SimpleAgentEnterprise™

Network Management Simulator

Overview

SimpleAgentPro® is a Network Management Simulator with an easy to use GUI that can simulate an entire network of LAN-WAN components made up of thousands of manageable devices.

Used by many of the leading network management vendors including HP, CA, BMC, IBM and Cisco, SimpleAgentPro has become the industry standard for network management simulation all over the world.

Using this tool, management application vendors and system integrators can quickly develop, test and demonstrate management applications without requiring thousands of expensive and bulky hardware boxes.

Enterprise Level simulations, made up of thousands of devices, can be distributed over multiple servers and still controlled from one user interface.

Simulated devices support a variety of network management protocols like:
SNMP V1, V2c and v3NetconfTL1CoAP
Telnet/CLIFTP Client And ServerIPMI var 1.5/2.0MQTT
SSHREST and SOAP Over HTTP/sNetflow (5,7,8,9), IPFix, sFlowModbus over TCP
HTTP/HTTPsTFTP Client and ServerVMware vSphere API callsBACnet/IP

Each simulated device can support its own MIBs, data, and IP Address. SimpleAgentPro’s unique ability to create default variables from MIB or simply learn variables from an existing agent and its built-in support for dynamic values allows it be setup quickly. The use of Tcl based scripting allows for advanced modeling of agent behavior, trap generation, creation of error scenarios and expression of inter-relationships between MIB variables..

Applications

Operation

A few simple steps are required to start the SimpleAgentPro. They are:

  1. Use the built in MIB compiler to load the MIBs supported by the Agent.
  2. Use the built in MIB Instance creator to define the variables to be supported or use the MIB learner to learn them from an existing agent or simply select from pre-existing devices in the device library.
  3. Edit the instance and value information if required. Valid defaults are automatically created. The SimpleAgentPro is now ready to receive SNMP Get/GetNext/GetBulk/Set requests and send replies. Simply repeat the above steps for each additional device to be simulated, or simply “clone” the added device.
  4. Use Tcl based scripts to emit any selected trap on demand.

Benefits

Shortened
"Time to Market"

Shortened “Time to Market” by allowing development of management applications to proceed in parallel with Agent development.

Improved Quality of Management

Improved quality of management applications and allows testing with hundreds of devices.

Demonstration of Capabilities

Demonstration of capabilities of management applications in the absence of an agents at trade shows, customer sites or in training classes.

Duplication of Your Production Network

Duplication of your production network in your test bed for trying out scripts, training and disaster recovery testing.

