A Tutorial on Basic Use of OPNET IT Guru, Academic Edition

For use in network-related courses at NVCC under the OPNET University Program

James D. Boggs

OPNET and IT Guru are registered trademarks of OPNET Technologies, Inc.

Copyright 2009 by James D. Boggs

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Getting Started
You can use the Startup Wizard to define a new scenario by performing the following: 1. Be certain that OPNET IT Guru is running. If not, start it. 2. Select File | New Then select Project from the pull-down menu; click on OK. You will then be asked to enter the project name. Use software-supplied temporary name for this new scenario until the first time you save the project. Click OK and the Startup Wizard Opens.

Figure 1. First Two Dialog Boxes in IT Guru When you save the first time use the following entries for this practice scenario: a. Name the project by Using your initials followed by _SM_Int (e.g., jb_Sm_Int) b. Name the scenario First_floor c. Click OK 3. The Startup Wizard Initial Topology window opens and you should select Create Empty Scenario and click on Next.

Figure 2. Initial Topology Window

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4. The Startup Wizard Opens and you work through the dialog windows from top to bottom. The entries for these dialog windows are given in Table 1. Enter the values from Table 1 into the Startup Wizard click Next after each entry. Table 1. Scenario Set-up Values
Name of Dialog Box Initial Topology Choose Network Scale Specify Size Select Technologies Review Value to Enter Select: Create Empty Scenario Select: Office and Check the Use Metric Units box Leave the default size: 100 m x 100 m Scroll down and include: Sm_Int_Model_List model family Make sure values are correct and click OK

The result of this action is that a workspace will be created and displayed as a workspace. Additionally, the object palette for the selected technologies you specified will open in a separate window. The palette will contain the technology model family of objects that you selected, in this instance Sm_Int_Model_List. This example is sown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Object Palette for Sm_Int_Model_List

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Creating the Network

There are three ways to create a network topology model. First, you can import the topology. Second, you can drag objects from the active palette into the displayed workspace. Third, you can use Rapid Configuration. The third method is the one we will use now. You can use Rapid Configuration to create a network by selecting a network configuration, the types of nodes and the types of connecting links and activating the configuration module of IT Guru. 5. Go to the main work window menu bar and select Topology | Rapid Configuration.

Figure 4. Selecting the Rapid Configuration Tool 6. Then from the configuration drop-down select Star and click OK. There are several vendor model objects in the palette to choose from. To specify the nodes and link types for the network you should*: 1. Select a 3Com switch as the Center Node Model by choosing 3C_SSII_1100_3300_4s_ae52_e48_ge3 2. Choose Sm_Int_wkstn to be the Periphery Node Model. Then change the number of periphery nodes to 20. This action will set 20 Ethernet workstations as the peripheral nodes. 3. Select 10BaseT as the Link Model.

Copyright 2009 by James D. Boggs

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* Note that the models in the model family are named based on the protocol(s) the component handles as well as the function, and the level of the model. As an example: ethernet2_bridge_int is a model for a 2-port, Ethernet bridge at the intermediate level. The models provided by vendors for their products begin with a vendor prefix such as 3C for 3Com. You now need to indicate where the new network will be placed in the workspace area. The three instructions below apply to Figure 5. 1. Set the X Center value to 25 and Y Center value for the network to 50. 2. Make the Radius 20. 3. Then click OK.

Figure 5. Completed Configuration Values for Star The First Floor network will appear in the workspace Project Editor and the network should look like Figure 6.

Copyright 2009 by James D. Boggs

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Figure 6. Initial First Floor Network The initial network is in place, but you need to add a server using the second method dragging an object from the palette. If the palette is not open, open it by clicking on Palette button. 1. Look at the objects in the palette list and select the Sm_Int_server and drag it into the upper right side of the workspace. 2. When you drag-and-drop an object into the workspace, the OPNET software defaults the object to a state where you can add more copies of the object by merely left-clicking in the workspace. If you right click in the workspace, this object auto-copy feature is turned off. This object should be labeled Node 21. 3. You do not need to have more servers, so right click in the workspace. You now need to connect the new server to the existing network. 1. Look again at the object palette and find the 10BaseT object. Left click on the object. 2. Left click on the server object you just added, then click on the switch object in the middle of the star network. 3. Right click in the workspace to turn off the object auto-copy feature.
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In order for you to use the network model you just built, you need to add an application definition model and a traffic profile definition. Configuring these two model control objects is beyond the ability of a first time user so the object palette for this tutorial includes these two necessary items. By adding these two objects, the workstations will be modeled as accessing the database at a low rate. 1. Find the Sm_Application_Config object and drag-and-drop it into the workspace on the middle right side; right click to turn off the object auto-copy feature. This object should be labeled node 22. 2. The Find the Sm_Profile_Config object and drag-and-drop it into the workspace next to the Application Object; right click to turn off the object autocopy feature. This object should be labeled node 23. The workspace should look like Figure 7.

