Calnex SNE-X Scalable High-Performance Network Emulator, 1GbE to 400GbE

Multi-port network emulator with up to 28 ports and 1GbE to 400GbE wire-rate impairment of hundreds of packet streams.

Number of ports per card: 4
Number of ports per card: 2
Number of ports per card: 1
Maximum number of ports per SNE-X (4 full slots): 28

Datasheet

Overview

The Calnex SNE-X is a multi-port network emulator that recreates real-world network conditions in the lab. It applies precise, repeatable impairments such as latency, jitter, packet loss, congestion, bandwidth constraints, reordering, corruption and duplication across network paths. Engineering teams use it to validate application and infrastructure performance before deployment, reproduce field issues and observe how systems respond under stress.

Performance and scale

SNE-X supports Ethernet interfaces from 1GbE to 400GbE at wire rate, with a maximum intrinsic latency of 20µs. A high-performance backplane and Any Port to Any Port™ connectivity allow up to 28 ports to be used for parallel testing of multiple devices, links and hundreds of traffic flows from a single platform. Impairments can be targeted at selected traffic streams by flow, direction or network path while other traffic passes unaffected, and each direction of a path can be emulated independently to reproduce asymmetric conditions.

Control and automation

Tests are built in a browser-based GUI in which engineers create network maps visually, connect test paths, configure traffic filters and apply impairments without writing code; settings can be changed while a test is running. A RESTful API enables remote configuration and control from scripts, test frameworks and lab automation platforms, and a timeline function schedules changing conditions, faults and recovery events during a test. Traffic can be captured as PCAP, replayed, or streamed directly to Wireshark.

Shared lab use

Multi-user support allows ports to be assigned to individual users so that several users or projects can run tests in parallel on the same platform. The same hardware can be configured for different devices, interface speeds, port configurations and network topologies, which is intended for AI, cloud and data center infrastructure, telecom core, midhaul and mobile edge testing.

Key Features

Up to 28 ports for impairment of hundreds of packet streams simultaneously from a single platform
1 to 400GbE wire-rate emulation
Maximum intrinsic latency of 20µs
Any Port to Any Port™ connectivity for flexible test paths between interfaces
High-performance backplane for parallel impairment scenarios across multiple ports
Independent bidirectional emulation for asymmetric paths
Delay, jitter, packet loss, burst loss, reordering, corruption, duplication and outage impairments
Flow-specific impairment of selected packet streams while other traffic passes unaffected
RESTful remote-control API for automation and regression workflows
Browser-based visual network map creation and control
Live changes to any impairment setting during a test
Timeline automation of changing conditions, faults and recovery events
Traffic capture and replay with PCAP and Wireshark support
Multi-user support with shared maps and per-user port assignment
Link flap simulation by cycling ports on and off

Specifications

Physical

Number of ports per card 1G	4
Number of ports per card 10G, 25G, 50G, 100G	2
Number of ports per card 400G	1
Maximum number of ports per SNE-X (4 full slots) 1G	28
Maximum number of ports per SNE-X (4 full slots) 10G, 25G	16
Maximum number of ports per SNE-X (4 full slots) 50G, 100G	8
Maximum number of ports per SNE-X (4 full slots) 400G	4
Supported rates 1G	10 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s
Supported rates 10G	1 Gbit/s, 10 Gbit/s
Supported rates 25G	1 Gbit/s, 10 Gbit/s, 25 Gbit/s
Supported rates 50G	10 Gbit/s, 25 Gbit/s, 50 Gbit/s
Supported rates 100G	25 Gbit/s, 50 Gbit/s, 100 Gbit/s
Supported rates 400G	50 Gbit/s, 100 Gbit/s, 400 Gbit/s
Interface 1G	RJ45 (GbE Copper)
Interface 10G	SFP+
Interface 25G	SFP28
Interface 50G, 100G	QSFP28
Interface 400G	OSFP
Max packet rate per port (Bi-Directional) 1G	2.96 million pkt/s
Max packet rate per port (Bi-Directional) 10G	29.6 million pkt/s
Max packet rate per port (Bi-Directional) 25G	74.4 million pkt/s
Max packet rate per port (Bi-Directional) 50G	148.8 million pkt/s
Max packet rate per port (Bi-Directional) 100G	297.6 million pkt/s
Max packet rate per port (Bi-Directional) 400G	Contact for info
Max. Frame Size	Jumbo Mode 9219 bytes; Non-jumbo Mode 1542 bytes Standard on all interfaces. The General section of the same datasheet lists 1544 bytes for Non-Jumbo Frame Mode.

