Taking A Look at OWAMP

The One-Way Active Measurement Protocol or OWAMP was developed by the IP Performance Metrics Working Group (IPPM) as a part of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The IPPM Working Group, which I am involved with, develops metrics and processes for measuring IP performance in networks; OWAMP is one of those protocols. Specified in RFC 4656, OWAMP creates a process by which one-way measurements such as latency and packet loss may be made.

In reality, OWAMP is the umbrella specification for two underlying protocols: OWAMP-Control (OWAMP-C) and OWAMP-Test (OWAMP-T). OWAMP-C runs over TCP port 861 and is responsible for the negotiation of the various parameters necessary to successfully complete the measurements.  Additionally, this protocol handles the communication of the measurement results back to the initiating host. The OWAMP-T protocol actually sends the test packets, which are used to calculate the appropriate metrics. This protocol runs over a UDP port to be negotiated within the OWAMP-C session. The IP address of the sender and receiver are negotiated as well, allowing physical separation of the OWAMP-C and OWAMP-T endpoints.

OWAMP is a natively supported protocol within BreakingPoint testing tools and we have put together an OWAMP Application Protocol Brief that further illustrates the finer points of this measurement protocol and the benefits you gain by emulating the protocol during testing.

*This is the second in a series of Application Protocol Briefs, the first brief featured was on Citrix.