Initiator Emulation

The SANBlaze Initiator Emulator for FCoE, Fibre Channel, iSCSI and SAS provides simulation of a single to hundreds of Initiator ports. The Initiator product operates on existing SANBlaze VirtuaLUN and GargantuLUN systems, making it easy to integrate into existing SANBlaze environments. The software runs standalone or in conjunction with SANBlaze Target Emulation software for an end-to-end solution.

SANBlaze Initiator Emulation provides unparalleled advantages over the real thing: smaller footprint, lower power consumption, centralized management and control and lower cost of ownership.

Simulation of hundreds of host devices or initiators is possible in a 1U form factor.

Features such as read/write/compare testing, error injection and a custom command builder provide the ideal environment in which to simulate Initiator test cases via script or an easy to use web interface. The patent pending “BlazterMode” allows for all ports to run at full line rate.

Flexible User Interface
Powerful web-based GUI allows you to quickly create, save and restore multiple configurations.  From a single console, a single port or multiple ports across multiple systems can be configured to begin read, write or read/write testing simultaneously.  Real time statistics, trace mode and a script building tool are all available from the GUI.  An interface with industry standard tools such as IOMeter provide a known user interface with which to use the system for testing.  All emulator functionality is also available from a CLI interface and can be automated using batch scripting.

Configurability
Each emulator port can be configured to simulate a wide range of Initiator or host functionality.   Read/write/compare tests, as well as custom command sets, can be configured to simulate a wide variety of initiator test cases.  When using both target and initiator modes, a device under test (DUT) can be connected to two ports on a SANBlaze system, one configured as initiator, one configured as a target. The DUT can then be exercised and tested using one system, with traffic generated and/or errors injected on either side with the ability to generate custom commands and responses. 

Performance
SANBlaze systems can act as a wire speed device.  BlazterMode™ allows read/write tests to run at full line rates across all ports on SANBlaze systems. Tests can be run that eliminate the latency associated with real hosts or add latency in millisecond increments in a predictable manner.  Simulate  traffic into the fabric at full line rates hundreds of simultaneous logins, for example. Track round trip and throughput performance statistics of devices, using the SANBlaze systems as known, high performance, low latency end points.

Predefined Load Testing
Predefined tests provide desired load and performance testing such as Max throughput and Max IO tests with a click of the mouse. Configurable parameters such as block size, threads, IO's per thread and op codes allow for specific test cases to be easily configured and executed at the system, port, target or LUN level.

Generic and Custom IO generation
The ability to send individual IO or custom IO in scriptable test cases provide a granularity that allows for very specific cause and effect test cases.

Persistent Reservations/Reserve and Release
The SANBlaze system contains the ability to send specific commands providing some unique test cases and features for OS clustering applications.

Error Injection
Error injection from the initiator side enables error handling testing of targets. Multiple error conditions can be simulated.

Task Management
Task Management commands and conditions can be simulated as another unique test case capability.

Scalability
Depending on the protocol, the SANBlaze emulator can simulate 100's of end devices, providing unprecedented end device density in a small form factor. This allows for scalability testing at a fraction of the ownership cost.

Generate a wide variety of conditions, from basic read/write testing or individual SCSI commands to custom writes of specific size, byte offset and address.

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Generate a wide variety of conditions, from basic read/write testing or individual SCSI commands to custom writes of specific size, byte offset and address.