traffic generator options
If you want to test QoS, perhaps QoS traffic policing or QoS traffic shaping then it is useful to use a traffic generator.
Ping
The most simple option is to use ping from a Cisco device. Something like this:
SW1#ping 1.1.1.1 size 15000 timeout 0 repeat 100 Type escape sequence to abort. Sending 100, 15000-byte ICMP Echos to 1.1.1.1, timeout is 0 seconds: ...................................................................... .............................. Success rate is 0 percent (0/100)
By setting the size, we can define how much traffic we want to generate. By setting the timeout to 0, we don't wait for a reply so we can send a continuous stream of ICMP packets.
You can even set the ToS value. For example:
SW1#ping 1.1.1.1 size 15000 timeout 0 repeat 100 tos 184 Type escape sequence to abort. Sending 100, 15000-byte ICMP Echos to 1.1.1.1, timeout is 0 seconds: ...................................................................... .............................. Success rate is 0 percent (0/100)
A ToS value of 184 is DSCP EF.
The ping command is a quick option. The only downside is that you can only generate ICMP traffic.
IP SLA
You can also use IP SLA as a traffic generator. Here is a detailed explanation:
https://networklessons.com/quality-of-service/cisco-ios-ip-sla-traffic-generator
Ostinato
Ostinato is an advanced traffic generator. It used to be free but nowadays this is a paid solution. You can still download the older free version from the archive.
iPerf
iPerf is a tool you can use to generate TCP, UDP, and SCTP traffic. This is a great and still easy to use alternative to ping. You need to have a server and client but most platforms are supported.