Last updated on: 2023-03-24 03:26:20.

Performance testing best practices¶

When performance testing BIG-IP VE, use an external iPerf Server and iPerf Client with BIG-IP-VE in the middle.

F5 recommends using iPerf 2.0.5 or iPerf 2.0.8.

Download the appropriate iPerf 2.0.8 - RPM package (or iPerf 2.0.5) at: https://iperf.fr/iperf-download.php#fedora.
Use Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) to get the file onto the machine:

sudo yum install iperf-2.0.8-2.fc23.x86_64.rpm -y
On the server, run the following command (inserting your port used):
```
iperf -s -p [port]
```
Example:
```
iperf -s -p 5213
```
On the client run the following command (inserting your server IP address and port used):
```
iperf -t 30 -i 10 -c [server_ip] -P 16 -p [port] -w [payload_size]
```
Example:
```
iperf -t 30 -i 10 -c 10.75.0.213 -P 16 -p 5213 -w 128MB
```
This test will run for 30 seconds with 16 sessions, and a 128M payload.

You can run both iPerf3 and iPerf2 on the same system, but the client/server must be compatible.

So, iPerf3 -> iPerf3 and iPerf2 -> iPerf2.

For CLI:

To execute iPerf3, you can use iperf3 -s -p
To execute iPerf2, you can use iperf -s -p

Tip

Notice that the command for iPerf2 is just iperf and NOT iperf2.

Consult the iPerf web site for changes between iPerf 2.0 and iPerf 3.0/iPerf 3.1.