Abstract
Simulation has become the dominant technique for evaluating the performance of
many products before real hardware is produced. In computer networks, this is
particularly true, and can avoid expensive hardware and software development.
Using simulation it is possible to explore different protocols and design
options, under different loads, long before the design is frozen. However, such
simulations can be time consuming, especially if a large number of scenarios
are to be considered. In this paper, we show how it is possible to perform
distributed execution of a network simulation written for the OpNet package.
This is performed using a distributed computing tool called Clustor. Very high
efficiency has been experienced on a variety of workstation clusters. A case
study is presented in which a real network protocol is evaluated using OpNet
and Clustor.