Introduction

OPNET LABS
MIS 445x Due by Nov 17 2003 before class start and please provide cover page with your names on it. Thanks!

Small Internet works Lab

Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn how IT Guru can model organizational scaling by using the tool to model a real-world what if problem. You will learn how to use IT Guru features to build and analyze network models. In this lesson, you will Build a network quickly Collect statistics about network performance Analyze these statistics In this lesson, you use the Project Editor to build a topology of a small internet work, choose statistics to collect, run a simulation, and analyze the results. In this lesson, you plan for the expansion of a small companys intranet. Currently, the company has a star topology network on the first floor of its office building and plans to add an additional star topology network on another floor. You will build and test this what-if scenario to ensure that the load added by the second network will not cause the network to fail.
Introduction
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Getting Started
When creating a new network model, you must first create a new project and scenario. A project is a group of related scenarios that each explores a different aspect of the network. Projects can contain multiple scenarios. After you create a new project, you use the Startup Wizard to set up a new scenario. The options in the Wizard let you Define the initial topology of the network Define the scale and size of the network Select a background map for the network. Associate an object palette with the scenario Startup Wizard automatically appears each time you create a new project. The Startup Wizard allows you to define certain aspects of the network environment.
Getting Started
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Start OPNET if it is not already open,

2) You are ready to begin working with the lab To use the Startup Wizard to set up a new scenario, do the following:
1 If IT Guru is not already running, start it. 2 Select File > New.... 3 Select Project from the pull-down menu and click OK. 4 Name the project and scenario, as follows:

4.1 Name the project <initials>_Sm_Int Include your initials in the project name to

distinguish it from other versions of this project.

4.2 Name the scenario first_floor. Click OK.

The Startup Wizard opens.

5 Enter the values shown in the following table in the dialog boxes of the Startup Wizard:
Getting Started
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Creating the Network

Network models are created in the Project Editor using nodes and links from the object palette. Node - A representation of a real-world network object that can transmit and receive information.

Link - A communication medium that connects nodes to one another. Links can represent electrical or fiber optic cables.

These objects are found in the object palette, a dialog box that contains graphical representations of node and link models.
Creating the Network
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You can use any of three methods to create a network topology, or a combination of all three. One method is to import the topology (discussed in a later lesson). Another is to place individual nodes from the object palette into the workspace. The third method is to use Rapid Configuration. Rapid Configuration creates a network in one action after you select a network configuration, the types of nodes within the network, and the types of links that connect the nodes. To create the first-floor network using Rapid Configuration:
1 Select Topology > Rapid Configuration. 2 Select Star from the drop-down menu of available configurations, and then click OK.

Specify the node models and link models in the network. Models follow this naming scheme: <protocol1>_..._<protocoln>_<function>_<mod> where: <protocol> specifies the specific protocol(s) supported by the model <function> is an abbreviation of the general function of the model <mod> indicates the level of derivation of the model For example: ethernet2_bridge_int Specifies the intermediate (int) derivation of a 2-port Ethernet (ethernet2) bridge (bridge). Vendor models have an additional prefix that specifies the vendor and the vendor product number for that particular network object.
Creating the Network

For example, the 3Com switch used in this lab named: 3C_SSII_1100_3300_4s_ae52_e48_ge3 This node is a stack of two 3Com SuperStack II 1100 and two Superstack II 3300 chassis (3C_SSII_1100_3300) with four slots (4s), 52 auto-sensing Ethernet ports (ae52), 48 Ethernet ports (e48), and 3 Gigabit Ethernet ports (ge3). 4

To specify the nodes and links to build the network:

1 Set the Center Node Model to 3C_SSII_1100_3300_4s_ae52_e48_ge3. This is a

3Com switch.
2 Set the Periphery Node Model to Sm_Int_wkstn, and change the Number of

periphery nodes to 30. This provides 30 Ethernet workstations as the peripheral nodes.
3 Set the Link Model to 10BaseT.
Creating the Network
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Specify where the new network will be placed:

1 Set the X center and Y center to 25. 2 Set the Radius to 20. Click OK

3. Select 3Com switch, right click the object on the workspace and click Set Name. Change the name to 3Com Switch
4 Click OK.

