Benchmarking Methodology Working Group                      B. Balarajah
Internet-Draft
Intended status: Informational                           C. Rossenhoevel
Expires: October 8, 2021                                        EANTC AG
                                                              B. Monkman
                                                              NetSecOPEN
                                                           April 6, 2021


    Benchmarking Methodology for Network Security Device Performance
                  draft-ietf-bmwg-ngfw-performance-07

Abstract

   This document provides benchmarking terminology and methodology for
   next-generation network security devices including next-generation
   firewalls (NGFW), next-generation intrusion detection and prevention
   systems (NGIDS/NGIPS) and unified threat management (UTM)
   implementations.  This document aims to strongly improve the
   applicability, reproducibility, and transparency of benchmarks and to
   align the test methodology with today's increasingly complex layer 7
   security centric network application use cases.  The main areas
   covered in this document are test terminology, test configuration
   parameters, and benchmarking methodology for NGFW and NGIDS/NGIPS to
   start with.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on October 8, 2021.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2021 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021                [Page 1]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   2.  Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Test Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.1.  Test Bed Configuration  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.2.  DUT/SUT Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
       4.2.1.  Security Effectiveness Configuration  . . . . . . . .  12
     4.3.  Test Equipment Configuration  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
       4.3.1.  Client Configuration  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
       4.3.2.  Backend Server Configuration  . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
       4.3.3.  Traffic Flow Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
       4.3.4.  Traffic Load Profile  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   5.  Test Bed Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   6.  Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
     6.1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
     6.2.  Detailed Test Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
     6.3.  Benchmarks and Key Performance Indicators . . . . . . . .  21
   7.  Benchmarking Tests  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     7.1.  Throughput Performance with Application Traffic Mix . . .  22
       7.1.1.  Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
       7.1.2.  Test Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
       7.1.3.  Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
       7.1.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results  . . . . . . . .  24
     7.2.  TCP/HTTP Connections Per Second . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
       7.2.1.  Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
       7.2.2.  Test Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
       7.2.3.  Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
       7.2.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results  . . . . . . . .  27
     7.3.  HTTP Throughput . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
       7.3.1.  Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
       7.3.2.  Test Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
       7.3.3.  Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
       7.3.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results  . . . . . . . .  31
     7.4.  HTTP Transaction Latency  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
       7.4.1.  Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
       7.4.2.  Test Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32



Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021                [Page 2]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


       7.4.3.  Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
       7.4.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results  . . . . . . . .  34
     7.5.  Concurrent TCP/HTTP Connection Capacity . . . . . . . . .  35
       7.5.1.  Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  35
       7.5.2.  Test Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  35
       7.5.3.  Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  35
       7.5.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results  . . . . . . . .  37
     7.6.  TCP/HTTPS Connections per Second  . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
       7.6.1.  Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
       7.6.2.  Test Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
       7.6.3.  Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
       7.6.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results  . . . . . . . .  40
     7.7.  HTTPS Throughput  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41
       7.7.1.  Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41
       7.7.2.  Test Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41
       7.7.3.  Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  42
       7.7.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results  . . . . . . . .  44
     7.8.  HTTPS Transaction Latency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  45
       7.8.1.  Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  45
       7.8.2.  Test Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  45
       7.8.3.  Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  45
       7.8.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results  . . . . . . . .  47
     7.9.  Concurrent TCP/HTTPS Connection Capacity  . . . . . . . .  48
       7.9.1.  Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
       7.9.2.  Test Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
       7.9.3.  Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
       7.9.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results  . . . . . . . .  50
   8.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51
   9.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51
   10. Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51
   11. Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51
   12. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  52
     12.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  52
     12.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  52
   Appendix A.  Test Methodology - Security Effectiveness Evaluation  53
     A.1.  Test Objective  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  53
     A.2.  Test Bed Setup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  53
     A.3.  Test Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  53
       A.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters  . . . . . . . . . .  53
       A.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters . . . . . . .  54
     A.4.  Test Results Validation Criteria  . . . . . . . . . . . .  54
     A.5.  Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  54
     A.6.  Test Procedures and Expected Results  . . . . . . . . . .  55
       A.6.1.  Step 1: Background Traffic  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  55
       A.6.2.  Step 2: CVE Emulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  56
   Appendix B.  DUT/SUT Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  56
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  56




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021                [Page 3]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


1.  Introduction

   15 years have passed since IETF recommended test methodology and
   terminology for firewalls initially ([RFC3511]).  The requirements
   for network security element performance and effectiveness have
   increased tremendously since then.  Security function implementations
   have evolved to more advanced areas and have diversified into
   intrusion detection and prevention, threat management, analysis of
   encrypted traffic, etc.  In an industry of growing importance, well-
   defined, and reproducible key performance indicators (KPIs) are
   increasingly needed as they enable fair and reasonable comparison of
   network security functions.  All these reasons have led to the
   creation of a new next-generation network security device
   benchmarking document and this document supersedes [RFC3511].

2.  Requirements

   The keywords "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP
   14 [RFC2119], [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

3.  Scope

   This document provides testing terminology and testing methodology
   for modern and next-generation network security devices.  It covers
   the validation of security effectiveness configurations of network
   security devices, followed by performance benchmark testing.  This
   document focuses on advanced, realistic, and reproducible testing
   methods.  Additionally, it describes test bed environments, test tool
   requirements, and test result formats.

4.  Test Setup

   Test setup defined in this document is applicable to all benchmarking
   tests described in Section 7.  The test setup MUST be contained
   within an Isolated Test Environment (see Section 3 of [RFC6815]).

4.1.  Test Bed Configuration

   Test bed configuration MUST ensure that any performance implications
   that are discovered during the benchmark testing aren't due to the
   inherent physical network limitations such as the number of physical
   links and forwarding performance capabilities (throughput and
   latency) of the network devices in the test bed.  For this reason,
   this document recommends avoiding external devices such as switches
   and routers in the test bed wherever possible.



Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021                [Page 4]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   In some deployment scenarios, the network security devices (Device
   Under Test/System Under Test) are connected to routers and switches
   which will reduce the number of entries in MAC or ARP tables of the
   Device Under Test/System Under Test (DUT/SUT).  If MAC or ARP tables
   have many entries, this may impact the actual DUT/SUT performance due
   to MAC and ARP/ND (Neighbor Discovery) table lookup processes.  This
   document also recommends using test equipment with the capability of
   emulating layer 3 routing functionality instead of adding external
   routers in the test bed.

   The test bed setup Option 1 (Figure 1) is the RECOMMENDED test bed
   setup for the benchmarking test.

   +-----------------------+                   +-----------------------+
   | +-------------------+ |   +-----------+   | +-------------------+ |
   | | Emulated Router(s)| |   |           |   | | Emulated Router(s)| |
   | |    (Optional)     | +----- DUT/SUT  +-----+    (Optional)     | |
   | +-------------------+ |   |           |   | +-------------------+ |
   | +-------------------+ |   +-----------+   | +-------------------+ |
   | |     Clients       | |                   | |      Servers      | |
   | +-------------------+ |                   | +-------------------+ |
   |                       |                   |                       |
   |   Test Equipment      |                   |   Test Equipment      |
   +-----------------------+                   +-----------------------+

                    Figure 1: Test Bed Setup - Option 1

   If the test equipment used is not capable of emulating layer 3
   routing functionality or if the numbers of used ports are mismatched
   between test equipment and the DUT/SUT (need for a test equipment
   ports aggregation), the test setup can be configured as shown in
   Figure 2.



















Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021                [Page 5]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


    +-------------------+      +-----------+      +--------------------+
    |Aggregation Switch/|      |           |      | Aggregation Switch/|
    | Router            +------+  DUT/SUT  +------+ Router             |
    |                   |      |           |      |                    |
    +----------+--------+      +-----------+      +--------+-----------+
               |                                           |
               |                                           |
   +-----------+-----------+                   +-----------+-----------+
   |                       |                   |                       |
   | +-------------------+ |                   | +-------------------+ |
   | | Emulated Router(s)| |                   | | Emulated Router(s)| |
   | |     (Optional)    | |                   | |     (Optional)    | |
   | +-------------------+ |                   | +-------------------+ |
   | +-------------------+ |                   | +-------------------+ |
   | |      Clients      | |                   | |      Servers      | |
   | +-------------------+ |                   | +-------------------+ |
   |                       |                   |                       |
   |    Test Equipment     |                   |    Test Equipment     |
   +-----------------------+                   +-----------------------+

                    Figure 2: Test Bed Setup - Option 2

4.2.  DUT/SUT Configuration

   A unique DUT/SUT configuration MUST be used for all benchmarking
   tests described in Section 7.  Since each DUT/SUT will have their own
   unique configuration, users SHOULD configure their device with the
   same parameters and security features that would be used in the
   actual deployment of the device or a typical deployment in order to
   achieve maximum network security coverage.

