Integrations Overview
NSB works with any network simulator. It doesn't matter whether your simulator is top-down (a single script controlling an entire topology) or bottom-up (each host as an independent module) — NSB just needs the simulator side to implement fetch() and post() through an NSBSimClient.
Two Integration Patterns
NSB supports simulator integration through exactly two topology patterns, selected via the simulator_mode field:
- System-Wide — a single
NSBSimClienthandles the entire simulation - Per-Node — each simulated node has its own
NSBSimClient
For the full comparison — diagrams, constraints, and the identifier-matching rule — see System-Wide vs Per-Node.
When to Use Each Pattern
| If your simulator... | Use |
|---|---|
| Manages the entire network from one script (ns-3 style) | System-Wide |
| Models each host as an independent module (OMNeT++ style) | Per-Node |
Simulator-Specific Guides
- ns-3 Overview — top-down, System-Wide integration
- OMNeT++ Overview — bottom-up, Per-Node integration, with and without INET
For hands-on, step-by-step setup, see the Tutorials section — these overview pages cover the what and why; the tutorials cover the how.