The network is drawn in the Project Editor: Now that the general network topology has been built, you need to add a server. You will use the second method of creating network objects: dragging them from the object palette into the workspace.

1 If it is not already open, open the object palette by clicking on the

Object Palette action button.

2 Find the Sm_Int_server object in the palette and drag it into the workspace.

You will not find this exact server model on other object palettes because we created it with the correct configuration for this Lab.ting the Network
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By default, you can create additional instances of the same object by left-clicking after the initial drag-and-drop from the palette.
3 Because you do not need additional copies of this model, right-click to turn off node

creation. 4 Select the Sm_Int_sever object on the workspace, right click and select Set Name. Change the name to Ethernet Server, click OK.
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You will now need to connect the server to the star network.
1 Find the 10BaseT link object in the palette and click on it. 2 Click on the server object on the workplace, then click on the switch object in the

center of the star. A link is drawn, connecting the two objects.

3 Right-click to turn off link creation.

Finally, you need to add configuration objects to specify the application traffic that will exist on the network. Configuring the application definition and profile definition objects can be complicated, so you do not have to do these tasks right now. For this lab, on the object palette we included: an application definition object with the default configurations of the standard applications, and a profile definition object with a profile that models light database access
Creating the Network

You need only drag the objects into your network. Doing so means that the traffic caused by workstations accessing a database at a low rate will be modeled.
1 Find the Sm_Application_Config object in the palette and drag it into the workspace 2 Right-click to turn off object creation.

3 Find the Sm_Profile_Config object in the palette; drag it into the workspace, and right-

click. 4 Select the Sm_Application_Config object on the workspace and right click and select Set Name. Change the name to Application Configuration. 5 Select the The Sm_Profile_Config object on the workspace and right click, select Set Name. Change the name to Profile Definition.
6 Close the object palette.

7 Verify that the links are connected correctly by using the Verify Links utility. a. Click the second toolbar button from the left (with a check mark on it) or choose Topology / Verify Links b. Click OK c. Verify that at the bottom left of the screen, it says: All links and paths are connected correctly. If you get a different message, you should see a red X over one or more of the links in the model. Double-click the X to find out why the link is invalid. Delete the link and connect a new link of the correct type. Ask an instructor for assistance if you cant fix the error.
Creating the Network

The network is now built. 8 Save You Work now Click File Save. Get a screen shot of the work done. (Q1)

Collecting Statistics
You can collect statistics from individual nodes in your network (object statistics) or from the entire network (global statistics). Now that you have created the network, you should decide which statistics you need to collect to answer the questions presented earlier in this lesson: Will the server be able to handle the additional load of the second network? Will the total delay across the network be acceptable once the second network is installed? To answer these questions, you need a snapshot of current performance for comparison. To get this baseline, you will collect one object statistic, Server Load, and one global statistic, Ethernet Delay.
Collecting Statistics
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Server load is a key statistic that reflects the performance of the entire network. To collect statistics related to the servers load, do the following steps:
1 Right-click on the server node Ethernet Server and select Choose Individual

Statistics from the servers Object pop-up menu. The Choose Results dialog box appears. The Choose Results dialog box hierarchically organizes the statistics you may collect. To collect the Ethernet load on the server:
2 If Choose Result shows Network. Node_31, click the plus sign next to Node statistics, then

Ethernet in the Choose Results dialog box to expand the Ethernet statistic hierarchy. (as shown in the upper figure) If Choose Result shows Network.Ethernet server, click the plus sign next to Ethernet and then expand the Ethernet Statistic hierarchy. (as shown in the lower figure)
Collecting Statistics

3 Click the checkbox next to Load (bits/sec) to enable collection for that statistic. 4 Click OK to close the dialog box.
Collecting Statistics
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Global statistics can be used to gather information about the network as a whole. For example, you can find out the delay for the entire network by collecting the global Delay statistic:
1 Right-click in the workspace (but not on an object) and select Choose Individual

Statistics from the Workspace pop-up menu.

