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Little-known software testing provider Shunra Software Ltd. later this month will introduce a tool for application developers intended to help them understand how their applications will work across real-world WANs before they are deployed.
The Shunra/Stratus software, made up of a server and agents that reside on the developers workstation, allows developers to collaborate with network operations personnel so that their applications are designed to perform optimally over the types of network connections for which they are destined.
Application developers typically dont have access to production networks during the design and quality assurance testing phase. Instead, the applications are typically tested over high-speed LANs in a lab setting, where latency, jitter and other production network issues are not present.
Shunra/Stratus includes a Windows-based server with a Web interface that lets developers or network engineers define such parameters as bandwidth, latency and other types of real-world network scenarios. An existing network link can also be recorded as a measurement for testing. “We provide a way to let them record latency, packet loss, jitter and so on and then bring it into Stratus,” said Shunra CEO Benny Daon, in New York.
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WAN AT WORK The new Shunra/Stratus package includes:
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Definition files can be created by network operators that describe the characteristics of the different links that an application will use.
“The networking team can put in bandwidth limits, latency, packet loss, a reordering of packets, hardware faults within the connection and router emulation,” said Daon.
Finding and fixing application faults after they are deployed is more costly and complex than if they are caught early in the development phase, he said.
Despite its low profile, the 6-year-old Shunra has more than 900 customers using its WAN emulation software. Customers include Alcatel, The Boeing Co., Cisco Systems Inc., The Dow Chemical Co., FedEx Corp. and General Motors Corp. Shunras worldwide headquarters is in Tel Aviv, Israel, with U.S. headquarters in New York.
The software, available now, is priced at $25,000 for a server and 25 agents.