TrafGen Consulting
TrafGen is a high-performance network traffic generator built into the Linux netsniff-ng toolkit. Capable of generating millions of packets per second from a single machine, it's an essential tool for network engineers, security professionals, and anyone who needs to stress-test infrastructure at wire speed. Our consulting practice helps organizations deploy, configure, and get the most out of trafgen.
What Is TrafGen?
Trafgen is a zero-copy, kernel-level packet generator for Linux. Unlike application-level traffic generators that are limited by socket overhead, trafgen writes packets directly to the network interface using the kernel's TX_RING mechanism. This approach achieves line-rate transmission on 10G and 40G interfaces — far exceeding what tools like iperf or hping can produce.
Key Capabilities
- Wire-speed generation — Saturate 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps links from commodity hardware
- Custom packet crafting — Define arbitrary packet headers and payloads using a flexible configuration language
- Protocol support — Craft Ethernet, IP, TCP, UDP, ICMP, ARP, VLAN, MPLS, and custom protocol frames
- Randomization — Randomize source/destination IPs, ports, MAC addresses, and payload fields for realistic traffic profiles
- Scriptable — Automate traffic scenarios with shell scripts and configuration file generation
Services
Deployment & Configuration
We set up trafgen on your hardware, optimize kernel parameters for maximum throughput, and configure traffic profiles matched to your testing requirements.
Network Load Testing
Simulate production-scale traffic loads against firewalls, load balancers, switches, routers, and application servers. Identify performance ceilings and bottlenecks before they affect production.
DDoS Simulation
Generate controlled denial-of-service traffic patterns to test the resilience of your mitigation infrastructure. Validate that your DDoS protection systems perform as specified under realistic attack volumes.
Performance Benchmarking
Establish baseline throughput, latency, and packet loss metrics for network equipment. Compare vendor claims against real-world performance under controlled conditions.
Training
Hands-on workshops for network engineering teams covering trafgen configuration, traffic profile design, kernel tuning, and integration with monitoring and analysis tools like Wireshark and tcpdump.
Why TrafGen?
| Feature | trafgen | iperf3 | hping3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max throughput | Line rate (40 Gbps+) | ~10 Gbps | ~1 Gbps |
| Custom packets | Full control | TCP/UDP only | Limited |
| Kernel bypass | TX_RING zero-copy | User-space | User-space |
| Protocol flexibility | Any Ethernet frame | TCP/UDP | TCP/UDP/ICMP |
| Cost | Free (GPL) | Free | Free |
Getting Started
Whether you need a one-time load test or ongoing traffic generation infrastructure, our team brings deep Linux networking expertise and years of experience with the netsniff-ng toolkit. We work on-site or remotely, adapting to your security requirements and network environment.
Push your network to the limit — safely and deliberately.