ATM WAN performance tools, experiments, and results

Practical experiments in a wide-area ATM network environment are essential to gain a better understanding of the factors affecting ATM performance. This article summarizes the main lessons learned through the authors' practical experiences with ATM and how these can be applied to performance tuning. In order to achieve maximum performance from an ATM WAN, factors ranging from the transport protocol to the equipment used and the network conditions must be carefully taken into consideration. The authors also discuss some of the software-based throughput measurement tools available for the evaluation of high speed network performance, with particular emphasis on NetSpec.