card
• Display screen resolution 1024x768 or above
• Full installation of Windows system (including Internet Explorer 6 SP1 or up)
• Windows Script engine 5.6.

For real time charting features, fast processor and large memory are desired. See more information in Using Chart section.

When installed on the target PC, ZNet Tester will consume less than 5 MB of disk space. As ZNet Tester is used, it will create data and log files which will increase the amount of hard disk space consumed.

ZNet Tester integrates with and relies on a set of Windows built-in commands and freeware utilities to accomplish the automation tasks that many engineers used to perform manually.

NOTE In order to launch process on a remote host, the tool PsExec is used to utilize Windows Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service for communication across machine boundaries. Due to restricted distribution licensing (see here), PsExec may not exist when ZNet Tester is running. If ZNet Tester is started and it cannot find psExec.exe in its root dirrectory, it will prompt you to obtain a copy of the executable. At that point, the program will attempt to run using either one of the alternative executables, RemoteExec.exe or BeyondExec.exe, which are distributed with ZNet Tester.

The file name psExec.exe refers to an executable used by ZNet Tester to establish communication with the Remote PC. For reasons related to licensing, this file cannot be distributed on the same CD as the ZNet Tester utility. While ZNet Tester will run without this file being present (two possible alternate utilities are provided along with ZNet Tester), this file is preferred both because of its performance and because it is being maintained by Microsoft and will continue to work with Windows-based machines (such as those running Vista) into the future. The following procedure outlines how to go about obtaining a copy of this file.

1. Start your browser and open the web site: http://technet.microsoft.com/sysinternals
2. On the page that opens, click on the link for Process Utilities or Miscellaneous Utilities.
3. On the list of utilities that opens, click on the link for PsExec or PsTools.
4. On the page that opens, in the upper right corner, click on the link for Download PsTools Suite.
   Alternatively, you can search "PsTools" at http://download.microsoft.com, or use this download location - http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/PsTools.zip
5. Save the downloaded ZIP file for PsTools into an empty folder on your hard drive.
6. Using the tool you normally use, unzip the PsTools ZIP file (which can be opened as a folder in Windows XP or Windows 2003).
7. From the list of executable files generated by unzipping the PsTools file, locate the file labeled PsExec.exe and copy it into the folder C:\ZNet_Tester on the Control Host PC. (Completing this step may have to wait until you have actually installed the ZNet Tester on the Control Host PC.)

Remote Process and Windows® Authentication

A number of the tests performed by ZNet Tester require two PCs working together in order to complete the test. There is a "Control host" PC (the one running ZNet Tester) and there is a "Remote host" PC (which responds to the packets sent out by ZNet Tester, no client software is necessary).

In order to be able to run this sort of testing without having to install client software on the Remote host machine, both the Control host and the Remote host machines must meet certain requirements. You can do these settings checks before or after installing ZNet Tester on the machine that will be acting as the Control host PC.

• Control and Remote hosts do not need to be running on the same operating system,
  but require the machines on Windows 2000 (with Service Pack 5), XP Professional, Server 2003, or Vista (with special settings).
• Both Server and Workstation services are running (to check using services.msc)
• The Admin$ share is available on Remote computer (to check using Computer Management, compmgmt.msc)
• The Windows Network is running and Printer and File Sharing are activated
  (enable the feature but no need to actually share anything new other than built-in Admin$ and IPC$ shares during the test).
• On Windows Vista
  1. Turn off UAC - User Account Control.
  2. Open registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system,
     create or set LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to REG_DWORD:00000001
  3. Enable Network Discovery and Public Folder Sharing
• Set incomming network users authenticate as themselves. To achieve this:
  1. Turn off Simple File Sharing and thus turn on classical file sharing like on Windows 2000.
  2. Open Control Panel=>Administrative Tools =>Local Security Settings=>Local Policies =>Security Options,
     scroll down to "Network Access: Sharing and security model for local accounts",
     and set this to "Classic - Local users authenticate as themselves";
     also need to run gpupdate /force from a command prompt.
  NOTE: Classical Network Authentication requires a non-empty password.
• For running a remote process in your network or domain, a valid security context with admin privileges granted must exist on Remote. The context includes domain (or host name), user name, and password. Usually this account has been added in local admin group on Remote computer.
• TPing Test (which uses tping.exe) requires Control host logged on with administrative privilege.
• Disable firewall or enable following firewall settings:
  • open TCP port 445 (for SMB)
  • open both TCP and UDP port 135 (for RPC),
  • open both TCP and UDP port 5001 (or the one defined in configuration, for iPerf)
  • add programs iperf.exe and psExec.exe (and/or remoteExec.exe)
  • allow traffic between Control and Remote endpoints for the test path.