   Table 1 and Table 2 below describe the RECOMMENDED and OPTIONAL sets
   of network security feature list for NGFW and NGIDS/NGIPS
   respectively.  The selected security features SHOULD be consistently
   enabled on the DUT/SUT for all the benchmarking tests described in
   Section 7.

   To improve repeatability, a summary of the DUT/SUT configuration
   including a description of all enabled DUT/SUT features MUST be
   published with the benchmarking results.











Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021                [Page 6]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


                                 +------------------------+
                                 |           NGFW         |
                +--------------- +-------------+----------+
                |                |             |          |
                |DUT/SUT Features| RECOMMENDED | OPTIONAL |
                |                |             |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |SSL Inspection  |     x       |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |IDS/IPS         |     x       |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Anti-Spyware    |     x       |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Anti-Virus      |     x       |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Anti-Botnet     |     x       |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Web Filtering   |             |    x     |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Data Loss       |             |          |
                |Protection (DLP)|             |    x     |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |DDoS            |             |    x     |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Certificate     |             |    x     |
                |Validation      |             |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Logging and     |     x       |          |
                |Reporting       |             |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Application     |     x       |          |
                |Identification  |             |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+

                      Table 1: NGFW Security Features
















Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021                [Page 7]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


                                 +------------------------+
                                 |       NGIDS/NGIPS      |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |                |             |          |
                |DUT/SUT Features| RECOMMENDED | OPTIONAL |
                |                |             |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |SSL Inspection  |     x       |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Anti-Malware    |     x       |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Anti-Spyware    |     x       |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Anti-Botnet     |     x       |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Logging and     |     x       |          |
                |Reporting       |             |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Application     |     x       |          |
                |Identification  |             |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Deep Packet     |     x       |          |
                |Inspection      |             |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+
                |Anti-Evasion    |     x       |          |
                +----------------+-------------+----------+

                  Table 2: NGIDS/NGIPS Security Features

   The following table provides a brief description of the security
   features.

   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | DUT/SUT Features | Description                                    |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | SSL Inspection   | DUT/SUT intercepts and decrypts inbound HTTPS  |
   |                  | traffic between servers and clients. Once the  |
   |                  | content inspection has been completed, DUT/SUT |
   |                  | encrypts the HTTPS traffic with ciphers        |
   |                  | and keys used by the clients and servers.      |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | IDS/IPS          | DUT/SUT detects and blocks exploits            |
   |                  | targeting known and unknown vulnerabilities    |
   |                  | across the monitored network.                  |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | Anti-Malware     | DUT/SUT detects and prevents the transmission  |
   |                  | of malicious executable code and any associated|
   |                  | communications across the monitored network.   |



Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021                [Page 8]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   |                  | This includes data exfiltration as well as     |
   |                  | command and control channels.                  |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | Anti-Spyware     | Anti-Spyware is a subcategory of Anti Malware. |
   |                  | Spyware transmits information without the      |
   |                  | user's knowledge or permission. DUT/SUT detects|
   |                  | and block initial infection or transmission of |
   |                  | data.                                          |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | Anti-Botnet      | DUT/SUT detects traffic to or from botnets.    |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | Anti-Evasion     | DUT/SUT detects and mitigates attacks that have|
   |                  | been obfuscated in some manner.                |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | Web Filtering    | DUT/SUT detects and blocks malicious website   |
   |                  | including defined classifications of website   |
   |                  | across the monitored network.                  |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | DLP              | DUT/SUT detects and blocks the transmission    |
   |                  | of Personally Identifiable Information (PII)   |
   |                  | and specific files across the monitored network|
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | Certificate      | DUT/SUT validates certificates used in         |
   | Validation       | encrypted communications across the monitored  |
   |                  | network.                                       |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | Logging and      | DUT/SUT logs and reports all traffic at the    |
   | Reporting        | flow level across the monitored.               |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+
   | Application      | DUT/SUT detects known applications as defined  |
   | Identification   | within the traffic mix selected across         |
   |                  | the monitored network.                         |
   +------------------+------------------------------------------------+

                   Table 3: Security Feature Description

   In summary, a DUT/SUT SHOULD be configured as follows:

   o  All RECOMMENDED security inspection enabled

   o  Disposition of all flows of traffic are logged - Logging to an
      external device is permissible

   o  Geographical location filtering and Application Identification and
      Control configured to be triggered based on a site or application
      from the defined traffic mix





Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021                [Page 9]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   In addition, a realistic number of access control rules (ACL) SHOULD
   be configured on the DUT/SUT where ACL's are configurable and also
   reasonable based on the deployment scenario.  This document
   determines the number of access policy rules for four different
   classes of DUT/SUT; namely Extra Small (XS), Small (S), Medium (M)
   and Large (L).  A sample DUT/SUT classification is described in
   Appendix B.

   The Access Control Rules (ACL) defined in Table 4 MUST be configured
   from top to bottom in the correct order as shown in the table.  This
   is due to ACL types listed in specificity decreasing order, with
   "block" first, followed by "allow", representing typical ACL based
   security policy.  The ACL entries SHOULD be configured with routable
   IP subnets by the DUT/SUT.  (Note: There will be differences between
   how security vendors implement ACL decision making.)  The configured
   ACL MUST NOT block the security and measurement traffic used for the
   benchmarking tests.


































Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 10]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


                                                       +---------------+
                                                       | DUT/SUT       |
                                                       | Classification|
                                                       | # Rules       |
   +-----------+-----------+--------------------+------+---+---+---+---+
   |           | Match     |                    |      |   |   |   |   |
   | Rules Type| Criteria  |   Description      |Action| XS| S | M | L |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Application|Application| Any application    | block| 5 | 10| 20| 50|
   |layer      |           | not included in    |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | the measurement    |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | traffic            |      |   |   |   |   |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Transport  |Src IP and | Any src IP subnet  | block| 25| 50|100|250|
   |layer      |TCP/UDP    | used and any dst   |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |Dst ports  | ports not used in  |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | the measurement    |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | traffic            |      |   |   |   |   |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |IP layer   |Src/Dst IP | Any src/dst IP     | block| 25| 50|100|250|
   |           |           | subnet not used    |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | in the measurement |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | traffic            |      |   |   |   |   |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Application|Application| Half of the        | allow| 10| 10| 10| 10|
   |layer      |           | applications       |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | included in the    |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | measurement traffic|      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           |(see the note below)|      |   |   |   |   |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Transport  |Src IP and | Half of the src    | allow| >1| >1| >1| >1|
   |layer      |TCP/UDP    | IP used and any    |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |Dst ports  | dst ports used in  |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | the measurement    |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | traffic            |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | (one rule per      |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | subnet)            |      |   |   |   |   |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |IP layer   |Src IP     | The rest of the    | allow| >1| >1| >1| >1|
   |           |           | src IP subnet      |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | range used in the  |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | measurement        |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | traffic            |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | (one rule per      |      |   |   |   |   |
   |           |           | subnet)            |      |   |   |   |   |
   +-----------+-----------+--------------------+------+---+---+---+---+

                       Table 4: DUT/SUT Access List



Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 11]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   Note: If the half of applications included in the measurement traffic
   is less than 10, the missing number of ACL entries (dummy rules) can
   be configured for any application traffic not included in the
   measurement traffic.

4.2.1.  Security Effectiveness Configuration

   The Security features (defined in table 1 and 2) of the DUT/SUT MUST
   be configured effectively in such a way to detect, prevent, and
   report the defined security Vulnerability sets.  This Section defines
   the selection of the security Vulnerability sets from Common
   Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) list for the testing.  The
   vulnerability set SHOULD reflect a minimum of 500 CVEs from no older
   than 10 calendar years to the current year.  These CVEs SHOULD be
   selected with a focus on in-use software commonly found in business
   applications, with a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS)
   Severity of High (7-10).

   This document is primarily focused on performance benchmarking.
   However, it is RECOMMENDED to validate the security features
   configuration of the DUT/SUT by evaluating the security effectiveness
   as a prerequisite for performance benchmarking tests defined in the
   section 7.  In case the Benchmarking tests are performed without
   evaluating security effectiveness, the test report MUST explain the
   implications of this.  The methodology for evaluating Security
   effectiveness is defined in Appendix A.

4.3.  Test Equipment Configuration

   In general, test equipment allows configuring parameters in different
   protocol layers.  These parameters thereby influence the traffic
   flows which will be offered and impact performance measurements.

   This section specifies common test equipment configuration parameters
   applicable for all benchmarking tests defined in Section 7.  Any
   benchmarking test specific parameters are described under the test
   setup section of each benchmarking test individually.

