How to Validate Routing and Switching

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Routing, Convergence, and Forwarding Tests

Engineers can validate routing and switching behavior by building repeatable protocol topologies around the device under test and exercising both the control plane and data plane under defined conditions. Start by emulating routing neighbors, establishing protocol sessions, and advertising controlled route sets with protocols such as Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Routing Information Protocol (RIP), and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). Then generate forwarding traffic across the learned paths and vary route scale, traffic mix, and protocol activity to reproduce the target network environment. Engineers can also introduce Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD), route flaps, session changes, and restart events to create repeatable convergence scenarios.

During each run, engineers can track protocol state, route counts, convergence behavior, throughput, latency, jitter, and packet results while the emulated network remains active. They can combine IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, operate multiple protocols at the same time, and increase route or traffic scale to evaluate how the device responds as network complexity grows. Engineers can also apply standardized benchmarking methods, including RFC 2544, RFC 2889, and RFC 3918 tests, when the workflow calls for repeatable forwarding or multicast performance measurements. By keeping topology, route scale, traffic load, failure events, and pass criteria consistent between runs, teams can compare software revisions, configurations, and hardware changes under the same routing and switching conditions.

Routing and Switching Validation Solution

Configure protocol emulation around the device under test, establish routing sessions, advertise controlled routes, and generate forwarding traffic while collecting control-plane and data-plane measurements. Keysight’s IxNetwork emulates routing and switching protocols at scale, including IS-IS, OSPF, EIGRP, RIP, Internal Border Gateway Protocol (IBGP), and External Border Gateway Protocol (EBGP), and supports large route advertisements and real Internet routing table imports described in the selected anchor asset. Engineers can add Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD), route or session flapping, and restart sequences to exercise failure detection and convergence behavior, while IPv4 and IPv6 protocol variants and line-rate traffic operate together. IxNetwork also supports standardized benchmarking workflows such as RFC 2544, RFC 2889, and RFC 3918 QuickTests. Engineers can use the resulting protocol state, route scale, convergence time, throughput, latency, jitter, and packet measurements to compare routing and switching performance across repeatable test conditions.

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