Performance evaluation of networks with physical and virtual links

Understanding network operation and performance issues is critical, particularly in a time when physical and virtual topologies are converging. This convergence is underscored by the adoption of cloud computing services. However, application design scenarios behave differently as do the topologies used for those applications. This paper is an investigation into the performance of virtual and physical Gigabit links after testbed anomalies were detected in the transfer and speed rates. After hundreds of tests we conclude that there significant differences between performance of Gigabit links on native topology types and bridged topologies due to operating system changes, switching methodology and overhead. Further, additional resources allocated to virtual devices does not mean an automatic increase in network link performance.