Abstract

Intel Corp. commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate the IPv6 forwarding throughput and latency of the Intel IXP2400 Network Processor. The IXP2400 offloads network-processing chores from host devices. Tolly Group engineers benchmarked the IPv6 performance of the device in a series of tests conducted in May 2003.

Engineers measured the aggregate forwarding rate of the IXP2400 when handling packet sizes of 78, 128, 256, 512, 1,024, 1,280 and 1,518 bytes. Engineers also employed a real-world routing table sample to calculate the IPv6 forwarding performance of the IXP2400 in a Gigabit Ethernet scenario.

Engineers also measured the latency induced by the IXP2400 in each of the scenarios. Latency was measured at 100%, 95%, 90% and 50% of line rate. Plus engineers measured the packet loss ration of the IXP2400. Packet loss ratio is defined as the percentage of received packets that should have been forwarded by the IP forwarding function but were instead dropped.

Finally, engineers measured the overload forwarding rate of the IXP2400, or the maximum rate at which packets are forwarded over a port. Plus, engineers noted the device’s forwarding table update rate, or the number of entries per second that the forwarding table can be updated within a second.

Actual performance results are available in the Test Summary report, which is available for free by clicking on the below link.