4.3.1.  Client Configuration

   This section specifies which parameters SHOULD be considered while
   configuring clients using test equipment.  Also, this section
   specifies the RECOMMENDED values for certain parameters.








Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 12]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


4.3.1.1.  TCP Stack Attributes

   The TCP stack SHOULD use a congestion control algorithm at client and
   server endpoints.  The default IPv4 and IPv6 MSS segments size SHOULD
   be set to 1460 bytes and 1440 bytes respectively and a TX and RX
   initial receive windows of 64 KByte.  Client initial congestion
   window SHOULD NOT exceed 10 times the MSS.  Delayed ACKs are
   permitted and the maximum client delayed ACK SHOULD NOT exceed 10
   times the MSS before a forced ACK.  Up to three retries SHOULD be
   allowed before a timeout event is declared.  All traffic MUST set the
   TCP PSH flag to high.  The source port range SHOULD be in the range
   of 1024 - 65535.  Internal timeout SHOULD be dynamically scalable per
   RFC 793.  The client SHOULD initiate and close TCP connections.  The
   TCP connection MUST be initiated via a TCP three way handshake (SYN,
   SYN/ACK, ACK).  and it MUST be closed via either a TCP three way
   close (FIN, FIN/ACK, ACK), or a TCP four way close (FIN, ACK, FIN,
   ACK).

4.3.1.2.  Client IP Address Space

   The sum of the client IP space SHOULD contain the following
   attributes.

   o  The IP blocks SHOULD consist of multiple unique, discontinuous
      static address blocks.

   o  A default gateway is permitted.

   o  The IPv4 Type of Service (ToS) byte or IPv6 traffic class should
      be set to '00' or '000000' respectively.

   The following equation can be used to define the total number of
   client IP addresses that will be configured on the test equipment.

   Desired total number of client IP = Target throughput [Mbit/s] /
   Average throughput per IP address [Mbit/s]

   As shown in the example list below, the value for "Average throughput
   per IP address" can be varied depending on the deployment and use
   case scenario.

   (Option 1)  DUT/SUT deployment scenario 1 : 6-7 Mbit/s per IP (e.g.
               1,400-1,700 IPs per 10Gbit/s throughput)

   (Option 2)  DUT/SUT deployment scenario 2 : 0.1-0.2 Mbit/s per IP
               (e.g.  50,000-100,000 IPs per 10Gbit/s throughput)





Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 13]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   Based on deployment and use case scenario, client IP addresses SHOULD
   be distributed between IPv4 and IPv6 type.  The Following options can
   be considered for a selection of traffic mix ratio.

   (Option 1)  100 % IPv4, no IPv6

   (Option 2)  80 % IPv4, 20% IPv6

   (Option 3)  50 % IPv4, 50% IPv6

   (Option 4)  20 % IPv4, 80% IPv6

   (Option 5)  no IPv4, 100% IPv6

   Note: The IANA has assigned IP address range for the testing purpose
   as described in Section 8.

4.3.1.3.  Emulated Web Browser Attributes

   The emulated web client contains attributes that will materially
   affect how traffic is loaded.  The objective is to emulate modern,
   typical browser attributes to improve realism of the result set.

   For HTTP traffic emulation, the emulated browser MUST negotiate HTTP
   1.1.  HTTP persistence MAY be enabled depending on the test scenario.
   The browser MAY open multiple TCP connections per Server endpoint IP
   at any time depending on how many sequential transactions are needed
   to be processed.  Within the TCP connection multiple transactions MAY
   be processed if the emulated browser has available connections.  The
   browser SHOULD advertise a User-Agent header.  Headers MUST be sent
   uncompressed.  The browser SHOULD enforce content length validation.

   For encrypted traffic, the following attributes SHALL define the
   negotiated encryption parameters.  The test clients MUST use TLS
   version 1.2 or higher.  TLS record size MAY be optimized for the
   HTTPS response object size up to a record size of 16 KByte.  The
   client endpoint SHOULD send TLS Extension Server Name Indication
   (SNI) information when opening a security tunnel.  Each client
   connection MUST perform a full handshake with server certificate and
   MUST NOT use session reuse or resumption.

   The following TLS 1.2 supported ciphers and keys are RECOMMENDED to
   use for HTTPS based benchmarking tests defined in Section 7.

   1.  ECHDE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 with Prime256v1 (Signature Hash
       Algorithm: ecdsa_secp256r1_sha256 and Supported group: sepc256r1)





Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 14]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   2.  ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 with RSA 2048 (Signature Hash
       Algorithm: rsa_pkcs1_sha256 and Supported group: sepc256)

   3.  ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 with Secp521 (Signature Hash
       Algorithm: ecdsa_secp384r1_sha384 and Supported group: sepc521r1)

   4.  ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 with RSA 4096 (Signature Hash
       Algorithm: rsa_pkcs1_sha384 and Supported group: secp256)

   Note: The above ciphers and keys were those commonly used enterprise
   grade encryption cipher suites for TLS 1.2.  It is recognized that
   these will evolve over time.  Individual certification bodies SHOULD
   use ciphers and keys that reflect evolving use cases.  These choices
   MUST be documented in the resulting test reports with detailed
   information on the ciphers and keys used along with reasons for the
   choices.

   [RFC8446] defines the following cipher suites for use with TLS 1.3.

   1.  TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256

   2.  TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384

   3.  TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256

   4.  TLS_AES_128_CCM_SHA256

   5.  TLS_AES_128_CCM_8_SHA256

4.3.2.  Backend Server Configuration

   This section specifies which parameters should be considered while
   configuring emulated backend servers using test equipment.

4.3.2.1.  TCP Stack Attributes

   The TCP stack on the server side SHOULD be configured similar to the
   client side configuration described in Section 4.3.1.1.  In addition,
   server initial congestion window MUST NOT exceed 10 times the MSS.
   Delayed ACKs are permitted and the maximum server delayed ACK MUST
   NOT exceed 10 times the MSS before a forced ACK.

4.3.2.2.  Server Endpoint IP Addressing

   The sum of the server IP space SHOULD contain the following
   attributes.





Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 15]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   o  The server IP blocks SHOULD consist of unique, discontinuous
      static address blocks with one IP per Server Fully Qualified
      Domain Name (FQDN) endpoint per test port.

   o  A default gateway is permitted.  The IPv4 ToS byte and IPv6
      traffic class bytes should be set to '00' and '000000'
      respectively.

   o  The server IP addresses SHOULD be distributed between IPv4 and
      IPv6 with a ratio identical to the clients distribution ratio.

   Note: The IANA has assigned IP address range for the testing purpose
   as described in Section 8.

4.3.2.3.  HTTP / HTTPS Server Pool Endpoint Attributes

   The server pool for HTTP SHOULD listen on TCP port 80 and emulate
   HTTP version 1.1 with persistence.  The Server MUST advertise server
   type in the Server response header [RFC2616].  For HTTPS server, TLS
   1.2 or higher MUST be used with a maximum record size of 16 KByte and
   MUST NOT use ticket resumption or Session ID reuse.  The server MUST
   listen on port TCP 443.  The server SHALL serve a certificate to the
   client.  The HTTPS server MUST check Host SNI information with the
   FQDN if the SNI is in use.  Cipher suite and key size on the server
   side MUST be configured similar to the client side configuration
   described in Section 4.3.1.3.

4.3.3.  Traffic Flow Definition

   This section describes the traffic pattern between client and server
   endpoints.  At the beginning of the test, the server endpoint
   initializes and will be ready to accept connection states including
   initialization of the TCP stack as well as bound HTTP and HTTPS
   servers.  When a client endpoint is needed, it will initialize and be
   given attributes such as a MAC and IP address.  The behavior of the
   client is to sweep through the given server IP space, sequentially
   generating a recognizable service by the DUT.  Thus, a balanced, mesh
   between client endpoints and server endpoints will be generated in a
   client port server port combination.  Each client endpoint performs
   the same actions as other endpoints, with the difference being the
   source IP of the client endpoint and the target server IP pool.  The
   client MUST use the server's IP address or Fully Qualified Domain
   Names (FQDN) in Host Headers [RFC2616].  For TLS the client MAY use
   Server Name Indication (SNI).







Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 16]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


4.3.3.1.  Description of Intra-Client Behavior

   Client endpoints are independent of other clients that are
   concurrently executing.  When a client endpoint initiates traffic,
   this section describes how the client steps through different
   services.  Once the test is initialized, the client endpoints SHOULD
   randomly hold (perform no operation) for a few milliseconds to allow
   for better randomization of the start of client traffic.  Each client
   will either open a new TCP connection or connect to a TCP persistence
   stack still open to that specific server.  At any point that the
   service profile may require encryption, a TLS encryption tunnel will
   form presenting the URL or IP address request to the server.  If
   using SNI, the server will then perform an SNI name check with the
   proposed FQDN compared to the domain embedded in the certificate.
   Only when correct, will the server process the HTTPS response object.
   The initial response object to the server MUST NOT have a fixed size;
   its size is based on benchmarking tests described in Section 7.
   Multiple additional sub-URLs (response objects on the service page)
   MAY be requested simultaneously.  This MAY be to the same server IP
   as the initial URL.  Each sub-object will also use a conical FQDN and
   URL path, as observed in the traffic mix used.

4.3.4.  Traffic Load Profile

   The loading of traffic is described in this section.  The loading of
   a traffic load profile has five distinct phases: Init, ramp up,
   sustain, ramp down, and collection.

   1.  During the Init phase, test bed devices including the client and
       server endpoints should negotiate layer 2-3 connectivity such as
       MAC learning and ARP.  Only after successful MAC learning or ARP/
       ND resolution SHALL the test iteration move to the next phase.
       No measurements are made in this phase.  The minimum RECOMMEND
       time for Init phase is 5 seconds.  During this phase, the
       emulated clients SHOULD NOT initiate any sessions with the DUT/
       SUT, in contrast, the emulated servers should be ready to accept
       requests from DUT/SUT or from emulated clients.

   2.  In the ramp up phase, the test equipment SHOULD start to generate
       the test traffic.  It SHOULD use a set approximate number of
       unique client IP addresses actively to generate traffic.  The
       traffic SHOULD ramp from zero to desired target objective.  The
       target objective will be defined for each benchmarking test.  The
       duration for the ramp up phase MUST be configured long enough, so
       that the test equipment does not overwhelm the DUT/SUT's stated
       performance metrics defined in Section 6.3 namely; TCP
       Connections Per Second, Inspected Throughput, Concurrent TCP




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 17]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


       Connections, and Application Transactions Per Second.  No
       measurements are made in this phase.

   3.  Sustain phase starts when all required clients (connections) are
       active and operating at their desired load condition.  In the
       sustain phase, the test equipment SHOULD continue generating
       traffic to constant target value for a constant number of active
       clients.  The minimum RECOMMENDED time duration for sustain phase
       is 300 seconds.  This is the phase where measurements occur.

   4.  In the ramp down/close phase, no new connections are established,
       and no measurements are made.  The time duration for ramp up and
       ramp down phase SHOULD be the same.

   5.  The last phase is administrative and will occur when the test
       equipment merges and collates the report data.

5.  Test Bed Considerations

   This section recommends steps to control the test environment and
   test equipment, specifically focusing on virtualized environments and
   virtualized test equipment.

   1.  Ensure that any ancillary switching or routing functions between
       the system under test and the test equipment do not limit the
       performance of the traffic generator.  This is specifically
       important for virtualized components (vSwitches, vRouters).

   2.  Verify that the performance of the test equipment matches and
       reasonably exceeds the expected maximum performance of the system
       under test.

   3.  Assert that the test bed characteristics are stable during the
       entire test session.  Several factors might influence stability
       specifically, for virtualized test beds.  For example, additional
       workloads in a virtualized system, load balancing, and movement
       of virtual machines during the test, or simple issues such as
       additional heat created by high workloads leading to an emergency
       CPU performance reduction.

   Test bed reference pre-tests help to ensure that the maximum desired
   traffic generator aspects such as throughput, transaction per second,
   connection per second, concurrent connection, and latency.

   Test bed preparation may be performed either by configuring the DUT
   in the most trivial setup (fast forwarding) or without presence of
   the DUT.




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 18]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


6.  Reporting

   This section describes how the final report should be formatted and
   presented.  The final test report MAY have two major sections;
   Introduction and detailed test results sections.

6.1.  Introduction

   The following attributes SHOULD be present in the introduction
   section of the test report.

   1.  The time and date of the execution of the test MUST be prominent.

   2.  Summary of test bed software and Hardware details

       A.  DUT/SUT Hardware/Virtual Configuration

           +  This section SHOULD clearly identify the make and model of
              the DUT/SUT

           +  The port interfaces, including speed and link information
              MUST be documented.

           +  If the DUT/SUT is a Virtual Network Function (VNF), host
              (server) hardware and software details, interface
              acceleration type such as DPDK and SR-IOV used CPU cores,
              used RAM, and the resource sharing (e.g.  Pinning details
              and NUMA Node) configuration MUST be documented.  The
              virtual components such as Hypervisor, virtual switch
              version MUST be also documented.

           +  Any additional hardware relevant to the DUT/SUT such as
              controllers MUST be documented

       B.  DUT/SUT Software

           +  The operating system name MUST be documented

           +  The version MUST be documented

           +  The specific configuration MUST be documented

       C.  DUT/SUT Enabled Features

           +  Configured DUT/SUT features (see Table 1 and Table 2) MUST
              be documented

           +  Attributes of those featured MUST be documented



Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 19]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


           +  Any additional relevant information about features MUST be
              documented

       D.  Test equipment hardware and software

           +  Test equipment vendor name

           +  Hardware details including model number, interface type

           +  Test equipment firmware and test application software
              version

       E.  Key test parameters

           +  Used cipher suites and keys

           +  IPv4 and IPv6 traffic distribution

           +  Number of configured ACL

       F.  Details of application traffic mix used in the benchmarking
           test "Throughput Performance with Application Traffic Mix"
           (Section 7.1)

           +  Name of applications and layer 7 protocols

           +  Percentage of emulated traffic for each application and
              layer 7 protocols

           +  Percentage of encrypted traffic and used cipher suites and
              keys (The RECOMMENDED ciphers and keys are defined in
              Section 4.3.1.3)

           +  Used object sizes for each application and layer 7
              protocols

   3.  Results Summary / Executive Summary

       A.  Results SHOULD resemble a pyramid in how it is reported, with
           the introduction section documenting the summary of results
           in a prominent, easy to read block.

6.2.  Detailed Test Results

   In the result section of the test report, the following attributes
   should be present for each benchmarking test.





Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 20]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   a.  KPIs MUST be documented separately for each benchmarking test.
       The format of the KPI metrics should be presented as described in
       Section 6.3.

   b.  The next level of details SHOULD be graphs showing each of these
       metrics over the duration (sustain phase) of the test.  This
       allows the user to see the measured performance stability changes
       over time.

6.3.  Benchmarks and Key Performance Indicators

   This section lists key performance indicators (KPIs) for overall
   benchmarking tests.  All KPIs MUST be measured during the sustain
   phase of the traffic load profile described in Section 4.3.4.  All
   KPIs MUST be measured from the result output of test equipment.

   o  Concurrent TCP Connections
      The aggregate number of simultaneous connections between hosts
      across the DUT/SUT, or between hosts and the DUT/SUT (defined in
      [RFC2647]).

   o  TCP Connections Per Second
      The average number of successfully established TCP connections per
      second between hosts across the DUT/SUT, or between hosts and the
      DUT/SUT.  The TCP connection must be initiated via a TCP three way
      handshake (SYN, SYN/ACK, ACK).  Then the TCP session data is sent.
      The TCP session MUST be closed via either a TCP three way close
      (FIN, FIN/ACK, ACK), or a TCP four way close (FIN, ACK, FIN, ACK),
      and not by a RST.

   o  Application Transactions Per Second
      The average number of successfully completed transactions per
      second.  For a particular transaction to be considered successful,
      all data must have been transferred in its entirety.  In case of
      HTTP(S) transaction, it must have a valid status code, and the
      appropriate FIN, FIN/ACK sequence must have been completed.

   o  TLS Handshake Rate
      The average number of successfully established TLS connections per
      second between hosts across the DUT/SUT, or between hosts and the
      DUT/SUT.

   o  Inspected Throughput
      The number of bits per second of allowed traffic a network
      security device is able to transmit to the correct destination
      interface(s) in response to a specified offered load.  The
      throughput benchmarking tests defined in Section 7 SHOULD measure
      the average OSI model Layer 2 throughput value.  This document



Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 21]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


      recommends presenting the throughput value in Gbit/s rounded to
      two places of precision with a more specific Kbit/s in
      parenthesis.

   o  Time to First Byte (TTFB)
      TTFB is the elapsed time between the start of sending the TCP SYN
      packet from the client and the client receiving the first packet
      of application data from the server or DUT/SUT.  The benchmarking
      tests HTTP Transaction Latency (Section 7.4) and HTTPS Transaction
      Latency (Section 7.8) measure the minimum, average and maximum
      TTFB.  The value SHOULD be expressed in millisecond.

   o  URL Response time / Time to Last Byte (TTLB)
      URL Response time / TTLB is the elapsed time between the start of
      sending the TCP SYN packet from the client and the client
      receiving the last packet of application data from the server or
      DUT/SUT.  The benchmarking tests HTTP Transaction Latency
      (Section 7.4) and HTTP Transaction Latency (Section 7.8) measure
      the minimum, average and maximum TTLB.  The value SHOULD be
      expressed in millisecond.

