Network Virtualization

LoadRunner uses Network Virtualization (NV) to help you test point-to-point performance of network-deployed products under real-world conditions.

By incorporating NV into your scenario, you can generate more realistic results by configuring Vuser groups with specific network effects, depending on the actual routes and characteristics of the networks. For example, you could define a location from New York to London and another one from Los Angeles to New York. As a result of this, your scenario performs the test in a more realistic environment that better represents the actual deployment of your application.

During the scenario run, you can run the NV monitors to verify that your scenario is performing network virtualization. For details, see Network Virtualization Monitoring.

After the scenario run, you can view the results in Analysis or the NV Insights report. For details, see Network Virtualization Graphs, Transaction Response Time by Location Graph, or NV Insights Report.

Network virtualization can be used in conjunction with IP spoofing.

For details about Network Virtualization, see the Network Virtualization for LoadRunner and Performance Center Help (select the relevant version).

Installation

The LoadRunner setup wizard prompts you to install NV at the conclusion of the installation. If you did not install the NV components as part of the LoadRunner installation, you can run the NV installation manually at any time.

  • The installation files for Windows are located in the <LoadRunner installation package>Additional Components\Network Virtualization folder.
  • The installation files for load generators on Linux are located in the <LoadRunner installation package>\Standalone Applications\linux_x64\NV4LG folder.

Refer to the installation guide in the Network Virtualization folder to review the system requirements and to determine which NV components to install on your machine. You can also find this information in the installation section of the Network Virtualization for LoadRunner and Performance Center Help (select the relevant version).

Note:

  • The latest LoadRunner version must be installed before you can install the NV components.
  • If you have a Shunra or a Network Virtualization version prior to 12.50 installed on the machine, you must uninstall the earlier version and reboot the computer before installing NV. Otherwise, the NV installation will fail. (For Network Virtualization 12.50 and later, the installation process automatically uninstalls NV components.)

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