A stream of traffic data is generated, where the traffic data has a known characteristic. The stream of traffic data is applied to the network device, where the network device has a specific type. The network device generates an output based on the traffic data. A performance of the network device is monitored while the traffic data is processed by the network device to generate monitoring data for the traffic data applied to the network device having the specific type. The output from the network device is analyzed to identify how the traffic data was handled by the network device to generate performance metrics. The monitoring data and the performance metrics are saved to a knowledge database. The knowledge database can be accessed to enable configuration of other network devices based in part on the monitoring data and performance metrics.