Commissioning a 100 G Ethernet Service with the VIAVI MTS-5800 and RFC 2544 Testing

For financial services firms, a fraction of a second can mean millions in revenue. This case study explores how a national service provider used the VIAVI MTS-5800 to guarantee throughput and latency for a mission-critical 100 G Ethernet connection.

Background

A national service provider was rolling out high-capacity Ethernet access to several enterprise customers, each requiring guaranteed throughput and strict SLAs. One new customer—a financial services firm relocating its trading and data-processing systems—ordered a dedicated 100 G Ethernet connection between its new headquarters and a regional data centre.

Because of the customer’s reliance on latency-sensitive trading applications, the link had to be validated for throughput, latency, frame loss, and burst performance before hand-over. The provider’s field engineering team selected VIAVI’s MTS-5800 handheld network tester to perform an RFC 2544 service activation test prior to service launch.

The Challenge

Although the physical fibre path had already been provisioned using DWDM transport equipment, the new 100 G circuit required a complete end-to-end performance verification. The engineering team needed to:

• Confirm that the link delivered the full contracted 100 G bit/s bandwidth.
• Verify compliance with SLA parameters for latency (<1 ms) and frame loss (<0.01%).
• Document results for acceptance testing and future audits.
• Perform testing quickly without disrupting other live services on the same optical system.

Traditional throughput tests at such high data rates are complex, requiring coordinated test sets and precise time synchronisation. The engineers needed a field-portable, standards-based solution that could execute the full RFC 2544 test suite automatically.

The Solution: VIAVI MTS-5800 with RFC 2544 Test Suite

The team deployed two VIAVI MTS-5800 units—one at the customer premise and one at the data-centre demarcation point. After establishing optical connectivity via QSFP28 100 G Ethernet interfaces, the instruments performed automatic peer discovery and synchronisation.

Using the integrated RFC 2544 test workflow, the engineers initiated sequential measurements of:

• Throughput: Verifying line-rate performance for frame sizes from 64 B to 1518 B.
• Latency: Round-trip delay measured in microseconds with precise timestamping.
• Frame loss: Ensuring packet integrity under continuous load.
• Back-to-back frames: Confirming burst handling and buffer capability.

The test configuration was completed locally on each unit, ensuring symmetrical and repeatable conditions across both ends of the circuit.

The Results

The RFC 2544 test ran unattended for approximately 30 minutes, producing a full performance report automatically stored and uploaded to VIAVI StrataSync® for central record-keeping.

Key results included:

• 100 % throughput achieved at all standard frame sizes.
• Average latency of 430 µs, well within SLA targets.
• Zero frame loss during sustained load.
• Stable burst performance up to maximum configured buffer capacity.

The MTS-5800 also confirmed error-free light levels and no FEC events on the optical interface throughout testing, validating both the service and physical layer in one operation.

Following successful validation, the provider generated a PDF acceptance certificate directly from StrataSync and delivered it to the enterprise customer as proof of service compliance. The circuit was placed into production immediately, with confidence that performance matched the design specification.

Conclusion

By using the VIAVI MTS-5800 to perform a standards-based RFC 2544 test, the field team commissioned a 100 G Ethernet link efficiently, accurately, and with full documentation.

The automated workflow reduced testing time by more than 50% compared to legacy procedures while providing indisputable, standards-compliant proof of service quality. For the service provider, this approach not only accelerated revenue turn-up but also ensured that high-value enterprise customers received a fully validated, carrier-grade connection from day one.