Ostinato has been there for a while. I think it is the best you can get as opensource traffic generator, if you don't have access to commercial hardware (Ixia, Spirent, etc.).
Also, there's this project based on the VPP dataplane technology, which could help you achieve higher bitrates. Personally I haven't managed to play with it yet:
https://trex-tgn.cisco.com/
>" if you don't have access to commercial hardware (Ixia, Spirent, etc.)."
Is there a way with Ostinato do 10's of Gigs of traffic sustained(perhaps by leveraging a fleet of them)? I didn't see anything in my cursory look at the docs. That's one of the reasons that Ixia, Spirent are able to command the price tags they do(I think they're' baseline $100K)
> Also, there's this project based on the VPP dataplane technology...
vpp is primarily based on dpdk, specifically, it utilizes their pmd etc. implementation for fast packet-io in userland. ostinato too has this feature i.e. line-rate packet generation using dpdk.
I just discovered that guy's (Rick Beato's) channel the other day. I normally find music theory very dry, but even my kids found that video interesting.
Linux kernel has a built-in traffic generator, can rarely find documents on how to use them, but I heard Spirent etc is using that to test their generators in the making
Can someone recommend good lectures/book for full stack network programming focused on concepts but with enough detail? Something similar to The Elements of Computing Systems by Nisan & Schocken, but for networks?
I have the TCP/IP Guide you mention and I'd recommend it, also. I'd also suggest if the asker buys the Interconnections book, that they also go ahead and buy the TCP/IP Illustrated (volumes I-III) as well. They are textbooks, to be sure, but if you find this stuff interesting, you'll be happy to have them. Very high knowledge density, though a bit outdated. And while we're talking about some of those old textbooks, I'd recommend the newest editions of the Unix Network Programming books [0], the earlier editions of which were really helpful to me when I was learning this stuff way back in the day. I'm a huge fan of textbooks, so maybe I'm going a bit overboard, but I did really enjoy them.
A few years back I was debugging a strange issue with an ethernet controller and Ostinato was absolutely crucial. Even with access to Ixia hardware I can't recommend it enough for packet generation work!
Also, there's this project based on the VPP dataplane technology, which could help you achieve higher bitrates. Personally I haven't managed to play with it yet: https://trex-tgn.cisco.com/