A network simulator is a piece of software

or hardware that predicts the behavior of a

network, without an actual network being
present.

Network simulators serve a variety of

needs.
Compared to the cost and time involved in
setting up an entire test bed containing
multiple networked computers, routers and
data links, network simulators are relatively
fast and inexpensive
allow engineers to test scenarios that might
be particularly difficult or expensive to
emulate using real hardware

 simulating the effects of a sudden burst in traffic

a DoS attack on a network service
test new networking protocols or changes to
existing protocols in a controlled and reproducible
environment

With the help of simulators one can design

hierarchical networks using various types of
nodes like computers, hubs, bridges,
routers, optical cross-connects, multicast
routers, mobile units, MSAUs etc

Various types of Wide Area Network (WAN)

technologies like TCP, ATM, IP etc and Local
Area Network (LAN) technologies like
Ethernet, token rings etc. can all be
simulated with a typical simulator
the user can test, analyze various standard
results apart from devising some novel
protocol or strategy for routing etc

a network simulator must enable a user to

represent a network topology,

specifying the nodes on the network,
the links between those nodes
and the traffic between the nodes

More complicated systems may allow the user

to specify everything about the protocols used
to handle network traffic.
Graphical applications allow users to easily
visualize the workings of their simulated
environment.
Text-based applications may provide a less
intuitive interface, but may permit more
advanced forms of customization.

Others, such as GTNets, are programmingoriented, providing a programming

framework that the user then customizes to
create an application that simulates the
networking environment to be tested.

Ns2- Command based

Opnet- Graphical
OMNET++
QualNet
GlomoSim

OPNET solutions address application performance management;

network planning, engineering, and operations; and network R&D.
OPNET solutions for Network engineering, operations, and
planning include the following
IT Guru Network Planner helps enterprises plan their network for new
applications or technologies.
SP Guru Network Planner and SP Guru Transport Planner optimize
service provider network designs for capacity, cost, QoS, and
survivability.
Sentinel is OPNET's network configuration auditing solution and it is
used to ensure network integrity, security, and policy compliance.
NetMapper complements OPNET's Sentinel and Guru solutions by
automatically creating content-rich network diagrams in Microsoft Visio
format.
OPNET nCompass, a software solution for the NOC, enables operators to
visualize real-time network topology, traffic, events, and status in a
single view.

OPNET Modeler, a network modeling and simulation software

solution, is one of OPNET's flagship solutions and also its oldest
product

Global Mobile Information System

Simulator (GloMoSim) is a network protocol
simulation software that simulates wireless
and wired network systems.
GloMoSim is designed using the parallel
discrete event simulation capability provided
by Parsec, a parallel programming language.
GloMoSim currently supports protocols for a
purely wireless network.
It uses the Parsec compiler to compile the
simulation protocols.

ns was built in C++ and provides a simulation

interface through OTcl, an object-oriented dialect
of Tcl.
The user describes a network topology by
writing OTcl scripts, and then the main ns
program simulates that topology with specified
parameters.
The NS2 makes use of flat earth model in which
it assumes that the environment is flat without
any elevations or depressions. However the real
world does have geographical features like
valleys and mountains. NS2 fails to capture this
model in it.