Production Network

[jumacao]

A new production network. The equipment PC will request data to a central server. The server will send back a package of 50 data points each time.
How I challenge the network capability to handle the traffic ? How to measure the time require for a transaction?
What to check?

 

[MikeHalloran]

You have to define what constitutes a "data point" in your context.
I.e., is it one, two, three, or N bytes, integers, floats, doubles, whatever, plus housekeeping stuff, like a packet identifier (this data is in response to query #nnn), and you have to similarly define the request packet. Then you have to assume some delay associated with the wire's bit rate and the size of the packets, delays for software decisions at each end, and stuff like that.

If your network runs on old twisted pair at 19.2kbaud, you really have to go through an exercise as outlined above. An oscilloscope might help to measure what you see on the wire.

If your network runs on Ethernet, and your data packets are not megabyte-size, things will work pretty quickly, and an affordable oscilloscope won't be of much help. For measurements there, you might use a third computer on the same net, and a software tool called a packet sniffer.

If none of that makes a bit of sense to you, you will need to rent a professional to help you pose a better question and get the answers you need.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA