Patent ID: 8345558

Claim:
A method including: generating, by a control plane of a network device, a first plurality of packets; inserting, by the control plane, the first plurality of packets into a forwarding plane of the network device, the forwarding plane being configured in a loop-back configuration; storing a portion of the first plurality of packets in memory components of the forwarding plane while circulating the first plurality of packets in the forwarding plane; receiving, by the control plane and after storing the portion of the first plurality of packets in the memory components, first test results from a memory controller associated with the memory components; receiving, by the control plane, a second plurality of packets from the forwarding plane; determining, by the control plane, second test results by comparing the second plurality of packets to the first plurality of packets; determining, by the control plane, information regarding the forwarding plane and the memory components based on the first test results and the second test results; and outputting, by the control plane, the information regarding the forwarding plane and the memory components.