ZNet Tester is running MSHTA with Windows Script Engine. In order to run the program smoothly, please check with IT and confirm the following settings on Control host:

• Logon into Control host with administrative privilege.
• Enable and start WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) service.
• Microsoft Script Engine 5.6 or above is installed and enabled. (The Script engine version can be checked from the command prompt using the command cscript.exe.)
• Enable Allow active content to run in files on My Computer in Internet Explorer under Advanced Security options.
• The Disable scripting debugger settings are enabled in Internet Explorer under Advanced options.
• Set HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Styles\MaxScriptStatements
  to REG_DWORD:7FFFFFFF (2147483647).
• Choose a Control host that has Hyper-Threading or Dual-Core technology.
• It is recommended to use dedicated systems as Control and Remote during the test —
  • close any other applications and web pages;
  • minimize the application window (if Control host does not have Hyper-Threading or Dual-Core) during a long period test.
  • turn off task schedules, screen saver, and power scheme;
  • stop any unnecessary services;

ZNet Tester is distributed as a ZIP-file or a folder (such as "ZNetTester") on CD or removable media containing all of the necessary files to run the application.

To install ZNet Tester, simply extract or copy all the files from ZIP file or "ZNetTester" folder to your desktop or a new-created root directory.

To install ZNet Tester

1. Create a folder for ZNet Tester in the root directory of the hard drive of the target PC.
   For example, you could create a folder called:

   	C:\ZNet_Tester

2. Copy the ZNet Tester zip file from the distribution media into the folder created in step 1.
3. Use whichever unzip tool you have on your PC to unzip the ZNet Tester ZIP-file.
4. Copy the previously obtained psExec.exe utility into the same folder into which the ZNet Tester files were placed.

Since there was no installation from the point of view of the PC operating system, you will need to use the Run function on the Start menu in order to start ZNet Tester the first time. Once you do, ZNet Tester will offer to create a desktop shortcut for the program. If you answer this prompt with a Yes, you can use the shortcut in the future to start ZNet Tester.

Using Run to start ZNet Tester

1. Click on the Windows Start button to open the Start window.
2. Click on the Run button to open the Run dialog box.
3. Click on the Browse button and browse to the folder created to hold the ZNet Tester files. In this folder, select the file NetTester.hta.
4. In the Run dialog box the Open field should now contain something like:

   C:\ZNet_Tester\NetTester.hta

5. Click the OK button.
6. Once the ZNet Tester main window is open, you will be prompted to choose whether ZNet Tester should create a desktop shortcut for itself. Click on Yes unless you have a good reason for not wanting a shortcut.

CAUTION Always use the Exit button in the lower right corner of the application form to close the ZNet Tester program. —— ZNet Tester is an HTML application and loaded by MSHTA ("mshta.exe"). If you simply close the window by clicking on the close button in the upper right corner when ZNet Tester is still running the test, the application may remain in the memory. This could prevent you from starting ZNet Tester again until either the process "mshta.exe" is removed from the Task Manager or the computer is restarted.

The entire ZNet Tester application as well as its data and log files can be removed from the PC they were used on by simply deleting the folder containing the ZNet Tester files. Zetron recommends that the application be removed from the PC once the evaluation period is over so as not to inadvertently turn on testing at a later time after the system is installed and operating.

NOTE The test tool iperf.exe is copied to Admin$ share on Remote computer during the test; a remote exec service will be temporarily installed on Remote host and later to be removed after the test. However, the file iperf.exe and the service executable (psExecSrv.exe, RemoteExecSrv.exe, or BeyondExecV2Srv.exe, depends on wihch remote process launcher to use) that have been copied will not be automatically deleted from the remote Admin$ share.

You will need to manually remove the shortcut from the PC desktop.

ZNet Tester defaults to opening on its Help screen. It also has three other screens: Chart, Test Screen, and Profile.

The Chart screen is used to display how the data being generated by the test currently in progress matches up against the thresholds set for the product profile selected before the test was started. In order to draw a chart during the tests, at least one of the traffic types, TCP/IP or UDP checkboxes at the lower left, needs to be chosen.

The Test Screen provides both the test summary/results in progress and statistical data, including average, minimum, and maximum values of delay, jitter, bandwidth, and packet drops, as well as the count of packets/samples, in current tests:

• Test Summary displays the most recently selected test case and test configuration.
• Test Results summarizes the results in format as Avg [min-max] of each network measurement.
• Test Output prints the on-going test results.
• Test Statistics highlights average values of major network measurements for TCP Bandwidth, Packet Loss, Delay, and Jitter.

The Profile screen displays the contents of currently loaded product profile. A simple editor allows you to review and change the parameter settings quickly. After you change the setting, you can save to reload the profile. You can also Save As to a new profile.

The Help screen contains a brief description for each of the parameters displayed in the Test Settings column on the right of the Chart | Test Screen | Profile | Help screens. When your mouse pointer moves to a field under Help or Test Settings, the related setting and help text will be highlighted.