General

Dimensions	4u Rack
Intrinsic Latency	20µs Maximum intrinsic latency
Timing Precision	10µs
Maximum Frame Size — Non-Jumbo Frame Mode	1544 bytes The Physical section of the same datasheet lists 1542 bytes for Non-jumbo Mode.
Maximum Frame Size — Jumbo Frame Mode	9219 bytes
Any Port to Any Port™	Packets can be sent between any port for complete flexibility Provided as standard on all interfaces
Multi-user support	Unlimited users, share maps, assign ports to individual users Provided as standard on all interfaces
Live Changes	Real-time modification of any impairment setting Provided as standard on all interfaces
Bi-directional, Independent Emulations	Provided as standard All interfaces
Drag and Drop user interface	Provided as standard All interfaces
Link Flap	Ports can be cycled on/off to simulate Link Flapping Provided as standard on all interfaces

Delay

Delay Modes 1G, 10G, 25G, 50G, 100G	Constant, Gaussian, Ramp, Range, Sinusoidal Provided as standard
Maximum Delay Emulation (Non-Jumbo Frame Mode) 1G	1250ms at 1G
Maximum Delay Emulation (Non-Jumbo Frame Mode) 10G, 25G, 50G, 100G	500ms at 10G; 500ms at 25G; 500ms at 50GbE; 500ms at 100GbE
Maximum Delay Emulation (Non-Jumbo Frame Mode) 400G	650ms at 400GbE
Maximum Delay Emulation (Jumbo Frame Mode) 1G	1250ms at 1GbE
Maximum Delay Emulation (Jumbo Frame Mode) 10G	500ms at 10GbE
Maximum Delay Emulation (Jumbo Frame Mode) 25G, 50G, 100G	483ms at 25GbE; 483ms at 50GbE; 483ms at 100GbE
Maximum Delay Emulation (Jumbo Frame Mode) 400G	650ms at 400GbE
Maximum Extended Delay Emulation (Non-Jumbo Frame Mode) 1G	30000ms at 1GbE
Maximum Extended Delay Emulation (Non-Jumbo Frame Mode) 10G	4070ms at 10GbE
Maximum Extended Delay Emulation (Non-Jumbo Frame Mode) 25G, 50G	2713ms at 25GbE; 2713ms at 50GbE
Maximum Extended Delay Emulation (Non-Jumbo Frame Mode) 100G	2713.68ms at 100GbE
Maximum Extended Delay Emulation (Jumbo Frame Mode) 1G	7249ms at 1GbE
Maximum Extended Delay Emulation (Jumbo Frame Mode) 10G	724ms at 10GbE
Maximum Extended Delay Emulation (Jumbo Frame Mode) 25G, 50G, 100G	483ms at 25GbE; 483ms at 50GbE; 483ms at 100GbE

Bandwidth Emulation Limit

Bandwidth Limit Threshold	8 bit/s to 100 Gbit/s
Bandwidth Limit Modes	Constant Throttle, Random Range Provided as standard on all interfaces

Packet Drop

Standard	Drop x packets in y received Provided as standard on all interfaces
Percentage	Drop 1% to 100% (in increments of 1%) Provided as standard on all interfaces
Markov	2 state random packet drop (as per ITU-T G.1050 Appendix II - Gilbert-Elliott model) Provided as standard on all interfaces

Packet Reorder and Jitter

Packet Distance	Min/max distance of 0 to 10000 packets Provided as standard on all interfaces
Time	Min/max displacement of 0 to 500ms Provided as standard on all interfaces
Jitter	Range 0.01 to 100 ms Provided as standard on all interfaces

