Crusader Network Tester

The Crusader Network Tester measures network rates and latency while downloading and uploading data. It produces plots of the traffic rates, latency and packet loss.

A test run requires two separate computers, both running Crusader: a server that listens for connections, and a client that initiates the test.

Client and server talk (only) on TCP and UDP port 35481.

Current Status

The current version of Crusader is 0.0.9.

Setup

To build all binaries, use the commands below. Executables are placed in src/target/release

cd src
cargo build --release

Crusader Server

To host a Crusader server, on the server machine, run:

cd src/target/release
./crusader serve

Crusader Client

To start a test run, on the client machine, run:

cd src/target/release
./crusader test <server-ip>

The Crusader client creates three bursts of traffic (by default, five seconds each): download only, upload only, then bi-directional traffic. Each burst is separated by several seconds of idle time.

Output: The client produces a .png file showing charts (below) as well as a .crr file with the raw data.

• The top plot shows the bursts of traffic: green is download, blue is upload, and the purple line is the instantaneous sum of the download plus upload.

• The next plot shows the corresponding latency. Blue is the (uni-directional) time from the client to the server. Green shows the time from the server to the client (one direction). Black shows the sum from the client to the server and back (bi-directional).

• The bottom plot has green and blue marks that show places where packet loss occurred.

Graphical interface

The build process also creates a binary with a graphical interface that incorporates the server, the client, and allows you to interact with results. To use it, run the following command. Enter the command below and click Start test in the resulting window.

cd src/target/release
./crusader-gui 

Click the Result tab to see a chart similar to the one above.