Eater is a program for Linux or compatible *nixes that generates
test data at a controlled rate.  It can be used with the nc (aka 
netcat) program to eat up controlled amounts of bandwidth or simulate
network loading.

Eater generates data on standard output, so although it was meant to be
used with nc, it could also be used to stress disks, filesystems, or
anything else you can think of.

To build, just type "make".  To install, just copy the file "eater" into a
location in your path.

The options are:
   -h        brings up a quick list of options.
   -b [num]  sets the bandwidth to *num* bytes per second.
   -f        flood.  Send data as fast as possible.
   -m [num]  quit after sending [num] megabytes of data.


Examples:

Example 1: host foo listens for a connection on TCP port 3546.  Host bar
connects to that port and sends data at 25KBps indefinitely.  foo throws
the data away.

foo$ nc -l -p 3456 >/dev/null

bar$ eater -b 25000 | nc -w 1 foo 3456

----

Example 2: host foo listens for a connection on UDP port 3456.  Host bar
connects to that port and sends 1 megabyte of data as fast as it can to
measure the available bandwidth.

foo$ nc -l -u -p 3456 >/dev/null

bar$ eater -f -m 1 | nc -u -w 1 foo 3456