VIAVI TestCenter Virtual L2–L7 Virtual Network Test Solution
Software-based L2–L7 network test solution for validating the performance, scale and resiliency of virtualized and cloud network services.
- VM CPU
- 2 to 4 virtual CPUs
- VM memory
- 2 to 4 GB
- Network interfaces
- 1 management and up to 9 test ports
- Port speeds
- 100M, 1G, 2.5G, 5G, 10G, 25G, 40G, 50G, 100G, 200G
Overview
VIAVI TestCenter Virtual is a Layer 2 to Layer 7 virtual test solution for measuring and assuring the performance of network services deployed in public, private or hybrid clouds. It builds test topologies that emulate both a scalable control plane and data plane, stressing physical and virtualized network functions. Service providers use it to check that services meet SLAs, enterprises to verify performance after moving services to the cloud, and data center operators to confirm scalability and resiliency.
Physical to virtual migration
TestCenter Virtual shares a unified test architecture with the TestCenter hardware platforms, so test cases built for physical FPGA-based TestCenter interfaces can be ported to virtual environments. This allows a virtual test lab to be set up, so software can be tested in many real-world scenarios before hardware is available.
Virtualization, containers and cloud
The solution runs on hypervisors including KVM, ESXi and Hyper-V, and on cloud platforms such as OpenStack, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. It is also offered in container format (Docker and LXC) with up to 1G throughput per container. It integrates with cloud management systems, and its API exposes all capabilities available in the TestCenter GUI, so it can be controlled from third-party orchestration and continuous integration frameworks.
NFV validation
For Network Functions Virtualization, TestCenter Virtual tests both the virtual network functions and the NFV infrastructure that hosts them. It generates layer 2–7 functional and performance traffic, including LAN unicast, multicast and VLAN traffic, SAN IO and stateful application protocols such as HTTP and FTP.
AI-driven test control
The TestCenter Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server is part of VIAVI's NITRO AI portfolio. It lets AI agents configure, run, monitor and analyze TestCenter tests through natural language.
Key Features
- Layer 2–3 test and measurement capabilities for legacy and emerging protocols
- Emulation protocols for switching, routing, access, SDN, data center and applications
- Deployment entirely in public, private or hybrid clouds, including cloud-deployable licenses
- Performance, throughput, availability and scale testing of OpenStack, VMware vSphere/vCloud, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services
- API support for Python, Perl and Tcl, plus REST for integration with automation frameworks such as ROBOT
- Unified testing architecture with 100% portability of test cases from hardware to virtual platforms
- Supports speeds of 1G, 2.5G, 5G, 10G, 25G, 40G, 100G and 200G
- RFC benchmarking with high 64-byte performance per core
- Enhanced NTP timing library with precision as low as 100 microseconds
- Burst mode speeding up NTP sync from an average of 30 minutes to 1 minute
- HTTP/TCP throughput generator with 5 Gbps goodput and ~50k connections per second
- Containerized test solution in Docker and LXC formats with up to 1G throughput per container
- TestCenter MCP Server lets AI agents configure, execute, monitor and analyze tests via natural language
Specifications
| VM CPU |
2 to 4 virtual CPUs
depending on the performance requirement
|
|---|---|
| VM memory |
2 to 4 GB
depending on the performance requirement
|
| Network interfaces | 1 management and up to 9 test ports |
| Port speeds | 100M, 1G, 2.5G, 5G, 10G, 25G, 40G, 50G, 100G, 200G |
| Packaging | OVA, qcow2, vhd |
