Today, organizations are in constant motion — and so are networks. We now deal with greater volumes of information than ever before.
With the growing need for network technology, there is a corresponding demand for testing. Before you deploy any new network configuration, device, or application, you want everything to work properly. Otherwise, you could face performance bottlenecks, outages, and slow response times — all of which negatively impact workflows and end-user experience.
Network emulation and simulation are two testing methodologies. Each one serves a purpose and offers distinct advantages to network engineers. But, which one is right for your testing goals? Let’s take a look at both to find out.
What Is Network Emulation?
Network emulation creates a virtual environment that mimics real network conditions, allowing actual devices and applications to connect and interact as they would on a real network. This method is particularly useful for testing application performance, troubleshooting, and demonstrating proof-of-concept in a controlled setting.
Network emulation uses a device called a network emulator, which simulates Wide Area Network (WAN) performance by adding network impairments to the data transmitted over it. Typically positioned between two LAN segments, a network emulator replicates the experience of customers, employees, and partners when using your network.
Emulators, like Apposite’s Netropy, can also introduce real-world factors such as delay, bandwidth limitations, and packet loss to accurately replicate network behavior. These solutions support various configurations, including deployment on leading hypervisors. They can also emulate different network types — such as SD-WAN, satellite, and WiFi. Emulators also work with multiple media types, including copper lines, Cat6e, optical fiber, and wireless connections.
What Is Network Simulation?
Network simulation uses software to create a theoretical network model, enabling users to design and analyze performance under various conditions without using physical hardware.
Simulators primarily serve as testing tools during network design and development, modeling the full technology stack, including routers and switches, across all layers from Layer 1 (physical) to Layer 7 (application).
Commonly used in research, education, and design, simulators model topologies, protocols, and traffic patterns. They can test network elements by creating event queues and calculating the state of each device, link, and data stream (such as how long a packet takes to reach a switch). Using discrete event simulation, these tools let architects build experimental network models and evaluate performance under various scenarios.
However, simulation is mainly theoretical and relies on mathematical models to replicate network conditions. Because of this, network simulators may not always accurately represent real-world conditions, which makes them less ideal for testing devices and applications.
Network Emulation vs. Network Simulation: What Are the Differences?
Network simulation and network emulation have similar goals: helping build more effective technology and deploying changes with fewer hiccups. Here’s a summary of the differences:
| Network Emulation | Network Simulation | |
| Definition | Replicates real network conditions in a virtual environment. | Relies on mathematical formulas and creates a virtual network model. |
| Purpose | Used for testing devices and applications in a controlled environment. | Used for modeling and analysis. May also be used for network configuration. |
| Realism | Provides a more accurate representation of real network conditions compared to simulation. | May not represent accurate network conditions. |
| Device Interaction | Emulators allow real devices to connect for realistic application and device testing. | Simulators do not use real devices, but merely predict how the app might behave in different network scenarios. |
For most organizations looking to test devices and applications, network emulation is the way to go.
Why Do Companies Need a Network Emulator?
Network emulation is especially critical for testing new cloud applications, validating IoT device connectivity, and improving VoIP performance. By observing and validating performance under real-time conditions, organizations can better predict how their devices and applications will perform in various scenarios.
Network architects, engineers, and developers use network emulators to answer questions like:
- How do business-critical applications perform under real-world conditions?
- How will latency impact application responsiveness when deployed across a geographically dispersed network?
- What is the end-user experience like in different scenarios?
Network Emulation Example
For example, imagine you’re developing a video conferencing app like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. You want to make sure it works smoothly for users under different network conditions — whether they’re on high-speed fiber, a congested Wi-Fi connection, or even mobile data in rural areas.
To do so, you can emulate real-world network conditions like home Wi-Fi or mobile 4G connections. You can then use the emulator to apply real-world impairments such as packet loss, latency, and jitter, replicating issues like dropped calls or delayed audio.
Running the application in these emulated environments makes it easy to observe performance aspects like video quality, connection stability, and response times. Organizations gather data from these tests to evaluate application performance, check quality, troubleshoot issues, test proof-of-concept, and assess the impact of infrastructure or software changes.
NOTE: These insights primarily benefit testing applications and devices by replicating real-world network conditions (rather than helping to optimize the network infrastructure itself).
Benefits of Network Emulation
Network emulation offers organizations significant advantages that make it indispensable in modern network design and management.
Accurate Testing in Real-World Conditions
The main benefit is gaining visibility into application performance. Corporations cannot examine every packet sent on their network, so they do not always have a good understanding of when issues, like high latency, are causing performance problems. An emulator provides them with an understanding of what users experience with cloud applications, IoT devices, and video conferencing solutions under different conditions.
Identify System Inefficiencies
The increasing complexity of networks makes it difficult for tech teams to determine what is happening on them. An emulator enables teams to test the elements quickly and with minimal impact. They can identify inefficiencies and make changes to address them. Such information is critical in information-based verticals, like healthcare, telecommunications, and e-commerce.
Improve Troubleshooting
Finding the source of a performance bottleneck can be very challenging in today’s widely interconnected world. With an emulator, IT teams recreate system conditions to observe traffic patterns, diagnose issues, and address them more proactively and efficiently.