The Test Settings column is used to configure the tests run and to control when testing starts and how long it runs. It includes Shortcut list, Test Case selection, Basic and Advanced settings, and Action Group buttons. See later sections for more detailed description.

ZNet Tester displays rich informational messages on the screen. On the top-left corner, under Zetron logo, there are Control host name and default IP address displayed. On the top-right corner is system clock. On the bottom of the screen, the Status bar displays network function buttons (for TCP/IP, UDP Unicast, and UDP Multicast) and run-time information. Additionally, each button or hightlight area has tooltip text for quick reference.

Opening the Shortcut list reveals the following options:

	Custom
	Quick
	Default
	Checkpoint
	Overnight
	Full week (7-day)
	Complete
	Saved

Selecting one of these options allows you quickly preset the test parameters. Selecting Custom will force all of the individual settings back to the values you last manually entered for each of them during the current session with ZNet Tester. Selecting Saved allows you to recall a previously saved configuration. (ZNet Tester will prompt you to save all of the current settings every time you exit.)

Custom	The Custom test allows you to input values to Customize the testing parameters. The most recently input values will be remembered as long as the application is running. Selecting the Save button at the bottom of the screen enables you to save the values of the modified test. These values will now be stored in the Saved shortcut in the list. The first time ZNet Tester is run the Custom and Saved shortcuts contain the same values.
Quick	The Quick test should be the first test that you run. It is a mini burst for selected test that is only run once, no repetition. It is intended to ensure that the network is correctly passing traffic between the control and remote hosts.
Default	The Default test is considered the average type of test to run. It contains burst settings that are middle range in length and traffic loading. The test is set to last for two days.
Checkpoint	The Checkpoint test is the least intrusive to the network load. It has more gap time between bursts and only lasts for one day.
Overnight	The Overnight test is the most intrusive to the network load. It has heavy burst settings and a high repetition rate. It should be used only during low or non-busy hours of the network.
Full-week	The Full-week test has average parameter settings for gap and bursting and lasts over a period of seven days.
Complete	The Complete test is the same as the Full-week test and lasts over a period of a month.
Saved	The Saved test contains the last values entered for a Custom test that you saved. If you modify one of the pre-defined shortcuts, such as Default, and save it, those values will be considered a Custom test and will now be saved under the Saved shortcut. The other pre-defined shortcuts will still contain the original parameter values and do not change.

Opening the Test Case list reveals the following options:

	TPing Test
	TCP Bandwidth Test
	UDP Stream Test
	UDP Multicast Test
	All Tests

Selecting any of the tests on this list forces ZNet Tester to run just that test. All Tests will run each of individual test for defined duration specified by Burst On parameter except for TCP Bandwidth Test, which always runs only five bursts in All Tests to avoid from too much burden on the network.

The TPing Test performs basic "ping" (ICMP) test between two endpoints and collects one-way delay values (assuming same delay on both directions, the value is calculated as half of round-trip time a.k.a. RTT from ICMP echo message responding); in post-process, jitter can be calculated per RFC 1889 if needed. This test is not for VoIP-like traffic.

Note: TPing runs on Control host only and requires a user logged on with administrative privilege.

The TCP Bandwidth Test collects data of available network bandwidth (in Kbps) by sending TCP packets.

The UDP Stream Test and UDP Multicast Test simulates VoIP traffic (from Remote to Control host) per the settings for the number of channels or calls defined. The UDP tests are used to collect data on the amount of jitter, packet drops, and consumed bandwidth reported by iperf. The UDP Multicast Test is used for VoIP products, such as Zetron VoIP RDS.

The basic settings are required to perform just about any form of network testing.

Control	This field is for the network address of the Control host machine. ZNet Tester determines the IP address for the machine it is running on automatically. Pressing the Local button next to it will toggle the display back and forth between the IP address and the name assigned to the PC.
Remote	This field is for the IP address for the Remote machine, with which ZNet Tester is to try to communicate for TCP bandwidth and UDP testing. This address must be entered manually. This PC must be a Windows machine that can be accessed by the Control Host.
Burst On	The Burst On time is the period within each test cycle that the Control host spends sending packets. A test cycle equals one Burst On period followed by one Burst Off period. Burst On is measured in seconds. The range is from 20 seconds to 99 seconds. If the Test Case of All Tests is being used, then a minimum setting of 30 seconds is required.
Burst Off	The Burst Off time is a delay interval between the end of one Burst On time and the beginning of the next. During this period, no packets are sent. A test cycle equals one Burst On period followed by one Burst Off period. Burst Off is measured in seconds. The range is from 20 seconds to 99 seconds.
Repeats	This parameter specifies just how many back-to-back test cycles are run during each Repetition of the test. The valid range is from 1 to 1200 test cycles. The default setting is 1.
Gap Time	This parameter specifies the idle time between each repetition of the test. In order to avoid having a negative affect on the network being tested, the Gap Time specified should be considerably larger than the Burst Off time. The valid range for this parameter is 1 to 60 in minutes.
Days last	This parameter defines the duration for the complete test. This is the number of days that the test will continue to run if it is not manually terminated. The valid range for this parameter is 0 to 30 days.

