Three commonly used Simulators: Web, IOS & Network Simulators

A number of simulation systems are being developed, every day. Needless to mention their applications and uses! For example, flight simulators are used for training pilots to be able to respond quickly in critical flight situations. They are equipped with features that are aimed for pilots to think that they are actually driving a real plane; or the prevailing flight situation is actually a real one. Similarly, military simulation systems make the troops believe that they are interfacing with real opponents in a real battle.

Today, a number of simulators have come up related to testing and verifying the networking applications and day-to-day functions. We are highlighting only three of the most important simulators here.

Web Simulator

One of the main simulators that is used today is the Web simulator. This is used to simulate a real web server. It is mainly used for the developers of web based applications. Actually, most of the projects that are based on this simulator are aimed at coming up with testing the scalability of the web based applications that is capable of managing thousands of web services. The main essence of having the simulator is to make sure that all the necessary requirements of the web application have been met. There are numerous features that come with this simulator. Most of the features are aimed at starting, stopping and changing various fields for web app developers to easily come up with high performance applications with no errors. There are tools for debugging web based systems and to check their performance before they can be in operation.

IOS Simulator

Another important simulator that is commonly used today is the Cisco IOS Simulator. This is one of the most popular simulators that are available today. It comes with a number of features that have been incorporated for purposes of replicating a real IOS. The IOS is the operating system for Cisco. IOS simulator works on Cisco devices which include the 3640, 7206, 6260, 6500 and works seamlessly with, Cisco Prime Infrastructure, GSR manager, Cisco works 2000 and other network management applications. The simulator can replicate thousands of Cisco devices and then Telnet/SSH in to those devices. Then send “Show” commands to get the configuration and “Configure” commands to set the configurations, just like real Cisco devices.

Network Simulator

Another simulator that is also used on a wide scale is the Network Simulator. It boasts of many features that make it suitable for simulating a real network. The network simulator is actually software that is mainly used for predicting the behaviour and performance of any network applications. Under normal circumstances, it is difficult to analyse computer networks due to their complex nature. Therefore, network simulators are used to study their behaviour. It can simulate thousands of networking devices to try various scenarios to make sure applications manage those correctly.

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SNMP explained in great detail

The word SNMP are often talked about by people who have studied networking and other related computer network studies. But, they are not often explained in detail to lay people who may not easily understand what is being talked about. However, a concise explanation of what the word really refer to is given in this passage. The information is accurate enough to provide an understanding of the word and what it represent. One good thing about the information that has been presented in the passage is the fact that it can easily be understood by anyone who has a unique interested in computer networks. This also applies to any individual who is studying an academic program that is related to computer networks.

First of all what is SNMP? In simple terms, this is simple network management protocol. It is a means of network management that is based on a network protocol. The management protocol is mainly used to manage networks based on IP or TCP. A number of devices support SNMP. Major examples include routers, switches, modems, internet servers and printers. In general, this network management protocol can be thought of as a means of communication between several devices and a management application.

A number of devices are often controlled by management applications using SNMP. Actually, the SNMP enables devices to operate as a collective unit exchanging information with the management application. The manner in which this protocol operates is that it takes advantage of the manager-agent model. In this kind of model, there are agents as well as the network managers. The network agents can be as small as an office network or as large as a globally based telecommunication network. On the other hand, they can also be any simple device such as a network server, desktop or any device that is compatible. The simple communication that takes place between the manager and the external device or agent is based on an exchange of information. Information from the manager or tap receiver is sent to agents, which send back a response.

The messages that are sent by the SNMP protocol are referred to as TRAPS, GETS or SETS. There are also other two types which exist. These include GET-RESPONSE and GET-NEXT. This is the list of messages that the manager sends request to the devices for purposes of getting information from them. Only the SNMP Traps are commonly used for agents to send information to the managers without any request. The main essence of sending these messages is to send an alert to the manager as soon as the need arises. They are quite unique because they are the only ones which can be generated by an agent. These messages can also be used to send information on issues that have gone wrong. The agent can only be ‘aware’ of any issues that may have gone wrong if the information is sent to it in the form of traps.

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Three important features of SNMP simulation

An SNMP or simple network management protocol is a tool that is used for accurately managing devices which work with IP networks. It is a standard internet protocol that is specifically designed for this purpose. There are numerous devices that operate with or support SNMP. Some of the major examples of devices that support SNMP include servers, switches, routers, modems, printers as well as work stations. SNMP is mainly used by network managers to monitor the operations of devices that have been connected to a specific network. The network managers usually monitor the conditions that may require the attention of administration.

There are two platforms that use SNMP. The first one is the real device which implements the SNMP agent that is used in real situations. On the other hand, there is also a virtual platform which simulates the manner in which the real SNMP platform operates. Sometimes you may not need a real SNMP platform before you know how best to improve its operation and capabilities. This is the main reason why SNMP simulation is widely used. It is mainly important for studying the actual behaviour of a real SNMP device. The real SNMP normally depicts data in the form of variables so that the system configuration can be deduced for purposes of management. Depending on the system configuration displayed by the values, the management applications on which the SNMP depends can query or set the variables.

In general, SNMP simulator has several features which have an important role to play to ensure the successful management of the SNMP. However, three of the most important features are predominant.

The first and most important feature is a properly designed simulated SNMP agents. This is an SNMP agent that is designed with all the features that are possessed by the real SNMP device. It is specifically designed to provide a management application accurate understanding of a real SNMP agent’s behaviour. The simulator comes with features such as an operation user interface and various tools for altering its behaviour. Simulators are commonly used for replicating the behaviour of standard network management protocol. Therefore, they are also computer systems with features that cause network management software systems to ‘believe’ that they are actually interfacing with a real SNMP based network.

The other important feature is interfacing with the network management software. Actually, this is the entire centre of any SNMP simulator. It is specifically designed for the training of this software as well as testing the various components of the software in order to ascertain its level of ‘intelligence’ and advancement.

Another important feature is the duplication of real devices. In order to accurately predict the behaviour and performance of any SNMP based device, it is always important to simulate the behaviour of those devices such as routers, switches, servers, printers and modems. The simulator should be able to duplicate those accurately by recording them or able to change them to create various scenarios.

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