2 Expand the Global Statistics hierarchy. 3 Expand the Ethernet hierarchy.

Statistics

4 Click the checkbox next to Delay (sec) to enable data collection. 5 Click OK to close the Choose Results dialog box.

It is good to get into the habit of saving your project every often. To save the project: Choose File > Save, then click OK (the project already has a name, so you dont need to rename it).

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Now that you have specified the statistics to collect and saved the project, you are almost ready to run your simulation. First, though, verify that your repositories preference is set appropriately.
1 Choose Edit > Preferences. 2 Type repositories in the Find field and click on the Find button. 3 If the value for repositories is not stdmod, click on the field and enter stdmod in the

dialog box.
Collecting Statistics

4 Click OK to close the repositories and Preferences dialog boxes

To run a simulation:
1 Select Simulation > Configure Discrete Event Simulation.

You can also open the Configure Discrete Event Simulation dialog box by clicking on the configure/run simulation action button.
2 Type 0.5 in the Duration: field to simulate one-half hour of network activity.

3 Click the Run button to begin the simulation. While the simulation runs, a dialog box

appears showing the simulations progress.

4 When the simulation finishes, the contents of the Messages tab appears. When the

Simulation Speed tab is selected, an animated graph shows both the current and average speed in events per second. 5 Capture a Screen Shot of the simulation graph which shows the time in which the simulation completed (Q2). 6 Click the Close button in the Simulation Sequence dialog box.
Statistics
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7 If your simulation does not complete, if no results were collected, or if the results vary

significantly from those shown, you will have to troubleshoot your simulation. 11

Viewing Results
You can view results graphically in the Project Editor by selecting View Results from the Workspace pop-up menu. After your simulation has executed, you will want to see the information collected for each statistic. There are several ways to view results; in this lesson you will use the View Results option in the Workspace pop-up menu. To view the server Ethernet load for the simulation:
1 Right-click on the Ethernet Server choose View Results from the servers Object pop-

up menu. * View Results dialog box opens.

2 Expand the Office network > Ethernet hierarchy. 3 Click on the checkbox next to Load (bits/sec) to indicate that you want to view that

result.
Viewing Results

4 Click the Show button in the View Results dialog box.

5 Capture the screen shot of the load on the Ethernet Server (Q3) 6. What is the average load (bits/second) on the Ethernet server? (Q4) _________ 7. What is the maximum load (bits/second) on the Ethernet Server? (Q5) ______ 8. What is the minimum load (bits/second) on the Ethernet Server? (Q6) _______ Close this dialog box and the View Results dialog box. (If the system prompts you, choose to delete the graph panel.) You also should look at the Global Ethernet Delay on the network. To view this statistic:
1 Right-click in the workspace, then select View Results from the pop-up menu. 2 Check the box next to Global Statistics > Ethernet > Delay, then click the Show

button to view the Ethernet delay for the whole network. 3 Capture the screen shot for the Ethernet delay for the whole network (Q7) 4 What is the average ethernet delay in (bits/second)(Q8) _______ When you are finished viewing the graph, close it and the View Results dialog box.
Expanding the Network
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Expanding the Network

You have created a baseline network and gathered statistics about it. Now you are ready to expand the network and verify that it still operates sufficiently well with the additional load. When performing a what-if comparison, it is convenient to store the baseline network as one scenario and create the experimental network as a different scenario. You will duplicate the existing scenario and make changes to it instead of building the new topology from the beginning. To duplicate a scenario:
1 Choose Scenarios > Duplicate Scenario... 2 Enter expansion as the name for the new scenario. 3 Click OK. The scenario, with all the nodes, links, statistics, and the simulation

configuration, is duplicated and named expansion.

Network0

The second-floor segment will resemble the first-floor segment, but will not have a server of its own. To build the new segment:
1 Select Topology > Rapid Configuration. 2 Choose Star for the topology and click OK. 3 Complete the Rapid Configuration dialog box with these values:

Center Node Model: 3C_SSII_1100_3300_4s_ae52_e48_ge3 Periphery Node Model: Sm_Int_wkstn Number: 15 Link model: 10BaseT X: 75, Y: 62.5, Radius: 20

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4 Click OK to create the network.