Channel	This parameter is important for both the UDP tests and the TCP Bandwidth test. It is used to specify the number of VoIP channels, or calls, that need to be carried. The valid range is from 1 to 128 channels. Each channel is assumed to be 100 Kbps (the channel allocation in Kbps can be altered in the Profile used for the test). Note: Please verify bandwidth availability before set number of channels.
Domain	This field is used to enter a domain or host name for the Domain to which the Control or Remote host PC belongs. This follows the <domain>\<username> format employed by Windows authentication. In a workgroup environment, either (local) or a host name is preferred to enter in this field. For the given host name of Remote or the domain name that Remote belongs to or trusts, the security context (composed by <domain>\<username> and password) must be authenticated by Remote with Admin privilege granted in order to access its Admin$ share and launch a remote process.
Username	This field is used to enter the user name for Windows authentication on the Remote computer. In a corpnet or Windows domain environment (where both Control and Remote hosts are domain-wide computers), this should be a domain account with admin privilege or granted permission on Remote host. If Control computer already logged on by such domain account, password may not be needed. In a workgroup environment, an admin privilege account with identical user name and password is recommended to create on both the Control Host and the Remote computers, for your convenience. Otherwise, the user name and password should match with a local admin account (or a user that has been added in local admin group) on Remote comupter. After all, the security context (user name and password) will be passed to Remote for authentication. Note: Click on the Local button at the right will loop thru current logon user and enabled local accounts. Optionally you should be able to type in any domain name, user name, and password security context that will be authenticated on Remote.
Password	This field is used to enter the password for Windows authentication on the Remote computer. A user name and password may not be necessary if current user's logon security context can be authenticated on Remote automatically.
Time	This field is used to enter the time to start a test at some point in the future. The time is entered using the format YYYY/MM/DD HH:mm. If the test is started manually with the Start button, then this field displays the time the test started.

Z-Burst	The Z-Burst button initiates a single round of simple "ping"-type testing between the Control Host and the Remote PC. Its whole purpose is to verify if basic network protocol communications are possible between the two computers. The actions taken when this button is clicked are the same regardless of basic entries in the Test Settings column. It only pays attention to the authentication (if any) and two IP addresses entered.
Start	The Start button is used to manually start the running of a test. What sort of testing is done and how long the test lasts are entirely determined by the entries in the Test Settings column when the button is pushed.
Stop	The Stop button is used to manually terminate a test.
About	The About button opens the About window for the ZNet Tester Application. Optionally, you can review keyboard shortcuts (hotkeys) or open online manual page.
Test Log	Once a test has been successfully run, clicking on this button will allow you to review the log file created for the most recent test. By default, the Notepad utility will be used to open the log file. If Microsoft Excel® is available on the Control Host, then ZNet Tester will use that instead.
Exit	The Exit button is used to exit the ZNet Tester application. You should always use this button to shut down ZNet Tester. If you attempt to close the application window by simply clicking on the close window button in the upper right corner of the window, it is possible that you might not be able to start the ZNet Tester application again until you restart the Control Host PC.

There are two ways to configure the operation of ZNet Tester. One way is to alter the Test Settings that appear in a column down the right side of the Test Screen window. The second way is to edit settings contained in one of the ".ini" files on Profile screen, or found in the NetTester folder.

There are several files to choose from and they do have different functions so here is a quick overview. Before you run ZNet Tester the first time, you find the following ".ini" files in the folder:

NetTester[%computername%].ini
NetTester_IP Fire Station Alerting.ini
NetTester_Series 3300 E911 Call Taking System.ini
NetTester_VoIP Radio Dispatch System.ini

There is a template file, NetTester.ini, contains the factory default settings and should not be edited. Once you have run the ZNet Tester the first time, you will find a new file named NetTester.[%computername%].ini in the folder. This is the "Default" profile that NeTester will read on startup as long as it is running on this PC and it is the file you need to edit in order to configure the default startup settings on this machine. Use a simple editor on Profile screen, or the Windows® Notepad (or a similar text editor) to open and edit this file. The various parameters in the file are explained by comments in the file.

Note: Please see a full version with detailed description of all configurable parameters in Appendix.

The remaining three files are used to set the product-related threshold levels displayed in the Chart screen of ZNet Tester. Any INI file starts with prefix "NetTester_" is a product profile. When a product profile is selected and loaded in Profile screen, its settings will overwrite the same settings, if there is any, in your machine-wide "Default" profile.

If you wish to create a product profile for a system of your own, open one of these file in Notepad and save it under a new name (the file name must retain the "NetTester_" prefix). Edit the new file as necessary. Once again, the functions or parameters and ranges of the values are explained by comments within the file.