| Hypervisors and host OS | VMWare ESXi 6.7, 7.0, 8.0; QEMU/KVM on Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, 22.04, 24.04 and Fedora 40, Fedora 41; Hyper-V |
| Public cloud | OpenStack, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure |
| Container platform |
LSX, Docker
Datasheet page 3 names the formats as Docker and LXC, with up to 1G throughput per container
|
| Supported network adapters | Intel I350 Gigabit Network Card; Intel X520-DA2, X550T 10-Gigabit SFP+ Network Card; Intel Ethernet Controller XXV710 25G; Intel Ethernet Controller XL710 40Gb QSPF+; Mellanox MT27520 Family [ConnectX-3 Pro] 40Gb QSFP+; Mellanox ConnectX-5 Family of smart NICs QSFP+; and more |
| Drivers | igb, ixgbe, i40e, mlx4_en |
| Automation | TCL, Python, REST |
| Supported datacenter speeds | 1G, 2.5G, 5G, 10G, 25G, 40G, 100G and 200G |
|---|---|
| NTP timing precision |
as low as 100 micro seconds
Enhanced NTP with optimized timing library
|
| NTP sync (burst mode) | from average 30 minutes to 1 minute |
| HTTP/TCP throughput generator | 5 Gbps goodput and ~50k connections per sec |
| Container throughput |
up to 1G throughput per Container
Docker and LXC formats
|
| Automation | TCL, Python, REST |
|---|---|
| IP version supported | IPv4, IPv6 |
| Routing protocols |
IGMPv1v2v3, ISISv4/v6, BGP, OSPFv4/v6, RIP/RIPng, EIGRP/EIGRPv6
All major IPv4 and IPv6 unicast and multicast routing protocols
|
| Mobile backhaul | MPLS-TP, 1588v2, SyncE |
| MPLS | MPLS-TP, RSVP-TE, LDP, VPLS-LDP, VPLS-BGP, BGP/MPLS-VPN, Fast Re-route, mVPN, P2MP-TE, BFD, PWe3 (RFC4447) |
| SDN protocols | PCEP, Segment Routing, OSPF, ISIS, BGP, BGP LS, BGP Flow Spec, OpenFlow switch emulation, OpenFlow controller emulation |
| Enterprise protocols | IGMPv1/v2/v3, MLDv1/v2, LACP, STP, RSTP and MSTP |
| Data center protocols | DCBX, FCoE, FIP, 802.1Qbb, VXLAN-EVPN, EVPN-MPLS, EVPN-PBB, EVPN-IRB, EVPN-VPWS, OTV, TRILL, LISP, SPB, VEPA |
| Stateful L4-7 | HTTP, SIP, FTP |
| Access protocols | 802.1, ANCP, DHCPv4v6, L2TP, IGMPv1/v2/v3, MLDv1/v2, PPPoEv4 and PPPoEv6, 6RD, Dual-Stack Lite |
| Carrier Ethernet and bridging | LACP, STP, RSTP and MSTP, 802.1ag CFM, Y.1731, PBB, PBB-TE, Link OAM |
| Enhanced L4-L7 protocols | FTP, HTTP 1.0/1.1, HTTPS 1.0/1.1, HTTP Live Stream (Video), CIFS-SMB, IMAP4, POP3, TCP, SMTP, Telnet |
| Supported L4-L7 applications | Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, YouTube, Application PCAP import and playback |
| RFC | 2544, 2889, 3918 |
| Authentication protocols | 802.1x, Network Access Control (NAC), Radius |
Specifications are taken from the manufacturer's documentation. See the datasheet for complete and current values.
Applications
- Data center fabric scale validation
- Data center multi-tenancy testing
- Virtual infrastructure benchmarking
- NFV orchestration validation
- VM migration and elastic auto-scaling testing
- NFV infrastructure and VNF validation
- Cloud migration performance validation
- Continuous integration and DevOps regression testing
- SLA verification for network services
Options & Accessories
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| AON-SWO-V-BANDWIDTH-L | AION Virtual Bandwidth Low |
| AON-SWO-V-BANDWIDTH-M | AION Virtual Bandwidth Medium |
| AON-SWO-V-BANDWIDTH-H | AION Virtual Bandwidth High |
| V-SPK-9001/2 | Virtual Routing bundle |
| V-SPK-9003 | Virtual Switching bundle |
| V-SPK-9005 | Virtual MBH bundle |
| V-SPK-9006/7 | Virtual Access bundle |
| V-SPK-9008 | Virtual Multiplay bundle |
| V-TPK-1000 | Virtual RFC-2544 with VLAN network device benchmark test package |
| V-TPK-1001 | Virtual RFC-2889 with VLAN switching benchmark test package |
| V-TPK-1042 | Virtual RFC-3918 Multicast benchmark test package |
| V-TPK-1050 | Virtual Unicast Routing Convergence test package |
| V-BPK-2001-001 | Virtual Enhanced L4-7, 1 Port |