Simulating a system of computing systems

A computer program product for simulating a system of a plurality of computing systems connected via at least one data packet connection, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by the computer system to cause the computer system to perform a method comprising:

• interconnecting a plurality of computer systems by a fixed physical network comprising one or more different physical network protocols, wherein each different network protocol comprises a physical network adapter of a type corresponding to the network protocol, and wherein each physical network adapter is assigned a unique physical network address, in a format corresponding to the network protocol;
• registering each unique physical network address at a packet switching component of physical attachments, wherein there is the packet switching component at each one of the plurality of computer systems;
• in response to receiving an indicator to begin a network simulation, registering a simulated configuration, comprising a unique identifier for each computer system, and unique identifiers for simulated physical layer protocols;
• and
• exchanging data packets as specified in the simulated configuration, wherein the data packets include at least a payload data segment for data and a metadata segment for physical layer protocol specific metadata.

A computer system comprising one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangible storage media, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more computer-readable tangible storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more computer-readable memories, wherein the computer system is capable of performing a method comprising:

• interconnecting a plurality of computer systems by a fixed physical network comprising one or more different physical network protocols, wherein each different network protocol comprises a physical network adapter of a type corresponding to the network protocol, and wherein each physical network adapter is assigned a unique physical network address, in a format corresponding to the network protocol;
• registering each unique physical network address at a packet switching component of physical attachments, wherein there is the packet switching component at each one of the plurality of computer systems;
• in response to receiving an indicator to begin a network simulation, registering a simulated configuration, comprising a unique identifier for each computer system, and unique identifiers for simulated physical layer protocols;
• and
• exchanging data packets as specified in the simulated configuration, wherein the data packets include at least a payload data segment for data and a metadata segment for physical layer protocol specific metadata.