After you reload updated profiles from Product Profile selection list on Profile screen or the next time that you start ZNet Tester, it will read these initialization files and behave appropriately.

The settings in the product profiles can be edited from within ZNet Tester or while ZNet Tester is not running.
To edit a profile, you would use the following procedure:

Editing an existing profile

1. Click on the Profile tab.
2. Use the Select product profile list to select the profile on which you wish to work.
3. Scroll through the text and make your edits.
4. Click on the Save button under the edit window to save your edits.
5. To save to a new profile, click on Save As after you have entered a new profile name in the input box at the right.
   Note: The profile editor will try to match the product name at the top of the profile.

When edits are made from within ZNet Tester in this manner, the edited profile is ready for immediate use.

The product profiles can also be edited outside of ZNet Tester (while ZNet Tester is not running) by using a simple text editor, such as Notepad. Notepad may also be used to create new profiles.

CAUTION Please be careful to only edit value on the right side of the equal sign ('='), but not to change the text on the left side unless it is a comment line (which starts with semicolon ';').

You can only select a product profile while ZNet Tester is idle. The field that allows selection will be disabled while a test is in progress.

Creating a new product profile

1. Open the Notepad application, select Open from the File menu, and browse to the C:\NetTester folder.
2. Select the file NetTester_IP Fire Station Alerting.ini (or any of the NetTester_*.ini files) and open it.
3. From the Notepad - File menu, select the Save As function and save the profile as
       NetTester_IP New Example.ini
   (or could be any name following the NetTester_xxxxx.ini format).
4. Edit the contents of the file as necessary.
   Note: Do not forget to edit the header at the top of the file to reflect the new file name.
5. Save the file one last time and exit Notepad.

When you edit or create a file using an external editor while ZNet Tester is not running, you do not have to take any steps to update the profile list. ZNet Tester will read all of the NetTester_*.ini files it can find on start up. If you create or edit profiles while ZNet Tester is running, you can force ZNet Tester to go out and read all of the .ini files again by selecting the Reload NetTester_*.ini option from the bottom of the profile list. This will load default profile. For currently selected profile, use Reload at the bottom of the Profile

ZNet Tester determines the IP address for the machine it is running on automatically. Pressing the Local button will toggle the display back and forth between the IP address and the name assigned to the PC. If Microsoft NetBIOS (for workgroup environment) or DNS (Domain Name Service) is not available in the network, the IP address is preferred to use.

The IP address for the Remote machine that ZNet Tester is to try to communicate with must be entered manually. If this machine is in a different Domain than the PC running ZNet Tester or a Username and Password are required to access this machine, these parameters can be entered near the bottom of the column under the Advanced settings.

Once the Remote machine is authenticated (which means the remote Admin$ share and Administrator privilege have been granted under current user logon context or the security context provided by domain\username with the password), the IP address will be added to a list for all valid Remote endpoints. Clicking on List... button next to Remote input field should retrieve this list quickly.

By default, Control and Remote are communicating to each other thru a listen port 5001. If you have other application or service using this port, please change the port number in your ZNet Tester configuration file. See this port setting in Appendix for more details.

Once you have input or selected a valid Remote endpoint, you can run a Z-Burst Test by clicking on Z-Burst button (next to Start) to quickly identify if your network supports TCP/IP, UDP unicast, and/or UDP multicast functions. On the bottom of the application, there are three status indication buttons for each network function state between Control and Remote endpoints. As the test goes till completion, the button will be highlighted with one of the following colors:

Green	The green color indicates that specified network function is Okay (available and passed the test). For TCP/IP, it means the Control can ping the Remote; for UDP Unicast or Multicast, it proves the communication between two endpoints.
Yellow	The yellow color indicates that specified network function is Blocked (not available or failed in test). For TCP/IP, it means the Remote is disconnected or not reachable; for UDP Unicast or Multicast, it indicates that the test has been failed -- either such network function is not supported, or the application cannot run on Remote machine. Note: Do not start the test on Blocked function.
Blank	The button with no color indicates that the network function state is Unknown (has not been tested yet).

Z-Burst Test serves as a pre-test verfication (or a quick All Tests) and prints its results to the Test screen. You should select the next test case based on these network function states.

The following procedure can be used for running an initial quick test.

Quick test procedure

1. Start ZNet Tester by clicking on its desktop shortcut.
2. Click on Profile at the top of the window and select a profile type from the list.
3. Click on Chart at the top of the window and enable TCP and/or UDP checkbox.
4. Open the Shortcut list and select the Quick option.
5. Click in the Remote field and enter the IP address for the remote PC to be used in this test.
6. Use default test case (TPing Test) and other default settings.
7. Click the Start button at the bottom of the screen.

