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XFR Speedtest & Throughput Testing

XFR Engine

The XFR tool is a high-performance throughput and latency testing engine integrated into the SD-WAN Traffic Generator. Designed for validating path quality, detecting maximum bandwidth, and performing bidirectional diagnostic tests — without the overhead of iperf3.

Note

XFR was chosen over iperf3 for Speedtest because it supports fixed source ports for deterministic flow identification in Prisma SD-WAN flow logs, and it provides richer interval telemetry such as real-time retransmits and dropped packets tracking.

📋 Table of Contents

  1. Features
  2. Deployment (Configuration Variables)
  3. UI Walkthrough
  4. Advanced Metrics
  5. Quick Targets
  6. Protocol Tracking (Prisma SD-WAN)

✨ Features

Feature Detail
Deterministic Port Mapping Explicit Source port configuration (Client Flow Port) for easy identification in firewall/flow logs across TCP and UDP.
Micro-Interval Telemetry View real-time throughput (Mbps), RTT (ms), TCP Retransmits, and UDP Packet Loss (%) natively as graphs.
Congestion Control Easily hot-swap between TCP Congestion avoidance algorithms (Cubic, BBR, Reno) natively from the Dashboard.
Quality of Service Embed specific DSCP / TOS markings (e.g. EF, CS1, 46) directly onto the testing flow to validate SD-WAN path prioritization limits.
Directional Modes Upload (Client → Server), Download (Reverse), and Bidirectional testing capabilities natively.
Max Bandwidth Detection Set bitrate to 0 or leave empty to detect peak throughput effortlessly.

🚀 Deployment (Configuration Variables)

The XFR target uses a robust backend server spawned silently inside the stigix container (since version 1.2.2). The testing ceiling parameters are rigidly controlled directly within the docker-compose.yml environment block to prevent external abuse.

docker-compose.yml Parameters

services:
  stigix:
    image: jsuzanne/stigix:stable
    network_mode: host
    environment:
      # --- XFR Bandwidth Target ---
      - XFR_PORT=9000
      - XFR_MAX_DURATION=3600
      - XFR_RATE_LIMIT=2
      - XFR_ALLOW_CIDR=0.0.0.0/0

Important

Hard Limit Protection: The XFR_MAX_DURATION acts as an absolute ceiling managed by the host. If a remote client queries a test duration exceeding this value (e.g. setting 3600s), but the server’s compose XFR_MAX_DURATION is defined as 60, the server will forcibly sever the connection exactly at 60 seconds as a traffic safeguard. Adjust this to the maximum duration you are comfortable allowing testers to utilize.

Environment Reference

Variable Default Description
XFR_PORT 9000 TCP/UDP listening port to execute tests over.
XFR_MAX_DURATION 3600 Maximum host test duration in seconds (safeguard).
XFR_RATE_LIMIT 2 Max concurrent active testing sessions allowed.
XFR_ALLOW_CIDR 0.0.0.0/0 Permitted Source IP whitelist (CIDR notation).

🖥️ UI Walkthrough

Custom Configuration Panel

The updated configuration panel layout was redesigned to make room for granular path modeling variables:

New Configuration Settings:

  • DSCP / TOS: Allows forcing traffic into specific Prisma SD-WAN QoS priority queues. You can type Hex, Decimal or explicit EF markings.
  • TCP Congestion Avoidance: Seamlessly drop-down to benchmark Cubic vs BBR routing profiles.
  • Client Flow Port: Native tracking feature; manually stipulate the source port you plan to emit from. Essential for identifying exactly which traffic flow corresponds to this test in your Prisma Access or Prisma SD-WAN analytics view.

📊 Advanced Metrics

The testing framework now intelligently switches visual graphs and data endpoints depending on if a UDP or TCP payload testing flow is selected.

TCP: Retransmit Tracking & Windowing

When testing TCP, the dashboard automatically reveals active TCP Window fluctuations and visualizes TCP Retransmits directly over the throughput tracking graph:

XFR Live TCP

🔬 Protocol Tracking (Prisma SD-WAN)

If you are a Prisma Administrator utilizing the dashboard, Stigix overrides basic flow handling to support Deep Packet Tracking.

Protocol Source Port Configuration Identification Strategy
UDP Explicit via Client Flow Port Matches the specified Client Flow Port straight into the Prisma SD-WAN flow browser logs for pure traffic isolation identification.
QUIC Explicit via Client Flow Port Functions equivalently to the UDP engine mapping trace.
TCP Explicit via Client Flow Port Modern XFR permits direct binding to local source ports prior to execution. By enforcing the port to 30528, you can query the Prisma Application Browser filtering by source-port=30528 and instantly prove path performance!

📚 External Resources