7.  Benchmarking Tests

7.1.  Throughput Performance with Application Traffic Mix

7.1.1.  Objective

   Using a relevant application traffic mix, determine the sustainable
   inspected throughput supported by the DUT/SUT.

   Based on customer use case, users can choose the application traffic
   mix for this test.  The details about the traffic mix MUST be
   documented in the report.  At least the following traffic mix details
   MUST be documented and reported together with the test results:

      Name of applications and layer 7 protocols

      Percentage of emulated traffic for each application and layer 7
      protocols

      Percentage of encrypted traffic and used cipher suites and keys
      (The RECOMMENDED ciphers and keys are defined in Section 4.3.1.3.)

      Used object sizes for each application and layer 7 protocols







Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 22]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.1.2.  Test Setup

   Test bed setup MUST be configured as defined in Section 4.  Any
   benchmarking test specific test bed configuration changes MUST be
   documented.

7.1.3.  Test Parameters

   In this section, the benchmarking test specific parameters SHOULD be
   defined.

7.1.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters

   DUT/SUT parameters MUST conform to the requirements defined in
   Section 4.2.  Any configuration changes for this specific
   benchmarking test MUST be documented.  In case the DUT is configured
   without SSL inspection feature, the test report MUST explain the
   implications of this to the relevant application traffic mix
   encrypted traffic.

7.1.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters

   Test equipment configuration parameters MUST conform to the
   requirements defined in Section 4.3.  Following parameters MUST be
   noted for this benchmarking test:

      Client IP address range defined in Section 4.3.1.2

      Server IP address range defined in Section 4.3.2.2

      Traffic distribution ratio between IPv4 and IPv6 defined in
      Section 4.3.1.2

      Target inspected throughput: Aggregated line rate of interface(s)
      used in the DUT/SUT or the value defined based on requirement for
      a specific deployment scenario

      Initial inspected throughput: 10% of the "Target inspected
      throughput"

      One of the ciphers and keys defined in Section 4.3.1.3 are
      RECOMMENDED to use for this benchmarking test.

7.1.3.3.  Traffic Profile

   Traffic profile: This test MUST be run with a relevant application
   traffic mix profile.




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 23]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.1.3.4.  Test Results Validation Criteria

   The following test Criteria is defined as test results validation
   criteria.  Test results validation criteria MUST be monitored during
   the whole sustain phase of the traffic load profile.

   a.  Number of failed application transactions (receiving any HTTP
       response code other than 200 OK) MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out
       of 100,000 transactions) of total attempt transactions.

   b.  Number of Terminated TCP connections due to unexpected TCP RST
       sent by DUT/SUT MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out of 100,000
       connections) of total initiated TCP connections.

7.1.3.5.  Measurement

   Following KPI metrics MUST be reported for this benchmarking test:

   Mandatory KPIs (benchmarks): Inspected Throughput, TTFB (minimum,
   average, and maximum), TTLB (minimum, average, and maximum) and
   Application Transactions Per Second

   Note: TTLB MUST be reported along with the object size used in the
   traffic profile.

   Optional KPIs: TCP Connections Per Second and TLS Handshake Rate

7.1.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results

   The test procedures are designed to measure the inspected throughput
   performance of the DUT/SUT at the sustaining period of traffic load
   profile.  The test procedure consists of three major steps.  This
   test procedure MAY be repeated multiple times with different IP
   types; IPv4 only, IPv6 only and IPv4 and IPv6 mixed traffic
   distribution.

7.1.4.1.  Step 1: Test Initialization and Qualification

   Verify the link status of all connected physical interfaces.  All
   interfaces are expected to be in "UP" status.

   Configure traffic load profile of the test equipment to generate test
   traffic at the "Initial inspected throughput" rate as described in
   the parameters Section 7.1.3.2.  The test equipment SHOULD follow the
   traffic load profile definition as described in Section 4.3.4.  The
   DUT/SUT SHOULD reach the "Initial inspected throughput" during the
   sustain phase.  Measure all KPI as defined in Section 7.1.3.5.  The




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 24]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   measured KPIs during the sustain phase MUST meet the test results
   validation criteria "a" and "b" defined in Section 7.1.3.4.

   If the KPI metrics do not meet the test results validation criteria,
   the test procedure MUST NOT be continued to step 2.

7.1.4.2.  Step 2: Test Run with Target Objective

   Configure test equipment to generate traffic at the "Target inspected
   throughput" rate defined in the parameter table.  The test equipment
   SHOULD follow the traffic load profile definition as described in
   Section 4.3.4.  The test equipment SHOULD start to measure and record
   all specified KPIs and the frequency of measurements SHOULD be less
   than 2 seconds.  Continue the test until all traffic profile phases
   are completed.

   Within the test results validation criteria, the DUT/SUT is expected
   to reach the desired value of the target objective ("Target inspected
   throughput") in the sustain phase.  Follow step 3, if the measured
   value does not meet the target value or does not fulfill the test
   results validation criteria.

7.1.4.3.  Step 3: Test Iteration

   Determine the achievable average inspected throughput within the test
   results validation criteria.  Final test iteration MUST be performed
   for the test duration defined in Section 4.3.4.

7.2.  TCP/HTTP Connections Per Second

7.2.1.  Objective

   Using HTTP traffic, determine the sustainable TCP connection
   establishment rate supported by the DUT/SUT under different
   throughput load conditions.

   To measure connections per second, test iterations MUST use the
   different fixed HTTP response object sizes (the different load
   conditions) defined in Section 7.2.3.2.

7.2.2.  Test Setup

   Test bed setup SHOULD be configured as defined in Section 4.  Any
   specific test bed configuration changes such as number of interfaces
   and interface type, etc.  MUST be documented.






Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 25]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.2.3.  Test Parameters

   In this section, benchmarking test specific parameters SHOULD be
   defined.

7.2.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters

   DUT/SUT parameters MUST conform to the requirements defined in
   Section 4.2.  Any configuration changes for this specific
   benchmarking test MUST be documented.

7.2.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters

   Test equipment configuration parameters MUST conform to the
   requirements defined in Section 4.3.  Following parameters MUST be
   documented for this benchmarking test:

   Client IP address range defined in Section 4.3.1.2

   Server IP address range defined in Section 4.3.2.2

   Traffic distribution ratio between IPv4 and IPv6 defined in
   Section 4.3.1.2

   Target connections per second: Initial value from product datasheet
   or the value defined based on requirement for a specific deployment
   scenario

   Initial connections per second: 10% of "Target connections per
   second" (an optional parameter for documentation)

   The client SHOULD negotiate HTTP 1.1 and close the connection with
   FIN immediately after completion of one transaction.  In each test
   iteration, client MUST send GET command requesting a fixed HTTP
   response object size.

   The RECOMMENDED response object sizes are 1, 2, 4, 16, and 64 KByte.

7.2.3.3.  Test Results Validation Criteria

   The following test Criteria is defined as test results validation
   criteria.  Test results validation criteria MUST be monitored during
   the whole sustain phase of the traffic load profile.

   a.  Number of failed Application transactions (receiving any HTTP
       response code other than 200 OK) MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out
       of 100,000 transactions) of total attempt transactions.




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 26]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   b.  Number of Terminated TCP connections due to unexpected TCP RST
       sent by DUT/SUT MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out of 100,000
       connections) of total initiated TCP connections.

   c.  During the sustain phase, traffic should be forwarded at a
       constant rate.

   d.  Concurrent TCP connections MUST be constant during steady state
       and any deviation of concurrent TCP connections SHOULD be less
       than 10%. This confirms the DUT opens and closes TCP connections
       almost at the same rate.

7.2.3.4.  Measurement

   TCP Connections Per Second MUST be reported for each test iteration
   (for each object size).

7.2.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results

   The test procedure is designed to measure the TCP connections per
   second rate of the DUT/SUT at the sustaining period of the traffic
   load profile.  The test procedure consists of three major steps.
   This test procedure MAY be repeated multiple times with different IP
   types; IPv4 only, IPv6 only and IPv4 and IPv6 mixed traffic
   distribution.

7.2.4.1.  Step 1: Test Initialization and Qualification

   Verify the link status of all connected physical interfaces.  All
   interfaces are expected to be in "UP" status.

   Configure the traffic load profile of the test equipment to establish
   "initial connections per second" as defined in the parameters
   Section 7.2.3.2.  The traffic load profile SHOULD be defined as
   described in Section 4.3.4.