The program should run through its test routine and post its results to the Test screen. The figures calculated for bandwidth, delay, and jitter will appear at the bottom of the screen.

CAUTION You should always disable screen saver, task schedules, and automatic power saver schemes, as well as close unnecessary applications, web pages, and services whenever you intend to run ZNet Tester for a long period of time. Failure to do this may result in Windows® becoming unresponsive and thus ZNet Tester stopping unexpectedly.

The following procedure can be used for running a test over a period of several days in order to develop an idea of traffic over time.

Long term test procedure

1. Start ZNet Tester by clicking on its desktop shortcut.
2. Click on Profile at the top of the window and select a product profile type from the list.
3. Open the Shortcut list and select the Full Week option.
4. Click in the Remote field and enter the IP address for the remote PC to be used in this test.
   For troubleshooting purpose, you can use the same IP address of the Control host.
5. If necessary, change the number of Channels to test for or match to the number required by your system.
   Note: Injecting too many channels may use up all network bandwidth. It is recommended to understand bandwidth availability before to set proper number of channels and always start from a small number.
6. If necessary, enter a Domain name, Username, and Password for the remote machine.
7. If desired, you can arrange for the test to start some time in the future by enter a time/date value in the Time field.
   This value cannot be in the present or past. It must be at least 60 seconds in the future.
8. Click the Start button at the bottom of the screen.

TIPS On Control machine without Hyper-Threading or Dual-Core technology, the CPU process drain may affect testing result (such as jitter values). Please minimize ZNet Tester window during the test in order to eliminate some affection. However, Hyper-Threading computer is still highly recommended.

If you end up wanting to stop the test early you can do so by clicking on the Stop button. However, after you click on Stop button, do not try to start another test immediately.

Before starting a selected Test Case in ZNet Tester, please carefully review all the settings for the test. Close other applications and unnecessary services that are running so that ZNet Tester can run on a dedicated machine in order to collect performance data. You should understand running TCP Bandwidth Test or giving large burst time may affect the whole network traffic in your work place. Input some Burst-off time and Gap time to idle the test between test cycles depending on your network usage. You can also schedule a proper start time to avoid busy traffic hours.

Another important setting is to select the product profile to suit target environment. This includes the number of channels or calls and bandwidth of each channel or call for simulated traffic, and thresholds for displaying baselines on Chart screen.

ZNet Tester creates two subfolders, Data and Log, under the installation directory. Every time a test is run by clicking on Start, ZNet Tester will create a new data file in CSV (comma-separated values) format, with a prefix of "NetTester_" plus date/time stamp and information of endpoints in the file name.

Here is an example of data file name:

NetTester_20071118_MON_123204_[192.168.0.104]-[192.168.0.101].csv

The data file saves the raw data collected in the test and has following columns:

datetime,testid,type,bandwidth(Kbps),delay,jitter,pktLoss,loss%

Since CSV files can be opened by Microsoft Excel® or a simular spreadsheet application, it is easy to review and post-process the data to analyze network performance traffic as well as to draw statistical charts based on test types and measurement parameters, such as delay, jitter, packet-drop, and bandwidth.

CAUTION You should NOT open data sheet (the *.csv in Data folder) while ZNet Tester is running in the middle of a testing process. Doing so may cause unexpected result and testing failed to complete.

In All Tests, the data for delays are collected from TPing Test while jitters and packet drops are collected from UDP tests. If TPing Test is run individually, jitters are also calculated at run time per RFC 1889. The bandwidth column has both available bandwidth data from TCP Bandwidth Test and consumed bandwidth data from UDP tests.

For each running test til its end, the network button will be highlighted with one of the following colors:

Green	The green color indicates that specified network function is Good (available and passed the test). For TCP/IP, it means the Control can ping the Remote; for UDP Unicast or Multicast, it proves the communication between two endpoints.
Green (springgreen)	The springgreen color indicates that specified network function is Okay with some packet loss. This normally does not affect test running unless it against product profile.
Green-Yellow	The green-yellow color indicates the Instability of specified network function (current test failed, although it had been okay before in previous test). For more than three times failures, the test will be paused and a dialog will prompt user to choose either continuing or stopping the test.
Yellow	The yellow color indicates that specified network function is Blocked (not available or failed in test). For TCP/IP, it means the Remote is disconnected or not reachable; for UDP Unicast or Multicast, it indicates that the test has been failed -- either such network function is not supported, or the application cannot run on Remote machine. For more than three times failures, the test will be paused and a dialog will prompt user to choose either continuing or stopping the test. Note: Please investigate the network before trying to rerun the test on Blocked function.
Pink	The pink color indicates the test has been Stopped by user on a prompt dialog after too many failures. Note: Please fix problem in failed network function before restart All Tests or any related test. The failure could come from that network function is not supported, or the endpoints do not support running this test tool.
Blank	The button with no color indicates that the network function state is Unknown (has not been tested yet).

