NetCPS is a free tiny utility which can be used to measure effective performance for TCP/IP network. Run NetCPS in server mode on one machine and query using NetCPS from another machine to measure performance.
To run in server mode, Start "netcps -s" on one machine, and from another machine run netcps as netcps IP ADDRESS (ex: netcps 192.168.0.1) on the other machine, and the two programs will pump 100 MB of data over the network. The CPS is measured with 1/1000 second's accuracy.
Note that winsock seems to take quite some CPU resources on high-speed connections. The author explains that he got ~4 MB/s max on a Intel Pentium 133, and ~7 MB/s on an AMD K6 200, using a Intel Intel Pro 200 server with NT 4.0 Server as the other host. He got a report that two Pentium 200 servers running NT 4.0 server had 10 MB/s on a direct connection (server to server, no hub or switch).
Netcps use a normal TCP/IP connection, pumping data without any disk access.
The author Jarle Aase says Netcps was something he wrote in a hurry. He wrote it during a troubleshooting session with some cisco switches that seemed to have problems with 100 MBits connections. It should be useful for testing networks, and the performance of hubs, switches and routers. The program is targeted towards needs of testing performance, and has no fancy features. The program should however be useful for network professionals. It's quite small and easy to use.
Netcps is freeware. You can use it, and the source code, to whatever purpose you want – with one small restriction: Governmental and military use is NOT permitted.
Part of the source code is borrowed from the sample code at www.sockets.com
For download the utility itself and the source code, click here
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