Packet Modification and Corruption

Generic Packet Modifier	Modify any 1 to 4 bytes in packets and set to a specific value Provided as standard on all interfaces
Bit Error Rate — Error Range	Corrupt x bits in every y bits/kbits/Mbits Provided as standard on all interfaces
Packet Corruption — Overwrite Modes	Bitflips, Byte overwrite Provided as standard on all interfaces
Packet Corruption — Corruption Level	0.1 to 100% of packet Provided as standard on all interfaces
Packet Corruption — Corruption Range	All contents of each packet, Start and end point within each packet Provided as standard on all interfaces

Packet Duplication

Duplicator Modes	Complex – multiple, timed duplication Provided as standard on all interfaces
Duplicator Modes	Simple – 1:1 duplication of all packets Provided as standard on all interfaces
Duplicator Modes	Duplication every x seconds Provided as standard on all interfaces

Burst Packet

Burst Modes — N Packets	Accumulates N packets before sending them in a burst Provided as standard on all interfaces
Burst Modes — Timeout	Accumulates packets until the specified time has elapsed, then sends them in a burst Provided as standard on all interfaces
Burst Modes — N Packets OR Timeout	Sends the accumulated packets when either condition is met Provided as standard on all interfaces
Burst Modes — Packets AND Timeout	Sends the accumulated packets when both conditions are met Provided as standard on all interfaces
Packet Fragmentor — Maximum MTU Range	Provided as standard All interfaces

MPEG Video Corrupter

Video Format Codecs	0.01 to 100 ms Provided as standard on all interfaces
IDR Frame Corruption	For every x frames, corrupt y frames, affecting z% of the frame. Optionally drop n frames Provided as standard on all interfaces
Non-IDR Frame Corruption	Corrupt I, B and/or P frame Provided as standard on all interfaces
Checksum Correction 1G, 10G, 25G, 50G, 100G	Fix IP Header Checksum; Fix IP UDP Header Checksum Provided as standard
Decoder Notifications	Non RTP/MPEG packet received. Frame with forbidden flag received. Unsupported NAL frame received Provided as standard on all interfaces

Filters

Maximum Number of Filters Per Map

Unlimited

Connect multiple filters in any way to create complex filter rules

Filter Types

IPv4/IPv6 Address (Source and/or destination, specific address and range); MAC Address (Source and/or destination, specific address and range); IP Protocol (Industry or user defined); VLAN (Single, range or multiple); UDP (With or without port); TCP (With or without port); RTP (Industry or user defined); RoCEv2 (IPv4/IPv6, OpCode, Queue Pair); MPLS (Label, QOS value, TTL value); Counting (Percent or x in y packets); Diff Serv (DSCP AF Type or TOS value); Payload (Industry or user defined); Generic (Any single or multiple bytes within packets)

Provided as standard on all interfaces

Packet Generation

UDP Background Traffic	Constant or range; Up to 10 Gbit/s; Optionally send packets to broadcast address
TCP Server Generator	Specify TCP source/destination MAC and IP address; Up to 10 Gbit/s; Generate multiple streams
Traffic Replay	Replay from PCAP file; Single replay or loop

Analysis

Bandwidth Graph	Show data rate over time; Up to 1 hour sliding window; Export as CSV file All interfaces: 1G, 10G, 25G, 50G, 100G, 400G
Inter-Packet Gap Graph	Show average and/or min/max interpacket gap over time; Up to 1 hour sliding window; Export as CSV file All interfaces
Packet Count Graph	Show number of packets per second over time; Up to 1 hour sliding window; Export as CSV file All interfaces
Traffic Capture	Capture traffic as PCAP; Total storage: 20GB volatile (RAM) or 1TB non-volatile (SSD); Capture file maximum size: RAM – 20GB, SSD – 524GB* Asterisk footnote not given in the datasheet text
Wireshark	Capture traffic directly to Wireshark; Max traffic capture rate 1 Gbit/s

Remote Control

RESTful API	Easy remote control of impairments in an automation environment
Timeline	Schedule changes to impairments with no manual intervention required
Timing Constraints	Specify start and duration of individual impairments activity

Specifications are taken from the manufacturer's documentation. See the datasheet for complete and current values.