   The DUT/SUT SHOULD reach the "Initial connections per second" before
   the sustain phase.  The measured KPIs during the sustain phase MUST
   meet the test results validation criteria a, b, c, and d defined in
   Section 7.2.3.3.

   If the KPI metrics do not meet the test results validation criteria,
   the test procedure MUST NOT be continued to "Step 2".








Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 27]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.2.4.2.  Step 2: Test Run with Target Objective

   Configure test equipment to establish the target objective ("Target
   connections per second") defined in the parameters table.  The test
   equipment SHOULD follow the traffic load profile definition as
   described in Section 4.3.4.

   During the ramp up and sustain phase of each test iteration, other
   KPIs such as inspected throughput, concurrent TCP connections and
   application transactions per second MUST NOT reach to the maximum
   value the DUT/SUT can support.  The test results for specific test
   iterations SHOULD NOT be reported, if the above mentioned KPI
   (especially inspected throughput) reaches the maximum value.
   (Example: If the test iteration with 64 KByte of HTTP response object
   size reached the maximum inspected throughput limitation of the DUT,
   the test iteration MAY be interrupted and the result for 64 KByte
   SHOULD NOT be reported).

   The test equipment SHOULD start to measure and record all specified
   KPIs and the frequency of measurements SHOULD be less than 2 seconds.
   Continue the test until all traffic profile phases are completed.

   Within the test results validation criteria, the DUT/SUT is expected
   to reach the desired value of the target objective ("Target
   connections per second") in the sustain phase.  Follow step 3, if the
   measured value does not meet the target value or does not fulfill the
   test results validation criteria.

7.2.4.3.  Step 3: Test Iteration

   Determine the achievable TCP connections per second within the test
   results validation criteria.

7.3.  HTTP Throughput

7.3.1.  Objective

   Determine the sustainable inspected throughput of the DUT/SUT for
   HTTP transactions varying the HTTP response object size.

7.3.2.  Test Setup

   Test bed setup SHOULD be configured as defined in Section 4.  Any
   specific test bed configuration changes such as number of interfaces
   and interface type, etc. must be documented.






Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 28]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.3.3.  Test Parameters

   In this section, benchmarking test specific parameters SHOULD be
   defined.

7.3.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters

   DUT/SUT parameters MUST conform to the requirements defined in
   Section 4.2.  Any configuration changes for this specific
   benchmarking test MUST be documented.

7.3.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters

   Test equipment configuration parameters MUST conform to the
   requirements defined in Section 4.3.  Following parameters MUST be
   documented for this benchmarking test:

   Client IP address range defined in Section 4.3.1.2

   Server IP address range defined in Section 4.3.2.2

   Traffic distribution ratio between IPv4 and IPv6 defined in
   Section 4.3.1.2

   Target inspected throughput: Aggregated line rate of interface(s)
   used in the DUT/SUT or the value defined based on requirement for a
   specific deployment scenario

   Initial inspected throughput: 10% of "Target inspected throughput"
   (an optional parameter for documentation)

   Number of HTTP response object requests (transactions) per
   connection: 10

   RECOMMENDED HTTP response object size: 1, 16, 64, 256 KByte, and
   mixed objects defined in the table















Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 29]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | Object size (KByte) | Number of requests/ |
   |                     | Weight              |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 0.2                 | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 6                   | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 8                   | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 9                   | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 10                  | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 25                  | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 26                  | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 35                  | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 59                  | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 347                 | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+

                          Table 4: Mixed Objects

7.3.3.3.  Test Results Validation Criteria

   The following test Criteria is defined as test results validation
   criteria.  Test results validation criteria MUST be monitored during
   the whole sustain phase of the traffic load profile.

   a.  Number of failed Application transactions (receiving any HTTP
       response code other than 200 OK) MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out
       of 100,000 transactions) of attempt transactions.

   b.  Traffic should be forwarded constantly.

   c.  Concurrent TCP connections MUST be constant during steady state
       and any deviation of concurrent TCP connections SHOULD be less
       than 10%. This confirms the DUT opens and closes TCP connections
       almost at the same rate.








Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 30]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.3.3.4.  Measurement

   Inspected Throughput and HTTP Transactions per Second MUST be
   reported for each object size.

7.3.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results

   The test procedure is designed to measure HTTP throughput of the DUT/
   SUT.  The test procedure consists of three major steps.  This test
   procedure MAY be repeated multiple times with different IPv4 and IPv6
   traffic distribution and HTTP response object sizes.

7.3.4.1.  Step 1: Test Initialization and Qualification

   Verify the link status of all connected physical interfaces.  All
   interfaces are expected to be in "UP" status.

   Configure traffic load profile of the test equipment to establish
   "Initial inspected throughput" as defined in the parameters
   Section 7.3.3.2.

   The traffic load profile SHOULD be defined as described in
   Section 4.3.4.  The DUT/SUT SHOULD reach the "Initial inspected
   throughput" during the sustain phase.  Measure all KPI as defined in
   Section 7.3.3.4.

   The measured KPIs during the sustain phase MUST meet the test results
   validation criteria "a" defined in Section 7.3.3.3.

   If the KPI metrics do not meet the test results validation criteria,
   the test procedure MUST NOT be continued to "Step 2".

7.3.4.2.  Step 2: Test Run with Target Objective

   Configure test equipment to establish the target objective ("Target
   inspected throughput") defined in the parameters table.  The test
   equipment SHOULD start to measure and record all specified KPIs and
   the frequency of measurements SHOULD be less than 2 seconds.
   Continue the test until all traffic profile phases are completed.

   Within the test results validation criteria, the DUT/SUT is expected
   to reach the desired value of the target objective in the sustain
   phase.  Follow step 3, if the measured value does not meet the target
   value or does not fulfill the test results validation criteria.







Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 31]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.3.4.3.  Step 3: Test Iteration

   Determine the achievable inspected throughput within the test results
   validation criteria and measure the KPI metric Transactions per
   Second.  Final test iteration MUST be performed for the test duration
   defined in Section 4.3.4.

7.4.  HTTP Transaction Latency

7.4.1.  Objective

   Using HTTP traffic, determine the HTTP transaction latency when DUT
   is running with sustainable HTTP transactions per second supported by
   the DUT/SUT under different HTTP response object sizes.

   Test iterations MUST be performed with different HTTP response object
   sizes in two different scenarios.  One with a single transaction and
   the other with multiple transactions within a single TCP connection.
   For consistency both the single and multiple transaction test MUST be
   configured with HTTP 1.1.

   Scenario 1: The client MUST negotiate HTTP 1.1 and close the
   connection with FIN immediately after completion of a single
   transaction (GET and RESPONSE).

   Scenario 2: The client MUST negotiate HTTP 1.1 and close the
   connection FIN immediately after completion of 10 transactions (GET
   and RESPONSE) within a single TCP connection.

7.4.2.  Test Setup

   Test bed setup SHOULD be configured as defined in Section 4.  Any
   specific test bed configuration changes such as number of interfaces
   and interface type, etc.  MUST be documented.

7.4.3.  Test Parameters

   In this section, benchmarking test specific parameters SHOULD be
   defined.

7.4.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters

   DUT/SUT parameters MUST conform to the requirements defined in
   Section 4.2.  Any configuration changes for this specific
   benchmarking test MUST be documented.






Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 32]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.4.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters

   Test equipment configuration parameters MUST conform to the
   requirements defined in Section 4.3.  Following parameters MUST be
   documented for this benchmarking test:

   Client IP address range defined in Section 4.3.1.2

   Server IP address range defined in Section 4.3.2.2

   Traffic distribution ratio between IPv4 and IPv6 defined in
   Section 4.3.1.2

   Target objective for scenario 1: 50% of the connection per second
   measured in benchmarking test TCP/HTTP Connections Per Second
   (Section 7.2)

   Target objective for scenario 2: 50% of the inspected throughput
   measured in benchmarking test HTTP Throughput (Section 7.3)

   Initial objective for scenario 1: 10% of Target objective for
   scenario 1" (an optional parameter for documentation)

   Initial objective for scenario 2: 10% of "Target objective for
   scenario 2" (an optional parameter for documentation)

   HTTP transaction per TCP connection: test scenario 1 with single
   transaction and the second scenario with 10 transactions

   HTTP 1.1 with GET command requesting a single object.  The
   RECOMMENDED object sizes are 1, 16, and 64 KByte.  For each test
   iteration, client MUST request a single HTTP response object size.

7.4.3.3.  Test Results Validation Criteria

   The following test Criteria is defined as test results validation
   criteria.  Test results validation criteria MUST be monitored during
   the whole sustain phase of the traffic load profile.  Ramp up and
   ramp down phase SHOULD NOT be considered.

   a.  Number of failed Application transactions (receiving any HTTP
       response code other than 200 OK) MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out
       of 100,000 transactions) of attempt transactions.

   b.  Number of Terminated TCP connections due to unexpected TCP RST
       sent by DUT/SUT MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out of 100,000
       connections) of total initiated TCP connections.




