VanTek Consulting can help you and your team with your current testing requirements ranging from fiber commissioning to full fiber characterization, structured wiring, network testing. We can also provide or assist with Ethernet testing from 10 Meg to 10 Gig and higher utilizing current testing standards such as RFC 2544 and ITU-T Y.1564 SAM (Service Activation Methodology).
Please contact us if you would like more information on our testing services.
The short answer to this question is the test that is required by your customer. If this testing is being done internally for your company, we recommend the Y.1564. Some companies run both tests, which is technically not required. Another point to remember is that the Y.1564 is a testing standard. In contrast, the RFC 2544 is merely a request for comment and was developed for testing network interfaces and not specifically networks.
RFC 2544 vs. Y.1564The Battle Of The Tests
The first thing to remember is Ethernet is a Layer 2 protocol on the OSI model where TCP is a Layer 4 protocol, keeping this in mind understand that ethernet throughput and TCP throughput will always be different.
When testing ethernet is at always layer 2, there are advanced testing suites that will test TCP throughput, which is not part of the RFC 2544 or the Y.1564.
It is also essential to understand that there are differences between Y.1564 and RFC 2544, as far as the robustness of the tests. For more information on the differences between these two tests, you can visit our YouTube channel and view the Ethernet Testing video.
The ITU-T Y.1564 is a very robust test that is capable of putting stress on a circuit to verify that it will perform reliably in all situations.
The Y.1564 can test multiple data streams within the same pipe, including multiple services, VLANs, Q in Q tagging, traffic shaping, bursting, committed information rate, all more than the RFC 2544 can accomplish, and it performs these tests more quickly and efficiently.
Fiber Optic Testing& Reporting
Fiber Characterization Level 1 and Level 2 Testing Defined as “Fiber Characterization”, indicates measurements that may be carried out to satisfy service level agreements as stated in ITU-T G.650. 3 (§5.2)
