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PowerEdge: How to test network bandwidth using 'iperf'

Summary: This article provides information about how to test available network bandwidth using iperf3.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Instructions

Note:  The iperf3 tool is open source software that is available with source code and developed by ESnet / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It is released under a three-clause BSD license. It is not a Dell Technologies tool.


Download or install the iperf3 utility for the operating system (OS) being used:


Windows Installation: 

  1. Download the latest Binary found here
  2. Extract the Binary .zip file anywhere on the local file system to later run it from.
  3. There is no install for Windows, instead open a command prompt at the location the utility was extracted to.


Red Hat Linux Installation: 

  1. Run the following command with superuser privileges (root):
dnf install iperf3


Ubuntu Linux Installation: 

  1. Run the following command with sudo privileges:
sudo apt install iperf3
  
Note:  The iperf utility is installed by default on VMware ESXi 7.0 and newer located on the local file system:  "/usr/lib/vmware/vsan/bin/iperf3"


How to test available network bandwidth:

On the server receiving data, run the following command: 
iperf3 -s
The port used (Default 5201) must be opened if a local firewall is enabled. You can specify a specific port If needed with the "-p <port>" option.

On the server sending data, run the following command: 
iperf3 -c x.x.x.x
Replace the <x.x.x.x> with the IP address of the server from step 2.
 
iperf running on Windows in server mode
Figure 1: Image of iperf3 running on Windows as server ready to receive data.  
 
iperf client transfer output
Figure 2: Image of iperf3 running on Linux as client showing transfer results
 

Additional Information:

The iperf3 utility is a commonly used network testing tool that measures the throughput of a network between two systems.

It allows the user to set various parameters that can be used for testing a network, or alternatively for optimizing or tuning a network. It has a client and server functionality and can measure the throughput between the two ends, either unidirectionally or bi-directionally. It is open-source software and runs on various platforms including Linux, Windows, and VMware.

If a specific interface address must be used, you can specify the address to use with the "-B <x.x.x.x>" option.
When testing networks above 10G speeds its best to connect the client with multiple threads using the "-P <threads>" option.

Note:  Additional information about iperf3 and its uses can be found at iperf.fr.

Affected Products

C Series, Modular Infrastructure, Rack Servers, Tower Servers
Article Properties
Article Number: 000139427
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 26 Aug 2024
Version:  8
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