Case study / Software products / Network emulation
EVOS: a network emulation and virtual lab platform, built from an evolving vision
EVOS is a network emulation platform: engineers draw virtual network topologies in a browser, run them as virtual machines and containers, reach every device through a browser console and drive labs through a REST API. Logic Square built the product engineering for Guroo, whose own team brought the deep networking expertise, from an evolving vision to a working MVP, on time and on budget. Guroo’s team has run EVOS since the handoff.
- Client
- Guroo (EVOS)
- Domain
- Network emulation and virtualization
- Collaboration
- Logic Square product engineering, Guroo networking expertise
- Delivery
- On time, on budget, to a working MVP
- Since
- Handed off about three years ago; Guroo’s team runs EVOS, and gurooit.com still carries “Powered by Logic Square”
01 / The Challenge
Emulation is only useful if it is faithful
Physical network labs are expensive, slow to reconfigure and hard to make available to a remote engineer. A virtual lab solves that only if the virtual devices and links behave the way their hardware counterparts do under load, failure and bad network conditions. Anything less is a diagram that runs.
Guroo came with a clear direction and an evolving specification, which is the normal state of a new product. It also brought what most software firms lack: engineers who know networks deeply. What it needed was a team to turn that knowledge into a product that stays faithful as the topology grows.
02 / The Decision
Model the lab, not the screen
The platform is organized around the lab as the unit: a topology of devices and links, the lifecycle of each virtual machine or container, and the connectivity between them. The browser is the only client. That one decision drove the architecture: orchestration on the server side, exposed through a REST API, with the engineer’s console reached through the browser rather than a desktop client.
The division of labor was explicit from the start. Guroo’s technical team supplied the networking and domain knowledge throughout. Logic Square owned the product engineering: the editor, the lifecycle, the console, the API and the templates.
03 / What We Built
A virtual lab platform in the mold of EVE-NG, built to Guroo’s vision
How a lab runs in EVOS
- 01
Design.
The topology is drawn in a browser based editor: devices, links, a bird’s eye view of the architecture.
- 02
Run.
Devices start as virtual machines or containers, with their lifecycle managed by the platform; links connect them.
- 03
Work.
The engineer reaches each device’s console in the browser, with no client installed.
- 04
Automate.
Labs are created, changed and torn down through a REST API, so they can be scripted and built into other products.
- 05
Reuse.
Templates turn a lab someone built once into a starting point anyone can launch.
What Guroo has done with it since
Since the handoff about three years ago, Guroo’s own team has run and extended EVOS. Guroo now describes it as also offering network impairment (latency, jitter, packet loss and rate limiting), a hardware in the loop option and x86 deployment, with more than 30 templates, 87 proof of concept labs built and 21 customers. Those are Guroo’s capabilities and figures for the product today, not Logic Square’s work or results.
04 / Engineering Notes
The parts most firms would decline
Lifecycle at scale. Virtual machines and containers have to start, stop and recover predictably as topologies grow, or the lab stops being trustworthy.
Orchestration. Device lifecycle and connectivity managed centrally and exposed through a REST API, so a lab can be started, changed and torn down repeatably.
Domain experts in the loop. Guroo’s networking engineers worked alongside ours throughout, which is why the product behaves the way network engineers expect.
Browser only. Console access and control through the browser, which removes the client install and makes the lab usable from anywhere.
05 / The Results
Delivered as promised, with the client’s public recommendation
- A working product from an evolving vision, delivered on time and on budget.
- Handed off and still in the market: Guroo’s team has run EVOS for about three years since the handoff, and gurooit.com still carries “Powered by Logic Square”.
“I started working with Vineet and his Logic Square team on a new SaaS product. The solution is incredibly complex, and I didn’t come to the table with comprehensive requirements. Vineet helped me so much through the entire process and worked to refine our plan and execute a successful MVP.”
Have a deep engineering problem most firms would decline?
Book a Strategy Call06 / Who this pattern fits
Any product where the hard part is making a virtual thing behave like the real one: network labs and cyber ranges first, but also hardware in the loop environments, demo and proof of concept platforms, and technical training products.
The test is fidelity under conditions, not the feature list. More on custom software development.
FAQ
Common questions
What is a network emulation platform?
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Software that runs virtual network devices and links so they behave like real hardware under real conditions, for testing, training and proof of concept work. A single network emulator runs one engineer’s lab on one machine; a platform runs many labs for many users, through an API and a browser. EVOS is one, built by Logic Square for Guroo.
How is network emulation different from network simulation?
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Simulation models behavior mathematically. Emulation runs the real software on virtual devices with real traffic over emulated links, which is why it can stand in for a hardware lab.
What did Logic Square build for EVOS?
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The product engineering: the topology editor, virtual machine and container lifecycle, the browser console, the REST API, templates and the core platform around them, built from an evolving vision to a working MVP, on time and on budget. Guroo’s technical team supplied the networking expertise throughout and has run EVOS since the handoff.
What makes a virtual network lab technically difficult?
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Faithfulness and repeatability. Virtual devices have to behave the way network engineers expect, labs have to start and tear down the same way every time, and all of it has to be reachable from a browser. That is why domain experts and product engineers had to work side by side.
Can a virtual lab support training, proofs of concept and cybersecurity testing?
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Yes. Guroo markets EVOS for exactly those: virtual labs, configuration testing, proof of concept environments and cyber test ranges.
When should a company build a virtual lab product instead of deploying EVE-NG or GNS3 directly?
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When the lab is the product you sell, when you need an API, multi user management, templates and conditions your customers control, or when you need to connect to real networks on your own terms.