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 33]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   c.  During the sustain phase, traffic should be forwarded at a
       constant rate.

   d.  Concurrent TCP connections MUST be constant during steady state
       and any deviation of concurrent TCP connections SHOULD be less
       than 10%. This confirms the DUT opens and closes TCP connections
       almost at the same rate.

   e.  After ramp up the DUT MUST achieve the "Target objective" defined
       in the parameter Section 7.4.3.2 and remain in that state for the
       entire test duration (sustain phase).

7.4.3.4.  Measurement

   TTFB (minimum, average and maximum) and TTLB (minimum, average and
   maximum) MUST be reported for each object size.

7.4.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results

   The test procedure is designed to measure TTFB or TTLB when the DUT/
   SUT is operating close to 50% of its maximum achievable connections
   per second or inspected throughput.  This test procedure MAY be
   repeated multiple times with different IP types (IPv4 only, IPv6 only
   and IPv4 and IPv6 mixed traffic distribution), HTTP response object
   sizes and single and multiple transactions per connection scenarios.

7.4.4.1.  Step 1: Test Initialization and Qualification

   Verify the link status of all connected physical interfaces.  All
   interfaces are expected to be in "UP" status.

   Configure traffic load profile of the test equipment to establish
   "Initial objective" as defined in the parameters Section 7.4.3.2.
   The traffic load profile can be defined as described in
   Section 4.3.4.

   The DUT/SUT SHOULD reach the "Initial objective" before the sustain
   phase.  The measured KPIs during the sustain phase MUST meet the test
   results validation criteria a, b, c, d, e and f defined in
   Section 7.4.3.3.

   If the KPI metrics do not meet the test results validation criteria,
   the test procedure MUST NOT be continued to "Step 2".








Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 34]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.4.4.2.  Step 2: Test Run with Target Objective

   Configure test equipment to establish "Target objective" defined in
   the parameters table.  The test equipment SHOULD follow the traffic
   load profile definition as described in Section 4.3.4.

   The test equipment SHOULD start to measure and record all specified
   KPIs and the frequency of measurement SHOULD be less than 2 seconds.
   Continue the test until all traffic profile phases are completed.

   Within the test results validation criteria, the DUT/SUT MUST reach
   the desired value of the target objective in the sustain phase.

   Measure the minimum, average and maximum values of TFB and TTLB.

7.5.  Concurrent TCP/HTTP Connection Capacity

7.5.1.  Objective

   Determine the number of concurrent TCP connections that the DUT/ SUT
   sustains when using HTTP traffic.

7.5.2.  Test Setup

   Test bed setup SHOULD be configured as defined in Section 4.  Any
   specific test bed configuration changes such as number of interfaces
   and interface type, etc. must be documented.

7.5.3.  Test Parameters

   In this section, benchmarking test specific parameters SHOULD be
   defined.

7.5.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters

   DUT/SUT parameters MUST conform to the requirements defined in
   Section 4.2.  Any configuration changes for this specific
   benchmarking test MUST be documented.

7.5.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters

   Test equipment configuration parameters MUST conform to the
   requirements defined in Section 4.3.  Following parameters MUST be
   noted for this benchmarking test:

      Client IP address range defined in Section 4.3.1.2

      Server IP address range defined in Section 4.3.2.2



Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 35]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


      Traffic distribution ratio between IPv4 and IPv6 defined in
      Section 4.3.1.2

      Target concurrent connection: Initial value from product datasheet
      or the value defined based on requirement for a specific
      deployment scenario.

      Initial concurrent connection: 10% of "Target concurrent
      connection" (an optional parameter for documentation)

      Maximum connections per second during ramp up phase: 50% of
      maximum connections per second measured in benchmarking test TCP/
      HTTP Connections per second (Section 7.2)

      Ramp up time (in traffic load profile for "Target concurrent
      connection"): "Target concurrent connection" / "Maximum
      connections per second during ramp up phase"

      Ramp up time (in traffic load profile for "Initial concurrent
      connection"): "Initial concurrent connection" / "Maximum
      connections per second during ramp up phase"

   The client MUST negotiate HTTP 1.1 with persistence and each client
   MAY open multiple concurrent TCP connections per server endpoint IP.

   Each client sends 10 GET commands requesting 1 KByte HTTP response
   object in the same TCP connection (10 transactions/TCP connection)
   and the delay (think time) between each transaction MUST be X
   seconds.

   X = ("Ramp up time" + "steady state time") /10

   The established connections SHOULD remain open until the ramp down
   phase of the test.  During the ramp down phase, all connections
   SHOULD be successfully closed with FIN.

7.5.3.3.  Test Results Validation Criteria

   The following test Criteria is defined as test results validation
   criteria.  Test results validation criteria MUST be monitored during
   the whole sustain phase of the traffic load profile.

   a.  Number of failed Application transactions (receiving any HTTP
       response code other than 200 OK) MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out
       of 100,000 transaction) of total attempted transactions.






Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 36]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   b.  Number of Terminated TCP connections due to unexpected TCP RST
       sent by DUT/SUT MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out of 100,000
       connections) of total initiated TCP connections.

   c.  During the sustain phase, traffic SHOULD be forwarded constantly.

7.5.3.4.  Measurement

   Average Concurrent TCP Connections MUST be reported for this
   benchmarking test.

7.5.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results

   The test procedure is designed to measure the concurrent TCP
   connection capacity of the DUT/SUT at the sustaining period of
   traffic load profile.  The test procedure consists of three major
   steps.  This test procedure MAY be repeated multiple times with
   different IPv4 and IPv6 traffic distribution.

7.5.4.1.  Step 1: Test Initialization and Qualification

   Verify the link status of all connected physical interfaces.  All
   interfaces are expected to be in "UP" status.

   Configure test equipment to establish "Initial concurrent TCP
   connections" defined in Section 7.5.3.2.  Except ramp up time, the
   traffic load profile SHOULD be defined as described in Section 4.3.4.

   During the sustain phase, the DUT/SUT SHOULD reach the "Initial
   concurrent TCP connections".  The measured KPIs during the sustain
   phase MUST meet the test results validation criteria "a" and "b"
   defined in Section 7.5.3.3.

   If the KPI metrics do not meet the test results validation criteria,
   the test procedure MUST NOT be continued to "Step 2".

7.5.4.2.  Step 2: Test Run with Target Objective

   Configure test equipment to establish the target objective ("Target
   concurrent TCP connections").  The test equipment SHOULD follow the
   traffic load profile definition (except ramp up time) as described in
   Section 4.3.4.

   During the ramp up and sustain phase, the other KPIs such as
   inspected throughput, TCP connections per second and application
   transactions per second MUST NOT reach to the maximum value that the
   DUT/SUT can support.




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 37]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   The test equipment SHOULD start to measure and record KPIs defined in
   Section 7.5.3.4.  The frequency of measurement SHOULD be less than 2
   seconds.  Continue the test until all traffic profile phases are
   completed.

   Within the test results validation criteria, the DUT/SUT is expected
   to reach the desired value of the target objective in the sustain
   phase.  Follow step 3, if the measured value does not meet the target
   value or does not fulfill the test results validation criteria.

7.5.4.3.  Step 3: Test Iteration

   Determine the achievable concurrent TCP connections capacity within
   the test results validation criteria.

7.6.  TCP/HTTPS Connections per Second

7.6.1.  Objective

   Using HTTPS traffic, determine the sustainable SSL/TLS session
   establishment rate supported by the DUT/SUT under different
   throughput load conditions.

   Test iterations MUST include common cipher suites and key strengths
   as well as forward looking stronger keys.  Specific test iterations
   MUST include ciphers and keys defined in Section 7.6.3.2.

   For each cipher suite and key strengths, test iterations MUST use a
   single HTTPS response object size defined in the test equipment
   configuration parameters Section 7.6.3.2 to measure connections per
   second performance under a variety of DUT Security inspection load
   conditions.

7.6.2.  Test Setup

   Test bed setup SHOULD be configured as defined in Section 4.  Any
   specific test bed configuration changes such as number of interfaces
   and interface type, etc.  MUST be documented.

7.6.3.  Test Parameters

   In this section, benchmarking test specific parameters SHOULD be
   defined.








Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 38]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.6.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters

   DUT/SUT parameters MUST conform to the requirements defined in
   Section 4.2.  Any configuration changes for this specific
   benchmarking test MUST be documented.