Selecting a product profile before starting your test will place threshold lines on the Chart screen. Because of the CPU cycles used up calculating the graph, if you are going to use the chart features, you should be running ZNet Tester on a high-performance, dedicated PC system.

NOTE The TCP/IP and UDP checkboxes on the Chart screen may be unchecked by default. This is done to lighten the workload on the Windows system during the process of collecting data. It is recommended that ZNet Tester will be used primarily to collect data and the graphing of the data can be done post-process with a better charting tool.

In order to draw chart during the tests, the TCP/IP and/or UDP checkboxes on Chart screen need to be enabled. And the radio buttons are for sampling settings. If none of the radio buttons are selected, then the chart displays all test data. If for example you select 1/10, the average data from every ten tests will be plotted.

If you switch to the Chart screen while a test is in progress with TCP/IP and/or UDP checkboxes enabled, you will see the data collected plotted on this screen along with the thresholds. At each quarter of the screen, a timeline will be drawn and marked with clock time on top. For each Test Repetition, a Gap timeline will be drawn and marked with repetition number at bottom.

The dot color on the chart indicate if the test result is above the threshold line. If the result data above the threshold, its color will be as same as the threshold line. For data that are below the lowest threshold, the color is green for delay value, or blue for jitter value. The percentage of loss is drawn in yellow color at the height of the percentage based on the chart screen height.

Both delay and jitter can have two thresholds defined, a low (baseline) threshold and a high threshold. On the top of the chart screen, there are two lines of statistic data for the chart, one for delay, and another for jitter. Each line has three columns. The column starts with :B- (below the baseline threshold), :B+ (above the baseline threshold), or :Hi (above the high threshold). The followed data should read as Average [Mininum - Maximum] / Samples, and the text colors of average value and samples appear as in the rules for plotted dots on the chart.

If full length of the screen has been used up, the chart will clear the screen and restart to draw from the most left. To review historical chart, click on profile name on the top of Chart screen and it will open a web browser to list all available chart logs.

The purpose of drawing chart during the test is to quickly review the pattern of delay and/or jitter values against the thresholds per selected product profile, so that major network performance issues may be pointed out earlier.

You can only change threshold values while ZNet Tester is idle. Otherwise, you will be prompted to stop the test. The thresholds do affect your testing result except for drawing chart by different colors against the threshold lines.

If you encounter a problem while running ZNet Tester, review all of the following tips and see if trying any of them improves the situation.

TIPS For PCs with Windows desktop scheme settings set to larger size fonts, you may find that these fonts do not fit into ZNet Tester layout. Please use default Windows scheme or normal font settings. Alternatively, you can maximize ZNet Tester application form to have a larger view of the window to fit the contents.

TIPS If ZNet Tester starts slowly or could not start at all, please make sure your computer system is Windows 2000 SP5 or above that has Internet Explorer, MSHTA and Windows Script Engine 5.6 installed. Close other applications and stop process "mshta.exe" from Task Manager before you try again. On Windows XP and Windows 2003, you can run NetTester.cmd (under installed folder) from Command Prompt to start ZNet Tester with required run-time environment settings.

TIPS Before starting All Tests, please run Z-Burst Test to learn if network functions are supported between endpoints. It is recommended that you run some short tests with different settings to understand your network usage before schedule any long time period tests. Always consult with your IT administrators before starting any tests that might impact the system for which they are responsible.

TIPS On the bottom of the screen, Multicast status may not turn to green or you have not seen any Multicast test result: Configure the router to support Multicast, or change multicastipaddress setting in your Default profile. If the network does not support Multicast function, do not run All Tests, or the test will eventually be stopped after too many failures.

TIPS In order to run TPing Test, the login user must have administrative privilege and your network router should allow ICMP packages passing thru; For other tests, ZNet Tester requires to run remote process. See here - if the tests failed, please try alternative remote process launcher, and always use psExec as your first choice. If you cannot run a test, please assign local host's IP address to Remote machine (which makes both Control and Remote the same IP address) and retry the test.

TIPS If you cannot run the test on Remote, the most likely problem is a Windows authentication issue or a timeout between two endpoints. It is recommended to try the same user identity as which you logged on with. The user identity can be a domain user or a local user that has the same password recognized on both Control and Remote where proper execution permissions are also granted.

TIPS If there has been no test result received for a certain of time but authentication and connection are good between Control and Remote computers, it could be a situation that remote process has been blocked or timed-out on Remote machine. In the worst case, the remote exec service must be manually removed and a "shutdown-and-restart" command needs to be performed on Remote PC, certainly by an alternative way of connecting or reaching to the computer.

If none of the tips provides any assistance in solving your problems with getting ZNet Tester to run correctly and provide useful data about your network, contact Zetron at (425) 820-6363 and ask to be connected to technical support for the ZNet Tester software.

