Operating System Software Update 1.1 Released
We are happy to announce the availability of the 1.1 operating system software for the BPS-1000 and BPS-10000 appliances. This release is available for download from the OS Updates link on the right side of this page. From the release notes:
Enhancements
This release offers several substantial changes that provide more fine-grained control over test traffic; this includes the ability to define application traffic and generate VLAN tagged traffic. In addition, several test components have been modified to include more functionality. This section will detail the notable enhancements that have been added to this release.
Application Manager
In the previous release, users were able to create a mix of application traffic by defining percentages of application protocols (e.g., 50% HTTP, 25% SMTP, and 25% POP3) with the App Sim test component but relied on the system to generate random data flows. All percentages of traffic had to add up to 100%.
In this release, there is a new feature called the Application Manger, which allows users to create their own application traffic by defining the actual flows. The App Manager is designed to be used in conjunction with the App Sim test component.
Using the Application Manager, users can create App Profiles, which consist of Super Flows. These Super Flows define the protocol type, server-type, and client-type. Then, within the Super Flow, users can determine the sequence of actions that occur in the traffic flow. Each Super Flow within the App Profile is assigned a weight that determines the frequency in which the Super Flow will be selected for traffic use.
And finally, with the App Sim test component, users can select the App Profile they’ve created with the Application Manager.
VLAN Traffic
In the Network Neighborhood, users can now create domains that contain multiple subnets and tag that traffic with VLAN IDs. Each subnet can have up to two VLAN tags. For Q-in-Q support, users can assign a TPID for each domain that identifies the outer Qtag. With the implementation of VLAN traffic support, components can send and receive traffic using the same interface; however, each component must use a different domain for the source and destination addressing.
With the Capture and Recreate feature, users can capture VLAN tagged traffic. There is a VLAN filter that allows users to capture packets with specific VLAN tags.
Component Updates
Both the Bit Blaster and Routing Robot test components have new UDF (user defined fields) parameters that allow users to specify incrementing/decrementing payload values. Additionally, users can control the width of the incrementing/decrementing payload value.
Bit Blaster and Routing Robot both have a set of new parameters labeled as Advanced Options. These parameters allow users to configure some of the fields within the Ethernet frame (for Bit Blaster) and IP packet (for Routing Robot). For example, users can now define the TOS and TTL fields of the IP packet and define the Ethernet type and value for Ethernet frames.
Both these test components have a new parameter called Slow Start. This parameter allows users to specify if the test component can send a small amount of traffic to the DUT at the start of the test. This will ensure that switching and routing devices can identify which port to send traffic on.
The Security component now includes over 3,200 Strikes. This release incorporates all StrikePack updates inclusive of update 17714. Over 400 new Strikes including the latest Microsoft vulnerabilities and many new evasion options have been added since the 1.0 release. In addition, the StackScrambler component now includes an option to establish valid TCP sessions before sending corrupt traffic.
Several defects with the session-based components – Session Sender, App Sim, and Recreate – have been addressed in this release.
Notable changes include:
- The previous release used a fixed IP ID of 0x64; this release uses a different IP ID per datagram.
- These components will always keep the specified number of sessions open for the entire duration of the test.
- These components now work with SYN proxies.
- Reports for these components now show concurrent connections/network flows and TCP time to open/time to close data in reports.
- SIP traffic uses the correct IP addresses in the payload and uses accurate sequencing.
- The data rate for these components can be specified per interface or as an aggregate value for the test component.
Device Under Test Profiles
The DUT Profiles area of the Control Center now has an area where users can specify the connection speed and operational mode for the interface. Previously, the system automatically set the connection speed for the device; now, users have the ability to manually specify the link speed for the DUT and whether the connection is full-duplex or half-duplex.
See the complete release notes for more information.
BPS-1000 1.1 Beta 1 Software Update
We are happy to announce the availability of 1.1 Beta 1 for the BPS-1000 appliance. This release is available for download from the StrikePacks link on the right side of this page. The 1.1 Beta 1 release offers some substantial feature enhancements that provide users with more fine-grained control over test traffic. In the GA release of the BPS-1000, users were able to create a mix of application traffic by defining percentages of application protocols (e.g., 50% HTTP, 25% SMTP, 25% POP3), but relied on the system to generate random data flows. Even though the BPS-1000 System supports an extensive number of application modules, users could not configure the application traffic to match their own network traffic or define client and server profiles.
In response to this need, BreakingPoint Systems is developing a new feature called the AppManager, which allows users to create network-specific data flows by defining the actual mix of applications. The AppManager itself will be a separate, new UI feature that will be used in conjunction with the App Sim test component -- similar to how the Attack Manager is currently used with the Security component. Using the AppManager, users will be able to create application profiles consisting of protocol type, server type, and client type; then, users can select the profile for use through the App Sim test component. Host addresses, however, will still be generated using Network Neighborhood settings.
This Beta 1 release notably includes the implementation of four application protocols with configurable parameters: DNS, HTTP, SIP, and SMTP. These parameters are viewable and configurable from App Sim's advanced options. Please see the release notes on the StrikePack page for more information about this update.