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You need the following software installed on your system:

	- perl 5.003

		http://www.perl.com/perl/info/software.html

	- MRTG 2.1

		http://www.ee.ethz.ch/~oetiker/webtools/mrtg/mrtg.html

	- gcc to successfully compile tcpblast.c

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mrtg-blast has been tested successfully under:

                       Linux 2.0.25 (S.u.S.E. 4.3) 

       (other versions / OSes might work, but have not been tested.)

            -------------------------------------------------

            The latest version should always be available from 

                   ftp://ftp.inside.ch/pub/mrtg-blast

            If you create a new version, please send it to me so I

                    can keep the archive up to date.  

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YOU NEED TO CHANGE THE FOLLOWING:

tcpblast:

	1 - Type 'make tcpblast' to compile the tcpblast executable

	2 - Copy tcpblast to your mrtg binary directory

In mrtg-blast:

	1 - Line 1:		Adjust perl path to your system

	2 - Line 55:	Adjust tcpblast path to where you put tcpblast

	3 - Copy mrtg-blast to your mrtg binary directory

Edit your mrtg-blast.cfg file to add statements for the devices you want to

blast.  See mrtg-blast.cfg for an example.

PLEASE NOTE: Blasting causes traffic, which it inherently does. ;) So please

don't flood the whole wide world, keep it as local as possible. 

Blasting can't be that bad though, considering internet radio and tv... at least

it tells us something: How fast our next video conference will pass, for example.

The program returns traffic estimates which can be off sometimes. Use with care,

caution and much love.

Here are some estimates I tested at our site locally. Your mileage will most 

definitely vary, but as a guideline I always use 500 packets if I'm close to 

the site being blasted otherwise 200 is good enough. 

Link: 256 kbps = 32 kB/s

#of packets:    bandwidth as estimated 

                 by tcpblast [kB/s]:      Error in %:

    100                  50                  +53 %

    200                  38                  +16 %

    300                  35                  +5 %

    400                  34                  +4 %

    500                  32                   0 %

    800                  32                   0 %

You should decide yourself how accurate you're trying to be. Once again:

Your mileage will vary.

Have fun!

Balthasar Indermuehle <balthasar@indermuehle.com>, March 12, Early in the morning...