Avid Unity MediaManager Select

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1 Avid Unity MediaManager Select Network Test Tool Theory of Operation The Net Test Reflector (QosReflector.exe) allows you to point the Avid Performance Meter at a network-attached PC and measure available bandwidth to and from that PC. This can provide a basic diagnostic for evaluating the rough health of a given network between two points. The reason for creating this tool is to provide the capability for this evaluation in the situation where an Avid sales person is interested in determining whether the potential or existing client's network might support the use of the Avid Player within an Avid Unity MediaManager Select context. Background n Typically, the Avid Performance Meter is pointed at a Unity workspace. In the case of a pre-sales situation, one can use the Net Test Reflector to bounce a signal back to the Avid Performance Meter and provide a measurement of available bandwidth. The results from the Net Test Reflector will differ from those of a test to an installed Unity workspace, since disk writes performed on the workspace will not be a factor in the Net Test Reflector results. Therefore, available bandwidth numbers will appear to be much higher when using the Net Test Reflector, and a user well versed in normal Avid Performance Meter use might mistakenly conclude that the results from a Net Test Reflector test are exceptional.

2 Use In order to simulate an Avid Player client / PortServer Pro setup, recall that the supported configuration of such an installation requires the Player client to have a full, unshared 100-base T Ethernet connection to a switch which provides Gigabit Ethernet connectivity to the PortServer Pro. To use the Net Test Reflector with the Avid Performance Meter, you will need the use of two machines. One machine will have the Avid Performance Meter installed on it; this machine will correspond to the Avid Player client machine. The other will have the Net Test Reflector installed on it, and will correspond to the PortServer Pro. Select network locations which correspond to the Avid Player client machine and the PortServer Pro. Both machines need to have a valid TCP-IP address or DNS host name on the network on which the test is to be run. Configuration The machine running the Net Test Reflector (and corresponding to the PortServer Pro) can be virtually any PC running Windows 2000 or Windows XP. To install the Net Test Reflector, simply copy the QosReflector.exe file from the CD-ROM to the machine's desktop. The machine running the Avid Performance Meter (and corresponding to the Avid Player client machine) should be a Windows 2000 PC with a Pentium III 700MHz or better processor. To install the Avid Performance Meter, run the installer in the EthernetAttachClientSetup folder on the CD-ROM. (This is the Ethernet Attached Client installer from the MediaNetwork 3.1 installation CD. The Net Test Reflector is not compatible with the Avid Performance Meter from versions of MediaNetwork earlier than 3.1.) Choose "Non-Editing Systems" on the Select Components page of the installer.

3 Choose Non-Editing Systems At the end of the installation, the Avid Ethernet Attached Client Configuration dialog will appear. Simply hit the "Cancel" button. Connect the machines to the network, and configure them according to the local TCP-IP requirements. Be sure that they have valid IP addresses and, optionally, DNS hostnames. Once the machines are configured and connected, ensure that you can ping bidirectionally between them.

4 Running the Test Net Test Reflector There are two portions, which are explained separately: The Net Test Reflector simulates the PortServer Pro connection to Unity, and must be running before the Avid Performance Meter is initialized. To achieve this, double-click the Net Test Reflector's icon (QosReflector.exe) to start the application. Its window will open and, after a brief initialization, the Status field will report "Listening". No further configuration or action will be necessary. Status field will report Listening Avid Performance Meter The Avid Performance Meter tests client connectivity. Go to C:\Program Files\Avid Technology\Avid Ethernet Attached Client and click on "IOTester.exe" to start the Avid Performance Meter. Click the "Setup" button, and choose "Net Test (Unlimited-Writes)" from the "Test Name" drop-down. In "Path to Test", type the IP address or hostname of the PC running the Net Test Reflector. Set the duration to 2 or 5 minutes, and click the "OK" button.

5 n When the dialog disappears, Click the "Start" button on the main UI. If everything is set correctly, values will begin appearing in "Elapsed Time" and "Time Remaining" under "Control" in the upper right, and in the boxes under "Results" in the center of the UI. After a few seconds, green and light blue lines will begin appearing on the graph. The goal for this test is an Average Rate of 11.0 megabytes per second (MB/s) or better. Troubleshooting There are several things that could go wrong when you use this tool. t t If the Avid Performance Meter cannot contact the Net Test Reflector, the values in the boxes in the "Results" box in the center of the UI will stay at zero, except for the "Errors" box which will display a red "1". If the test duration in the Avid Performance Meter's Setup page is set to 10 minutes or "loop" and the test runs for 6-8 minutes, an internal buffer will overflow, and the MB/s will go to zero, and then rebound slowly. This isn't actual network performance, but bad data due to the buffer overflow. If more data is needed, stop the test and restart it.