Features

Hardware and Software Requirements

Simulation Capabilities
Multiple network cardsSupported on Linux.
Community string based proxiesMultiple proxy devices are supported. VLAN, Entity MIB style device simulation examples provided. Also supports context name/engineid proxies
ViewsSeparate read and write community strings supported. Additional view control available via scripts. Multiple community strings also supported
SNMP VersionSNMPv1, SNMPv2C, SNMPv3 (noAuth/noPriv, Auth/noPriv and Auth/Priv)
Control agentsEach agent’s behavior can be fully controlled while running. Devices can be made to stop responding to pings, SNMP or both. All values, instances, rates can be changed. sysUptime can also be controlled. Individual devices can be started, stopped and restarted without bringing entire map down.
TrapsTraps, Notifications and Informs can be configured to be sent as part of pdu processing, timer events or at startup.
SyslogSyslog events can be generated by the simulated devices. Built-in utility can also learn syslog events by first receiving them for subsequent replay.
MIB and VariablesMIB and variable files can be shared by multiple devices. Values of variables have built-in default dynamism without requiring any setting up and scripting. Counter rates can be fully controlled via simple tcl command.
Runtime changes to VariablesBoth Read-Only and Read-Write variables can be changed without stopping the simulation. Rows can be dynamically added and deleted for provisioning.
Memory UtilizationConfigurable based on CACHE_SIZE. Allows devices with large number of variables (100,000+) to be easily supported in very small amounts of memory.
PerformanceGreater than 1750 Pdus/sec. (Pdu contained a single variable GET request on PentiumII/400Mhz/256M).
Multi-processor supportImplementation uses threads to make use of multiple processors when available.
Remote consoleCan control simulations running on multiple machines to provide unlimited scalability.
Multi-user supportAvailable on Linux with setuid.
SNMP transmission delayCan control delay for each device.
Packet dropsEach device can simulate packet drops at a specified rate.
Custom actions hooksActions in the form of tcl scripts can be specified at start up, during pdu processing, at the end, and based on timer events on a per device basis.
SNMP tracingBoth SNMP request,responses and traps can be traced at both PDU level as well as raw packet level.
Large TablesNew version supports very large tables with thousands of rows without large memory requirements.
Sharing of MIBs and dataCompiled MIB files and data files can be shared by multiple devices. Device specific information like IP address from data files is automatically mapped.
Different MIB versionsDifferent devices can be easily setup to support different versions of the same MIB.
TFTP ClientTFTP client support is part of the product.
FTP ClientFTP client support is part of the product.
TFTP ServerAdd-on TFTP server module available.
FTP ServerFTP Server module support available on Linux.
DHCPDHCP support is part of the product. DHCP Relay Agents are also supported.
ToDToD support is part of the product.
Advanced ModellingDynamic simulation support is built-in. Additional agent behavior modelling can be done via TCL based scripts. TCL commands provided to generate traps, change ping/SNMP status and manipulate instances/values.
Diffie-HellmanDHCP support is part of the product. DHCP Relay Agents are also supported.
Trap Generation
SNMPv1 TrapsSupported.
SNMPv2c NotificationsSupported.
SNMPv2c InformsSupported.
SNMPv3 NotificationsSupported.
SNMPv3 InformsSupported.
Programmatic GenerationSupported. Traps can be generated as part of pdu processing, timer events, at startup, based on user commands or via command line messages
Command line GenerationSupported. Traps and syslogs can be generated using command line utility for devices in currently running maps.
Creation from MIBSupported. Traps with appropriate data can be automatically created based on TRAP-TYPE and NOTIFICATION-TYPE macro definitions in MIBs.
Learning from DeviceSupported. Traps with appropriate data can be automatically created based on TRAP-TYPE and NOTIFICATION-TYPE macro definitions in MIBs.
Learning from LogsSupported. Traps from multiple devices can be replayed with appropriate data based on data in log files.
Device Learning
Date IntroducedFirst product in the market to introduce this innovative idea (Dec 1994).
Built-in SupportCapability is part of the product and need not be purchased separately.
Detect GetNext errorsYes. Can also be configured to ignore them and continue learning and resort later.
Ignore detected violationsConfigurable.
Limit table sizesYes. Will limit learning to only the specified number of rows.
Start learning at any pointYes. Learning can be started from any point in the MIB registration tree.
Limit to one subtreeYes, only the specified sub-tree can be learnt.
Ignore subtreesYes, specified MIB sub-trees can be ignored.
Slow down retrievalYes, a delay can be injected between two SNMP learn queries.
Detect infinite loopsYes.
Learn without MIBYes. All variables supported by the agent can be learnt.
Learn only from MIBYes. Can restrict learning to only those variables that are present in the specified MIB(s).
Learn many devices in parallelYes.
Command Line UtilitiesSeparate utilities included in the product to allow learning at customer premises without licensing requirements.
Learing polled responsesPoller utility is included that records multiple polled responses from a real device so that they can be replayed by simulated devices.
Learn large networksDiscovery wizard present to learn from seed router, subnets and IP ranges. Command line utiltiies also available to do parallel, multi-threading SNMP walking and discovery at customer sites.
Learn from Network Management AppsWizards present to import data from popular management applications like HPOpenView, CA Spectrum, CastleRock SNMPc and others. Simplifies the task of duplicating production network in your test bed.
Create Variables from MIB
Built-in SupportCapability is part of the product and need not be purchased separately.
Automatic instance creationYes.
Table sizesConfigurable
Over ride defaultsConfigurable
MIB Compilation
Built-in SupportCapability is part of the product and need not be purchased separately.
SMI supportedSNMPv1 and SNMPv2C SMI supported
Multiple MIB compilationSupported
LeniencyVery lenient. New MIB Compiler uses a best-effort mode to extract maximum information from MIBs with syntax errors.
Automatic resolution of dependenciesCan automatically look for imported definitions by searching through all the MIB files in a specified directory.
MIB filesOver 2000+ MIBs included.

SimpleSoft Network Simulator Overview

This short tutorial will give you an overview on SimpleSoft’s Network Management Simulators which can be used to simulate thousands of wired and wireless devices.

SimpleSoft - an Industry Leader

Over the last 30+ years, 1000+ companies in 35 countries, have come to depend on SimpleSoft to simplify their development, testing, demonstration and management of networks and systems.

Resources

Explore our blogs, whitepapers, videos and product updates

SimpleSoft Network Simulator Overview

SimpleSoft Agent Tester Overview

SimpleSoft SimpleIoTSimulator Overview

SimpleSoft releases Version 27.5 of SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise
SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise 27.5 now GetBulk based, faster learning, include file support in Telnet modeling files to reduce duplication, automatic handling of filters in Cisco IOS CLI commands,…
Release Notes

December 20, 2023

SimpleSoft releases Version 27.0 of SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise
SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise 27.0 now supports common data representation of variables for use by many management protocols, saving of configuration command information during CLI provisioning, simplified GPB buffer specification for Telemetry, Modeling file debugger,…
Release Notes

June 29, 2023

SimpleSoft releases Version 26.5 of SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise
SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise 26.5 now supports performance statistics in Netconf, provides remote host/port information in Telnet/SSH for filtering, allows timer_action to be staggered in SNMP,…
Release Notes

December 20, 2022

SimpleSoft releases Version 26.0 of SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise
SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise 26.0 now enhances Telemetry support in HTTP2/client and HTTP2, adds valuelist support in Netconf data modeling, AES-192-C and AES-256-C support for Cisco key initialization in SNMP,…
Release Notes

July 29, 2022

SimpleSoft releases Version 25.5 of SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise
SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise 25.5 now adds enhanced Netconf support for data modeling and namespaces, improved Telnet config command score handling, HTTP/2 server response generation without data,…
Release Notes

December 14, 2021

SimpleSoft releases Version 25.0 of SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise
SimpleAgentPro/Enterprise 25.0 now includes support for HTTP/2 client for dial-out telemetry with gRPC, exporting and importing of maps, device diagnostic connectivity checking, support for a config command score to give different show command responses after config changes in Telnet/SSH,…
Release Notes

July 27, 2021