Spirent ML-7710 Ethernet SmartMetrics SmartCard

The Spirent ML-7710 Ethernet SmartMetrics SmartCard provides the capability to simulate complex, large network configurations that are necessary for developing, testing and validation of performance and interoperability of Layer 2 and Layer 3 devices. The card is designed to work with Spirent's SMB-200 and SMB-2000 chassis systems. It provides full and half duplex operations for Ethernet and Fast Ethernet environments. The ML-7710 offers an RJ-45 connector and supports IEEE 802.3 10/100Base-T standards for reliable and flexible network interfacing. It allows a line rate of either 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps, manually or by auto-negotiation, which the user controls.

The ML-7710 offers high powered testing, including full line-rate transmit and capture with up to four ports per SMB-200 chassis and as many as 20 ports for the SMB-2000. It can support up to 640 ports from a single desktop with 32 chassis and provides extensive network emulation capabilities. ML-7710 has transmit options that allow the generation of frames at full line rates and burst and continuous transmission modes, making it very versatile in being used within a myriad of testing environments. This card has frame-based transmission options like alternate frames and variable data fields for in-depth analysis and testing of device response under load conditions. The user can select and configure the Frame length, Inter-packet gap, and Background frame data patterns to model real conditions of the network and error patterns, including CRC, alignment, and oversize/undersize errors.

This card has built-in support for multiple network protocols- ARP, DHCP, ICMP, IGMP, IP, IPX, and VLAN, thus aiding in emulation of diverse network traffic. This helps in the assessment of device performance in a range of communication scenarios. The card also contains protocol-based monitoring and testing functionalities, such as sequence tracking and latency measurements. Accordingly, sequence tracking provides for measuring throughput and frame loss on a per-stream basis, while latency tracking records minute time intervals, minimum and maximum latency, and their distribution. 

The ML-7710 uses one slot in the SMB-200 or SMB-2000 chassis and is compatible with an IBM or like Pentium PC. The ML-7710 is an excellent solution for any wide-ranging network simulation and testing environment, suitable for quality assurance processes in very complex networking configurations, with a single 10/100Base-T Ethernet port.