Network Instruments has launched an interface for testing performance of 40Gigabit Ethernet in data centers.

The hardware-and-software platform is a full-duplex analysis interface. Used together with the vendor’s GigaStor retrospective network analysis appliance, it can provide storage of up to five petabytes of traffic to validate and manage network and application performance on 40Gb links.

Charles Thompson, director of product strategy at Network Instruments, said the company had to be ready when its clients migrate to 40Gb networks in their data centers.

“With the new platform, we guarantee the transition to higher-speed networks will be seamless and potential visibility gaps eliminated,” he said.

One of the new technologies the product uses is 40Gb capture. The new Gen2 capture card was developed to handle large data acquisition and analysis demands of 40Gb networks.

The card operates on single and multimode 40Gb links. It features onboard hardware acceleration, filtering and de-duplication, supporting full-duplex gigabit, 10Gb and 40Gb environments.

Another new piece of technology is a 40Gb multimode optical nTAP, which provides permanent passive access to full-duplex 40Gb traffic. The nTAP has no IP address and does not need power to function.