[[---FileList---]]

;
;=============================================================================
;Zetron NetTester 1.0 Configuration
;=============================================================================
;
[NetTester Settings]
;.............................................................................
;	The domain name as in credential <domain>\\<username> for Windows 
;	authentication. Normally if both control and remote computer logged 
;	on in a domain environment, such domain name, user name, and 
;	password may not necessary to be provided.  Use local computer 
;	name if the test is running in a workgroup environment. 
;
 domain=(local)

;.............................................................................
;	The user name for Windows authentication. The account must have 
;	granted admin privileges on Remote computer for TCP Bandwidth and
;	UDP testing. 
;
 username=

;.............................................................................
;	The password for credential <domain>\\<username>. In a workgroup 
;	environment, the account must be a local admin user on Remote computer. 
;	Note: The password will never be saved unless you manually type here. 
;
 password= 

;.............................................................................
;	Default IP address of localhost network interface on the computer 
;	where to run the tests. Usually you should use this computer name 
;	or IP address of default NIC. 
;
 control=(local)

;.............................................................................
;	Use IP address of remote endpoint for UDP test in VoIP network. 
;	Must be a Windows system that can be accessed by the control host. 
;
 remote=

;.............................................................................
;	The burst time (approximately in seconds) to send testing packets 
;	from beginning of one test cycle. Range: 10..120
;
 burstOn=20

;.............................................................................
;	The delayed interval (approximately in seconds) before starting 
;	the next test cycle. Range: 10..120
;
 burstOff=40

;.............................................................................
;	Specifies how many times to continueously run the test cycles. 
;	The collection of continueous repeated test cycles is called 
;	one Repetition (or Test Unit). 
;
 repeats=2

;.............................................................................
;	Specifies the sleeping time between each Repetition (Test Unit). 
;	This setting is desired to be much bigger than 'burstoff'. 
;
 gap=30

;.............................................................................
;	Defines the duration of running a complete test. 
;
 dayLast=0

;.............................................................................
;	The number of VoIP channels (each 100K by default) to be 
;	reserved and tested by this tool. Range: 1 - 128
;	This value should be input based on average available bandwidth 
;	on the network. Recommend to use Zetron NetTester TCP Bandwidth 
;	Test or other tools, such as Ethereal, to monitor your normal usage. 
;
 channels=1

;.............................................................................
;	Bandwidth size (by default 100 in Kbps) defined for each 
;	channel or VoIP call depends on product profile. Range: 100 - 2000 
;
 channelsize=100

;.............................................................................
;	Packet size in bytes for e.g. UDP (1472), G.711 (240), or VoIP (138) 
;	Packet size range: 1 .. 1472; default: 240-byte 
;
 packetsize=240

;.............................................................................
;	Define delay baseline on Statistic Chart. 
;	Data value range: 20 - 500 (and < delay_high).
;
 delay_base=40

;.............................................................................
;	Define high delay baseline on Statistic Chart. 
;	Data value range: 20 - 500 (and > delay_base).
;
 delay_high=100

;.............................................................................
;	Define jitter baseline on Statistic Chart. 
;	Data range: 10 - 400 (and < jitter_high and < delay_base).
;
 jitter_base=20

;.............................................................................
;	Define high jitter baseline on Statistic Chart. 
;	Data range: 10 - 400 (and > jitter_base and < delay_high).
;
 jitter_high=50

;.............................................................................
;	Preset multicast IP address. This is for UDP multicast testing. 
;	Default multicast IP address = 232.3.23.23
;
 multicastIpAddress=232.3.23.23

;.............................................................................
;	Default TCP/UDP port for both control host and remote host to use.
;	No other application should use such TCP/UDP port during the test.
;	Note: Please allow this port on TCP and UDP for firewall settings.
;	Default port: 5001 (range: 5001 ~ 9999) 
;
 port=5001

;.............................................................................
;	Schedules a time to run this test. 
;	Use format: [YYYY/MM/DD] hh:mm, default date (if missing) is today. 
;
 runtime=

;.............................................................................
;	Test results saved from last time run. 
;	File in a .csv format may need Excel application. 
;
 testlog=

;.............................................................................
;	Keep statistic data from all tests as long as program stays. 
;	Note this may affect your test result. Default: 0 (no/off).
;
 keepstats=0

;.............................................................................
;	Use psExec.exe for remote process; otherwise use RemoteExec. 
;	Default: false|0 (do not use psExec due to licensing issue). 
;
 usePsExec=true

;.............................................................................
;	Save test trace log in debug mode with more details.
;	This will overwrite command line argument '/nodebug', if there is any.
;	Default: false|0 (off/no).
;
 debug=0

;
;=============================================================================
;EOF  [NetTester.ini]
;

The following screen is a snapshot of Zetron^® ZNet Tester running in tests. You need Internet Explorer 5+ to be able to see and select different screens or try inputs on Test Settings to get a "look-and-feel".