Figure 7. Complete First Floor Network

Copyright 2009 by James D. Boggs

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Collecting Statistics
Now that the base network has been defined, you can collect statistics on individual objects or nodes in the network (object statistics) or statistics for the entire network (global statistics). We do this collection to determine how the network should work as initially configured. We can then determine the impact if the network is changed. This will allow you to determine, for instance, answers to questions such as Will the server at the center be able to handle any additional load from the second network connected to the first? What will be the impact on total delay across the network when the second network is connected?

We will collect Server Load as an individual object statistic and Ethernet Delay as a global statistic to answer these questions. Server load is the key statistic that captures the performance of the entire network. To collect the required statistics, perform the following: 1. Right click on the server node labeled node 21 to begin setup for collecting Server Load. When the menu appears select Choose Individual Statistics.

Figure 8. Menu When Clicking on Node

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2. Selecting Choose Individual Statistics will display the Choose Results Dialog Box as shown in Figure 9. This box has a tiered grouping of the types of statistics you can collect. For Server Load we need a measure of bits/sec.

Figure 9. Choose Results Dialog Box 3. Click the gray box next to Load (bits/sec) so you can collect that statistic. 4. Click OK. We now need to set up to collect some global statistics concerning the network as a whole such as a global Ethernet Delay statistic. 1. Right click outside the Choose Results Dialog Box, but in the workspace and not on an object. From the menu you should again select Choose Individual Statistics. 2. A three-item selection will appear as shown in Figure 10.

Copyright 2009 by James D. Boggs

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Figure 10. Initial Statistics Choices. 3. Click on the plus box next to Global Statistics and a hierarchy of choices appears as in Figure 11. Expand Ethernet by clicking on the plus box and then select the gray box next to Delay (sec). Then click OK.

Figure 11. Select Ethernet Delay.

Copyright 2009 by James D. Boggs

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Now that the Choose Results box is closed, you should save the scenario with a specific name. On the menu bar for IT Guru , select File | Save As and type in the window for the filename: your initials_sm_Int (e.g., jdb_sm_Int). Then click OK. Before you run the simulation, verify that your repositories preference is set. 1. From the menu bar choose Edit | Preferences. 2. Type repositories in the Find field and then click on the Find button. 3. The returned value should be stdmod, for standard model. If it is not, then click on the filed and type stdmod in the dialog box. 4. Click OK and the repositories and Preferences dialogs will close. It is now time to run the simulation to collect statistics. 1. You can begin by going to the menu bar and selecting Simulation | Configure Discrete Event Simulation.

Figure 12. Simulation Menu.

You can also click on the configure/run simulation icon shown here. 2. On the Common Tab, enter 0.75 for 45 minutes of simulation time (not wall clock time) and be certain units are hour(s) and leave the other entries alone. The display should look like Figure 13.

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Figure 13. Configure Simulation Dialog Box Common Tab. 3. Click Run button at the bottom left of this box to begin the simulation. A message window will appear briefly to display the progress of the simulation. This will look like Figure 14. When complete it will look like Figure 15.

Figure 14. Simulation Window: In Progress.

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Figure 15. Simulation Window; Complete. 4. Close the progress message window by clicking on Close in the Simulation Sequence dialog box. 5. If the simulation does not complete of if there are indications that no results were collected, you will have to trouble shoot your simulation. Use the OPNET Corporation Troubleshooting Tutorial Simulations paper.

Viewing Results
Now you can view the results of your simulation, that is, the data collection for each of the two statistics you selected for this Ethernet implementation. 1. Right click on node_21 server and choose View Results from the pop-up menu. 2. Expand the Office network.node_21 if needed and the display should look like Figure 16. Then click on the plus box near Ethernet to expand it.

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Figure 16. Results Hierarchy for Node 21 3. Click on the box next to Load (bits/sec) and this should display the results in Figure 17. Click on Show to see a larger version of the graph. Click on Hide to remove the large graph display.

Figure 17. New server Load Results. You should note that the individual statistic load for the server is below 6kbits/second; you will need this value as baseline for the continuation of the tutorial using the OPNET Corporation version of the Tutorial. You now need to look at the global statistics that were collected. Therefore, close the results display window by clicking on Close in the lower right corner.
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1. Right click in the scenario workspace, not on an object, and from the pop-up menu select View Results. 2. Check the box next to Global Statistics, then the plus next to Ethernet and on the gray box for Delay. This will show the delay for the entire network and should look like Figure 18.

Figure 18. Global Delay Results. You should notice that the network reached a steady state in approximately .4 milliseconds. When you are finished viewing the View Results window, close it. I recommend that you save your project before you go to the next stage. If you decide to exit IT Guru before going on, a dialog box like Figure 19 will appear. Click on Save.

Copyright 2009 by James D. Boggs

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Figure 19. Final Dialog Box for Saving Project This ends the detailed first part of the tutorial.

Expanding and Changing the Network

Use the OPNET Corporation tutorial to expand this network and compare the network statistics.

Copyright 2009 by James D. Boggs

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