Managing Configuration Changes

Parameter File Settings

MySpeed Server has many options that provide great control and flexibility in the test parameters, applet display and behavior. Many of these options can be enabled/disabled/modified by editing the myspeed.bin INI file in the ‘www’ directory.

To edit the file, use a Unicode text editor such as Notepad on Windows systems or or vi on Unix systems.

Text lines in the myspeed.bin file that begin with # are comments to help guide you in changing settings and customizing the myspeed display to your environment. Many of the parameters are described in more detail below. Several options only pertain to the Professional or NOC edition packages, these options are documented in the myspeed.bin file comments and the comparison chart.

Controlling Parameter Settings in MySpeed Web Pages

Any parameter in the myspeed.bin INI file can be overridden by setting a myspeed HTML applet paramater in the web page. Many of the myspeed example HTML files use this technique to create custom behaviors on a page by page basis.

For example the HTML below can be inserted within the <applet></applet> tags to set the session ID tag to ‘UKnetwork’, which could be used to identify speed test results from a particular location.

<param name="SID" value="UKnetwork">

This option to set any parameter individually in the web page enables you to customize web pages for different purposes, and cause different behaviors for different pages.

Using Multiple Parameter Files

It is also possible to create multiple myspeed.bin INI files with different parameter settings and refer to the specific INI file in the web page HTML. For example, the code below would use a user-created internal.bin file in place of the myspeed.bin INI file for the web page:

<param name="myspeed.bin" value="internal.bin">

The use of multiple parameter files enables you to customize web pages for different purposes, such as displaying the same applet in multiple languages or causing different behaviors for internal and external networks.

Timeout

The timeout option in the myspeed.bin file is used to set the time length of the upload and download test. You cannot set upload and download test times independently. The one timeout option sets the same time value in milliseconds to both tests. Accepted values for timeout are between 2 and 60 seconds (2000 to 60000 milliseconds)

Best practices: Changing the length of the MySpeed test from the default of 8 seconds is not normally required or necessary, however there are certain benefits to changing this option depending on your network connection type.

Some slower designed networks and high latency networks such as satellite operate in dual speed modes to preserve network capacity for short duration tasks such as downloading a web page. These types of network are able to invoke a faster mode when a greater demand is detected such as downloading music or video. The difference between the two usage patterns is simply the amount of time data is being demanded, when this time point is reached the network engages the faster mode. Setting the timeout option allows the myspeed administrator to extend the test time to a suitable length that triggers the network's high speed mode.

Session ID

The Professional and NOC Editions include the ability to tag individual speed test results with an identification string to easily identify results from an individual, web page, or remote system. The Session ID string appears as a column in the performance database of test results, and is a searchable field in the reports. The Session ID can be enabled in 3 different methods:

• an editable text field that appears on the myspeed applet. The end-user fills in the text field to start the test, such as their name, employee id, or support ticket number. You may change the text that appears in the applet by editing the parameter text in the myspeed.bin file by setting the parameter in the web page running the applet. results.

• an uneditable text field that appears in the myspeed applet, which can be used to record a SID value automatically without end-user input. To make the SID uneditable, place an "*" before the SID value, such as:

<param name="SID" value="*UKnetwork"> in the myspeed web page, or

SID=*UKnetwork in the myspeed.bin file

Best practices: The Session ID is extremely useful for identifying and managing test results, both for support technicians to view specific test results for individual users, and for network analysts to track results from remote systems as part of an ongoing performance management program.

You can easily set the Session ID in the web page running the applet, and thus track results on an individual or group basis. For instance, you could automatically pass an authenticated username to have a unique identifier for each test result, or set up multiple pages with fixed Session IDs that record a specific text string for each visitor to the corresponding page. Use of the Session ID tag with the NOC Edition remote agents allows you to easily identify results from each remote system or from groups of remote systems, for easy analysis of performance results.

Overlay Image

The Professional and NOC Editions include options to add images, such as your company logo, to the myspeed Server applet to provide customized branding capabilities. You can add images to the VoIP test tab, speed test tab and summary tab. To activate, remove the comment tag (#) from lines below in the myspeed.bin file, or set the parameter in the web page. Use the default file names below or change them as desired.

#backgroundoverlay=overlay.gif

Best practices: It is recommended to use an image with a transparent background for optimal display. If you make the overlay image the same size as the applet (default size is 600x400) it will help when positioning your logo over the corresponding applet tab.

Download File

The default file used for the HTTP download speed test is a fully compressed 10Mb file. The file may be changed to any file using the data.bin=data.bin parameter of the myspeed.bin file. However, if changed the replacement file should also be fully compressed, otherwise the speed test results may be inaccurate as compressions will reduce the amount of data transmitted for the test.

Best practices:

JavaScript

When a myspeed test completes, you can use the JavaScript option to immediately call a JavaScript function within the web page running the applet. To activate, remove the comment tag (#) from line below in the myspeed.bin file, or set the parameter in the web page. To use this option you must also add the MAYSCRIPT flag into the <applet> tag.

#js=mss($DSPEED$,$USPEED$,$QOS$,$RTT$,$MAXPAUSE$,$MSSID$,$JITTER$,
$PACKETLOSS$)

Best practices: The Scripting example web page included with the myspeed Server program illustrates how this option can be used to fill in a table with the test results. You can view the source code of the scripting.html page in the www directory to see how the variables above are used to populate the table. You may utilize the JavaScript code from any of the example files with a licensed version of myspeed Server.

The JavaScript option enables you to perform customized actions when a test completes, and even based on the test results themselves, such as:

• Dynamically changing the web page
• Redirecting to another URL
• Run a script to perform further analysis of a user's test results

Other Parameters

There are many additional options that can be controlled in the myspeed.bin file. Some of these are listed below, please refer to the myspeed.bin file for a complete list and for the values that can be set for individual options.