I use a number of SW probes natively on Ubuntu, but also on Docker.

The problem I have with HW probes is that if there is some problem, no diagnosis is possible. With SW probes you can diagnose with all Linux tools.

The simplest SW probe I have runs on Docker on DietPi on a NanoPi Neo.

The Docker versions are community supported but run great:

RIPE Atlas Software Probes | RIPE Atlas Documentation
atlas.ripe.net
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Performancewise there is no difference. 

Regards,

Ernst J. Oud


Met vriendelijke groet,

Ernst J. Oud
On 23 Aug 2025, at 12:46, Richter, Robert via ripe-atlas <ripe-atlas@ripe.net> wrote:

 Hello everybody!
Currently, I am investigating the possibilities of measurements using RIPE Atlas. Is there information about differences in the measurement results of HW and SW probes? My advisor said that I should rather not use SW probes, but I am not sure what the actual difference is, especially as SW probes often run on better hardware, compared to the HW probes.

Could you point me to some resources on that topic?

Best regards,
Robert


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