Save Money
Gauging how well systems perform is challenging in today’s rapidly evolving business environment. Companies often purchase extra bandwidth, just to ensure they can deliver adequate performance. By emulating conditions like varying levels of bandwidth, they gain a better understanding of what is needed and avoid oversubscribing resources.
Modern Use Cases for Network Emulation
Today’s network applications must rapidly adapt to diverse conditions like increased traffic, cloud migrations, IoT integrations, and high latency satellite links. Network emulation offers them a versatile solution to meet these challenges.
Application Testing and Development
Performance questions are common with new applications. Video streaming services, gaming applications, and remote work tools are a few solutions that demand robust network performance. Network emulation tests applications in conditions mimicking real-world network behavior and impairments. This way, teams can easily ensure optimal performance for such instances.
Device Troubleshooting and Diagnostics
Because enterprise networks are large and complex, tech teams may have trouble identifying trouble spots. Application developers use network emulation to recreate performance conditions to see how each element is operating, which leads to faster issue resolution.
IoT Device Connectivity Testing
IoT devices are becoming increasingly common in industries like utilities services, healthcare, and manufacturing. These devices often operate in low-bandwidth environments, such as remote locations or crowded networks. Network emulators allow organizations to simulate these challenging conditions, enabling them to test and ensure that IoT devices perform reliably and efficiently, even under poor network conditions.
What To Look for in a Network Emulator
Emerging technologies, such as 5G and SD-WAN, added more variables and challenges to network testing. As a result, organizations are turning to the wireless network emulation system market to test devices and applications.
Having the right tools is critical for successful network emulation, whether it be a hardware or software solution. Within each category, there are several types, ranging from open-source solutions to complete hardware setups. Plus, AI and machine learning are often integrated into network emulation tools to enhance functionality in several ways.
The right tool depends on the specific needs of the network being tested, such as scale, complexity, or speed. When purchasing any network emulator, these are the most important factors to consider:
Flexibility
Companies need to be able to test many different types of networks and configurations. Any solution you choose should allow flexibility in your testing workflows.
With Apposite’s Netropy Network Emulator, users can emulate even the most complex networks for high-performance testing. Simulate up to 30 separate links on each pair of ports and individual control for impairments, such as bandwidth constraints, latency, jitter, and loss at speeds up to 100 Gbps. Teams can even import live traffic, configure impairments, simulate network latency, and measure the impact of the changes in real time.
Simple Deployment
You can have all the features in the world, but if it takes too much training to use, it limits your organization’s return on investment. An emulator needs to be quick and easy to install, intuitive to configure, and simple to operate.
The Netropy browser-based GUI provides the responsiveness of an application with the convenience of a standard web browser. Users can get tests up and running in minutes — with no training necessary.
Consistent Results
Technicians need to recreate every real-world system impairment in an environment that provides repeatable results. Whether it’s distance, bandwidth availability, or any other variable, Netropy lets you create the testing environment you need to troubleshoot potential pitfalls and optimize performance. Users can even save tests for later use.
Support for Variable Conditions
Technicians must isolate and test application and device performance against varying network conditions from dropped packets to jitter and latency to understand how they affect application performance. Netropy enables you to throttle bandwidth speeds to identify how much bandwidth an application needs.
Hardware or Software Network Emulation?
Choosing between hardware and software network emulation depends on your organization’s needs and infrastructure. Both options have unique benefits, so let’s explore which investment might work best for you.
Network Emulation Software
Software-based emulators recreate network conditions on existing hardware, typically general-purpose computers. Solutions like NetropyVE run on hypervisors such as VMware vSphere and KVM, while NetropyCE is tailored for cloud environments like AWS.
These tools allow users to simulate network conditions and monitor performance without needing dedicated hardware. They are flexible, scalable, easy to deploy, and cost-effective. Since they don’t require specialized systems, software solutions are often more affordable.
However, network emulation software may not offer the same level of control or advanced configurations as hardware-based emulation. Before investing, assess your testing and configuration requirements to make sure the solution meets your needs.
Network Emulation Hardware
Hardware-based WAN emulators are purpose-built devices designed to emulate thousands of high-speed client connections. These solutions, such as the Netropy Network Emulator from Apposite Technologies, typically provide greater control and scalability than software options. This makes them ideal for complex or large-scale testing.
While network emulation hardware tends to cost more upfront, their advanced capabilities and ease of use make them a worthwhile investment for organizations with demanding testing requirements.
With Netropy, you get powerful features at a lower price point compared to many other hardware solutions, along with a more user-friendly interface.
Plus, Netropy installation is straightforward:
- Place the device in-line between the client and server
- Configure traffic parameters and impairments
- Start testing within minutes
Final Thoughts
As networks grow more complex and essential to business operations, the importance of network emulation is undeniable. For network engineers and developers, having the right tools is key to designing, building, and maintaining reliable systems. Network emulators play a critical role in testing and validating applications and devices — before they impact your operations.Curious about how network emulation could benefit your organization? Explore how Apposite’s Netropy Network Emulator can support your testing goals. Download the solution brief or schedule a demo today!
