Test VM network throughput by using
NTTTCP
Article • 02/12/2024
Ｕ Caution
This article references CentOS, a Linux distribution that is nearing End Of Life (EOL)
status. Please consider your use and planning accordingly.
This article describes how to use the free NTTTCP tool from Microsoft to test network
bandwidth and throughput performance on Azure Windows or Linux virtual machines
(VMs). A tool like NTTTCP targets the network for testing and minimizes the use of other
resources that could affect performance.
Prerequisites
An Azure account with an active subscription. Create an account for free .
Two Windows or Linux virtual machines in Azure. Create a Windows VM or create a
Linux VM.
To test throughput, you need two VMs of the same size to function as sender and
receiver. The two VMs should be in the same proximity placement group or
availability set, so you can use their internal IP addresses and exclude load
balancers from the test.
Note the number of VM cores and the receiver VM IP address to use in the
commands. Both the sender and receiver commands use the receiver's IP address.
７ Note
Testing by using a virtual IP (VIP) is possible, but is beyond the scope of this article.
Examples used in this article
ﾉ Expand table
Setting Value
Receiver VM IP address [Link]
Number of VM cores 2
Test throughput with Windows VMs or Linux
VMs
You can test throughput from Windows VMs by using NTTTCP or from Linux VMs by
using NTTTCP-for-Linux .
Windows
Prepare VMs and install NTTTCP-for-Windows
1. On both the sender and receiver VMs, download the latest version of NTTTCP
into a separate folder like c:\tools.
2. Open the Windows command line and navigate to the folder where you
downloaded [Link].
3. On the receiver VM, create a Windows Firewall allow rule to allow the NTTTCP
traffic to arrive. It's easier to allow [Link] by name than to allow specific
inbound TCP ports. Run the following command, replacing c:\tools with your
download path for [Link] if different.
Windows Command Prompt
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule program=c:\tools\[Link]
name="ntttcp" protocol=any dir=in action=allow enable=yes profile=ANY
4. To confirm your configuration, use the following commands to test a single
Transfer Control Protocol (TCP) stream for 10 seconds on the receiver and sender
virtual machines:
Receiver VM
ntttcp -r -m [<number of VM cores> x 2],*,<receiver IP address> -t 10 -P 1
Windows Command Prompt
ntttcp -r -m 4,*,[Link] -t 10 -P 1
Sender VM
ntttcp -s -m [<number of VM cores> x 2],*,<receiver IP address> -t 10 -P 1
Windows Command Prompt
ntttcp -s -m 4,*,[Link] -t 10 -P 1
７ Note
Use the preceding commands only to test configuration.
Tip
When you run the test for the first time to verify setup, use a short test
duration to get quick feedback. Once you verify the tool is working, extend
the test duration to 300 seconds for the most accurate results.
Run throughput tests
Run the test for 300 seconds, or five minutes, on both the sender and receiver VMs.
The sender and receiver must specify the same test duration for the -t parameter.
1. On the receiver VM, run the following command, replacing the <number of VM
cores> , and <receiver IP address> placeholders with your own values.
ntttcp -r -m [<number of VM cores> x 2],*,<receiver IP address> -t 300
Windows Command Prompt
ntttcp -r -m 4,*,[Link] -t 300
2. On the sender VM, run the following command. The sender and receiver
commands differ only in the -s or -r parameter that designates the sender or
receiver VM.
ntttcp -s -m [<number of VM cores> x 2],*,<receiver IP address> -t 300
Windows Command Prompt
ntttcp -s -m 4,*,[Link] -t 300
3. Wait for the results.
When the test is complete, the output should be similar as the following example:
Output
C:\tools>ntttcp -s -m 4,*,[Link] -t 300
Copyright Version 5.39
Network activity progressing...
Thread Time(s) Throughput(KB/s) Avg B / Compl
====== ======= ================ =============
0 300.006 29617.328 65536.000
1 300.006 29267.468 65536.000
2 300.006 28978.834 65536.000
3 300.006 29016.806 65536.000
##### Totals: #####
Bytes(MEG) realtime(s) Avg Frame Size Throughput(MB/s)
================ =========== ============== ================
34243.000000 300.005 1417.829 114.141
Throughput(Buffers/s) Cycles/Byte Buffers
===================== =========== =============
1826.262 7.036 547888.000
DPCs(count/s) Pkts(num/DPC) Intr(count/s) Pkts(num/intr)
============= ============= =============== ==============
4218.744 1.708 6055.769 1.190
Packets Sent Packets Received Retransmits Errors Avg. CPU %
============ ================ =========== ====== ==========
25324915 2161992 60412 0 15.075
Test throughput between a Windows VM and a
Linux VM
To run NTTTCP throughput tests between a Windows VM and a Linux VM, enable no-sync
mode by using the -ns flag on Windows or the -N flag on Linux.
Windows
To test with the Windows VM as the receiver, run the following command:
Windows Command Prompt
ntttcp -r -m [<number of VM cores> x 2],*,<Linux VM IP address> -t 300
To test with the Windows VM as the sender, run the following command:
Windows Command Prompt
ntttcp -s -m [<number of VM cores> x 2],*,<Linux VM IP address> -ns -t 300
Next steps
Optimize network throughput for Azure virtual machines.
Virtual machine network bandwidth.
Test VM network latency
Azure Virtual Network frequently asked questions (FAQ)