Join the two networks:

1 If it is not already open, click the action button to open the object palette. 2 Drag the Cisco 2514 router icon into the workspace between the two networks. Right-

click to turn off node creation.

3 Click on the 10BaseT link icon in the object palette. 4 Create 10BaseT links between the Cisco router (node_30) and the 3Com switches at

the center of each star.

5 Right-click to turn off link creation. 6 Close the object palette.

7 Select 3Com switch that you just placed on the worksheet, right click the object on the workspace and click Set Name. Change the of the object to 3Com Switch No 2 8 Select Cisco Router, right click the object on the workspace and click Set Name. Change the of the object to Cisco Router 9.Verify that the links are connected correctly by using the Verify Links utility. a. Click the second toolbar button from the left (with a check mark on it) or choose Topology / Verify Links b. Click OK

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c. Verify that at the bottom left of the screen, it says: All links and paths are connected correctly d. If you get a different message, you should see a red X over one or more of the links in the model. Double-click the X to find out why the link is invalid. Delete the link and connect a new link of the correct type. Ask an instructor for assistance if you cant fix the error. 10. Capture the screen shot of the final network (Q9).
11 Select File > Save.
Expanding the Network

To run the expansion scenario:

1 Select Simulation > Configure Discrete Event Simulation. 2 Verify that the Duration is set to 0.5 hours.
Expanding the Network

3 Click the Run button to begin the simulation. As before, a window appears showing the

simulations progress. When the Simulation Speed tab is selected, an animated graph shows both the current and average speed in events per second. 4 Capture a Screen Shot of the simulation speed which shows the time in which the simulation completed (Q10)
5 close the Simulation Sequence dialog box.

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Comparing Results
To answer the questions posed about the addition of a second network to the existing LAN, you need to compare the results from both of the simulations you ran. You will use the Compare Results menu item in the Object and Workspace pop-up menus to combine statistics from different scenarios in the same graph. To look at the server load from both scenarios at once:
1 Right-click on the Ethernet Server node to bring up its Object pop-up menu. 2 Choose Compare Results (you can do this from either scenario in the project. Use

Scenarios > switch to scenario to choose the scenario) A Compare Results dialog box appears containing a hierarchical representation of statistics collected for the server node.
Comparing Results
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When comparing results, choosing a statistic in one scenario produces a graph showing the value of that statistic in all scenarios. To view the results:
1 Select the Office Network > Ethernet > Load (bits/sec) statistic and click the Show

button. 2 Capture a screen shot of the comparison of the Ethernet Load between the baseline scenario (first_floor) and the expansion scenario (Q11) 3. Capture a screen shot of the average increase of the Ethernet Load between the baseline scenario (first_floor) and the expansion scenario (Q12) 4. Analyze the results. Is there a change in the Ethernet load as a result of expansion? Is the network stable? (Q13)
Comparing Results
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The last step is to see how much the networks delay is affected by adding a second floor. To compare Ethernet delay for the two scenarios:
1 Close the graph and the Compare Results dialog box for the server. 2 Right-click in the workspace, then select Compare Results from the Workspace pop-

up menu.
3 Select the Global Statistics > Ethernet > Delay (sec) statistic. 4 Click Show to display the graph. The graph of the Global Ethernet Delay appears.

5 Capture a Screen shot of the combined As-Is Global Ethernet Delay as a result of expanding the network (Q14)

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6. Capture a Screen shot of the Average Global Ethernet Delay as a result of expanding the network (Q15) 7. Is there a significant increase/decrease in the Ethernet delay as a result of network expansion? Please provide one reason for you answer (Q16)
8 Save changes and Select File > Close.

9 Report to Management (Q17): Document your results in a report to this organizations management that discusses the scalability of their LAN design. Include the following sections: An executive overview or management summary (the report in miniature, less than 1 page what you investigated and the results you got). Think of this as the only page from your report that a busy executive might read. Comparative plots of the results from each scenario (referenced from screenshots). Discussion of what the model demonstrates and any recommendations for management. Personal observations: What did you learn? What surprised you and why or why not?

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