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Commit df023de2 authored by Alessandro Rubini's avatar Alessandro Rubini
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test: doc: initial structure and RFC description 

Signed-off-by: Alessandro Rubini's avatarAlessandro Rubini <rubini@gnudd.com>
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\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
%
% wrs-test.in - main file for the documentation
%
%%%%
%------------------------------------------------------------------------------
%
% NOTE FOR THE UNAWARE USER
% =========================
%
% This file is a texinfo source. It isn't the binary file of some strange
% editor of mine. If you want ASCII, you should "make cortex-m3.txt".
%
%------------------------------------------------------------------------------
%
% This is not a conventional info file...
% I use three extra features:
% - The '%' as a comment marker, if at beginning of line ("\%" -> "%")
% - leading blanks are allowed (this is something I can't live without)
% - braces are automatically escaped when they appear in example blocks
%
@comment %**start of header
@documentlanguage en
@documentencoding ISO-8859-1
@setfilename cortex-m3.info
@settitle wrs-test
@iftex
@afourpaper
@end iftex
@paragraphindent none
@comment %**end of header
@setchapternewpage off
@set update-month February 2011
@set release v2011-02-21
@finalout
@titlepage
@title White Rabbit Switch: test procedures
@subtitle @value{update-month} (git tag @value{release})
@subtitle A testing package for Ethernet switches
@author Alessandro Rubini (@code{rubini@@gnudd.com})
@end titlepage
@headings single
@c ##########################################################################
@node Top, How is Testing Implemented, (dir), (dir)
@top Introduction
This small software package has been developed in the context of the
@i{White Rabbit} project developed by CERN. It defines and implements
testing procedures according to RFC-1242 and RFC-2544, as well as
(in later versions), RFC-2285 and RFC-2889.
In this document, when I say @i{this package} I refer to, well, this
package. For me it is the tar file you downloaded (or the @i{git}
tree you fetched), including both the code and the documentation.
This work has been developed with reference to the @i{White Rabbit}
project but has not been paid by CERN. I wrote it on my own and thus I
retain full copyright on it, although future versions may see other
copyright holders.
Material (code and documentation) specifically written for this package
is released according to the GNU GPL, version 2 or (at your option)
any later version. This excludes the RFC documents that are
distributed in this package and any
other works that may be added here in later versions. Any external
contribution is clearly marked as such.
This package is released as a @i{git} tree, with date-based tags for
revision points (e.g.: @code{v2011-02-21}). I release often, in order
to keep my mates up to date on my status, even if, for example, the
first release only includes partial documentation and no code at all.
@menu
* How is Testing Implemented::
* Description of the Tests::
* How to Run the Test Suite::
* Results Collected on Various Switches::
@end menu
@c ##########################################################################
@node How is Testing Implemented, Description of the Tests, Top, Top
@chapter How is Testing Implemented
Testing the performances of an Ethernet switch is a generic task,
somehow detached from the underlying switch implementation. However,
existing test tools, as far as I know, are either non-free or in some
way too simplified for the WR needs. Moreover, in WR we want to rely
on hardware timestamping whenever possible.
@menu
* RFC Compliance::
* HW Timestamping Overview::
* Server and Client::
@end menu
@c ==========================================================================
@node RFC Compliance, HW Timestamping Overview, How is Testing Implemented, How is Testing Implemented
@section RFC Compliance
The relevant RFC Documents are included in the @code{rfc} subdirectory
of this package. They have been downloaded from the following locations:
@smallexample
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1242.txt
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2285.txt
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2889.txt
@end smallexample
I am not aware of other specifications about testing, so I just refer
to these three. All three documents have @i{informational}
status. This is the role of each of them and how it has been used in
developing this package:
@itemize @bullet
@item RFC-1242
This document is only concerned with definitions used on other
documents. What is most interesting for us is the definition of
@i{throughput} and @i{latency}. Throughput is the maximum data rate at
which no frame is lost, not as the amount of data transmitted per
second, as one may expect; latency is defined in two different ways
according to whether the device is a store-and-forward or a bit
forwarding one; we'll use the definition for bit forwarding devices.
@item RFC-2544 (which obsoletes RFC-1944)
The document is the main definition of tests for one-to-one or
many-to-many performance evaluation. It defines which tests vendors
are expected to make and how to make them, relying on the definitions
set forth by RFC-1242. It defines the concepts of ``conditionally
compliant'' and ``unconditionally compliant'' test suites. The aim of
this package is being @i{conditionally} compliant, since the number of
recommended (but not required) tests is huge and probably not
meaningful for our aims. Both in the source code and in this
description of the tests, I name the relevant sections of RFC-2544
@item RFC-2285
Like the first document, this RFC defines the terminology for
benchmarking tests in LAN contexts. It extends what is defined by
RFC-1242 with definition for a meshed networking context.
@item RFC-2889
This is the equivalent of RFC-2544 for network topologies more complex
than one-to-one environments. At this point in time, I am not able to
run any such tests, but they will be added in later versions of this
package. Unlike RFC-2544, this document doesn't define a
@i{compliant} test environment.
@end itemize
The specifications for the testing are quite demanding. In particular,
they make requirements for
@c ==========================================================================
@node HW Timestamping Overview, Server and Client, RFC Compliance, How is Testing Implemented
@section HW Timestamping Overview
This section describes the hardware timestamp mechanism of the Linux
kernel. It is meant to be a reference for people who deal with
hardware timestamping in general and more specifically in the White
Rabbit project.
@c FIXME: timestamp overview
To be done.
@c ==========================================================================
@node Server and Client, , HW Timestamping Overview, How is Testing Implemented
@section Server and Client
The test system has been designed as a client-server system, even
though the client and server are expected to run on the same computer
most of the time.
Unless you are running client and server on different computers (which
is not supported in the initial versions of this package), you'll just
need to fire the client applications (see @ref{How to Run the Test
Suite}). The client program will automatically fork a server process,
and exchange information through a @i{Unix Domain} socket.
Running the sending and receiving sides of the testing machinery on
different processes allows to exploit SMP, if the testing host is an
SMP one. When the host system is not SMP (for example, when
a @i{White Rabbit} switch is used to test other switches) this choice
may be sub-optimal; I may consider running multi-thread instead of
multi-process in later revisions of this packages.
@c FIXME: complete server and client
@c ##########################################################################
@node Description of the Tests, How to Run the Test Suite, How is Testing Implemented, Top
@chapter Description of the Tests
@c FIXME:
To be done.
@c ##########################################################################
@node How to Run the Test Suite, Results Collected on Various Switches, Description of the Tests, Top
@chapter How to Run the Test Suite
@c FIXME:
To be done.
@c ##########################################################################
@node Results Collected on Various Switches, , How to Run the Test Suite, Top
@chapter Results Collected on Various Switches
@c FIXME:
To be done.
@c ##########################################################################
@iftex
@contents
@end iftex
@bye
@c LocalWords: gnudd titlepage iftex texinfo CERN timestamping smallexample
@c LocalWords: LocalWords ietf timestamp
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