7.6.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters

   Test equipment configuration parameters MUST conform to the
   requirements defined in Section 4.3.  Following parameters MUST be
   documented for this benchmarking test:

   Client IP address range defined in Section 4.3.1.2

   Server IP address range defined in Section 4.3.2.2

   Traffic distribution ratio between IPv4 and IPv6 defined in
   Section 4.3.1.2

   Target connections per second: Initial value from product datasheet
   or the value defined based on requirement for a specific deployment
   scenario.

   Initial connections per second: 10% of "Target connections per
   second" (an optional parameter for documentation)

   RECOMMENDED ciphers and keys defined in Section 4.3.1.3

   The client MUST negotiate HTTPS 1.1 and close the connection with FIN
   immediately after completion of one transaction.  In each test
   iteration, client MUST send GET command requesting a fixed HTTPS
   response object size.  The RECOMMENDED object sizes are 1, 2, 4, 16,
   and 64 KByte.

7.6.3.3.  Test Results Validation Criteria

   The following test Criteria is defined as test results validation
   criteria:

   a.  Number of failed Application transactions (receiving any HTTP
       response code other than 200 OK) MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out
       of 100,000 transactions) of attempt transactions.

   b.  Number of Terminated TCP connections due to unexpected TCP RST
       sent by DUT/SUT MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out of 100,000
       connections) of total initiated TCP connections.





Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 39]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   c.  During the sustain phase, traffic should be forwarded at a
       constant rate.

   d.  Concurrent TCP connections MUST be constant during steady state
       and any deviation of concurrent TCP connections SHOULD be less
       than 10%. This confirms the DUT opens and closes TCP connections
       almost at the same rate.

7.6.3.4.  Measurement

   TCP Connections Per Second MUST be reported for each test iteration
   (for each object size).

   The KPI metric TLS Handshake Rate can be measured in the test using
   1KByte object size.

7.6.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results

   The test procedure is designed to measure the TCP connections per
   second rate of the DUT/SUT at the sustaining period of traffic load
   profile.  The test procedure consists of three major steps.  This
   test procedure MAY be repeated multiple times with different IPv4 and
   IPv6 traffic distribution.

7.6.4.1.  Step 1: Test Initialization and Qualification

   Verify the link status of all connected physical interfaces.  All
   interfaces are expected to be in "UP" status.

   Configure traffic load profile of the test equipment to establish
   "Initial connections per second" as defined in Section 7.6.3.2.  The
   traffic load profile MAY be defined as described in Section 4.3.4.

   The DUT/SUT SHOULD reach the "Initial connections per second" before
   the sustain phase.  The measured KPIs during the sustain phase MUST
   meet the test results validation criteria a, b, c, and d defined in
   Section 7.6.3.3.

   If the KPI metrics do not meet the test results validation criteria,
   the test procedure MUST NOT be continued to "Step 2".

7.6.4.2.  Step 2: Test Run with Target Objective

   Configure test equipment to establish "Target connections per second"
   defined in the parameters table.  The test equipment SHOULD follow
   the traffic load profile definition as described in Section 4.3.4.





Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 40]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   During the ramp up and sustain phase, other KPIs such as inspected
   throughput, concurrent TCP connections and application transactions
   per second MUST NOT reach the maximum value that the DUT/SUT can
   support.  The test results for specific test iteration SHOULD NOT be
   reported, if the above mentioned KPI (especially inspected
   throughput) reaches the maximum value.  (Example: If the test
   iteration with 64 KByte of HTTPS response object size reached the
   maximum inspected throughput limitation of the DUT, the test
   iteration can be interrupted and the result for 64 KByte SHOULD NOT
   be reported).

   The test equipment SHOULD start to measure and record all specified
   KPIs.  The frequency of measurement SHOULD be less than 2 seconds.
   Continue the test until all traffic profile phases are completed.

   Within the test results validation criteria, the DUT/SUT is expected
   to reach the desired value of the target objective ("Target
   connections per second") in the sustain phase.  Follow step 3, if the
   measured value does not meet the target value or does not fulfill the
   test results validation criteria.

7.6.4.3.  Step 3: Test Iteration

   Determine the achievable connections per second within the test
   results validation criteria.

7.7.  HTTPS Throughput

7.7.1.  Objective

   Determine the sustainable inspected throughput of the DUT/SUT for
   HTTPS transactions varying the HTTPS response object size.

   Test iterations MUST include common cipher suites and key strengths
   as well as forward looking stronger keys.  Specific test iterations
   MUST include the ciphers and keys defined in the parameter
   Section 7.7.3.2.

7.7.2.  Test Setup

   Test bed setup SHOULD be configured as defined in Section 4.  Any
   specific test bed configuration changes such as number of interfaces
   and interface type, etc. must be documented.








Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 41]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.7.3.  Test Parameters

   In this section, benchmarking test specific parameters SHOULD be
   defined.

7.7.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters

   DUT/SUT parameters MUST conform to the requirements defined in
   Section 4.2.  Any configuration changes for this specific
   benchmarking test MUST be documented.

7.7.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters

   Test equipment configuration parameters MUST conform to the
   requirements defined in Section 4.3.  Following parameters MUST be
   documented for this benchmarking test:

   Client IP address range defined in Section 4.3.1.2

   Server IP address range defined in Section 4.3.2.2

   Traffic distribution ratio between IPv4 and IPv6 defined in
   Section 4.3.1.2

   Target inspected throughput: Aggregated line rate of interface(s)
   used in the DUT/SUT or the value defined based on requirement for a
   specific deployment scenario.

   Initial inspected throughput: 10% of "Target inspected throughput"
   (an optional parameter for documentation)

   Number of HTTPS response object requests (transactions) per
   connection: 10

   RECOMMENDED ciphers and keys defined in Section 4.3.1.3

   RECOMMENDED HTTPS response object size: 1, 16, 64, 256 KByte, and
   mixed objects defined in the table below.













Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 42]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | Object size (KByte) | Number of requests/ |
   |                     | Weight              |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 0.2                 | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 6                   | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 8                   | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 9                   | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 10                  | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 25                  | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 26                  | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 35                  | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 59                  | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+
   | 347                 | 1                   |
   +---------------------+---------------------+

                          Table 5: Mixed Objects

7.7.3.3.  Test Results Validation Criteria

   The following test Criteria is defined as test results validation
   criteria.  Test results validation criteria MUST be monitored during
   the whole sustain phase of the traffic load profile.

   a.  Number of failed Application transactions (receiving any HTTP
       response code other than 200 OK) MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out
       of 100,000 transactions) of attempt transactions.

   b.  Traffic should be forwarded constantly.

   c.  Concurrent TCP connections MUST be constant during steady state
       and any deviation of concurrent TCP connections SHOULD be less
       than 10%. This confirms the DUT opens and closes TCP connections
       almost at the same rate.








Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 43]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.7.3.4.  Measurement

   Inspected Throughput and HTTP Transactions per Second MUST be
   reported for each object size.

7.7.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results

   The test procedure consists of three major steps.  This test
   procedure MAY be repeated multiple times with different IPv4 and IPv6
   traffic distribution and HTTPS response object sizes.

7.7.4.1.  Step 1: Test Initialization and Qualification

   Verify the link status of all connected physical interfaces.  All
   interfaces are expected to be in "UP" status.

   Configure traffic load profile of the test equipment to establish
   "initial inspected throughput" as defined in the parameters
   Section 7.7.3.2.

   The traffic load profile should be defined as described in
   Section 4.3.4.  The DUT/SUT SHOULD reach the "Initial inspected
   throughput" during the sustain phase.  Measure all KPI as defined in
   Section 7.7.3.4.

   The measured KPIs during the sustain phase MUST meet the test results
   validation criteria "a" defined in Section 7.7.3.3.

   If the KPI metrics do not meet the test results validation criteria,
   the test procedure MUST NOT be continued to "Step 2".

7.7.4.2.  Step 2: Test Run with Target Objective

   Configure test equipment to establish the target objective ("Target
   inspected throughput") defined in the parameters table.  The test
   equipment SHOULD start to measure and record all specified KPIs.  The
   frequency of measurement SHOULD be less than 2 seconds.  Continue the
   test until all traffic profile phases are completed.

   Within the test results validation criteria, the DUT/SUT is expected
   to reach the desired value of the target objective in the sustain
   phase.  Follow step 3, if the measured value does not meet the target
   value or does not fulfill the test results validation criteria.








Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 44]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.7.4.3.  Step 3: Test Iteration

   Determine the achievable average inspected throughput within the test
   results validation criteria.  Final test iteration MUST be performed
   for the test duration defined in Section 4.3.4.

7.8.  HTTPS Transaction Latency

7.8.1.  Objective

   Using HTTPS traffic, determine the HTTPS transaction latency when DUT
   is running with sustainable HTTPS transactions per second supported
   by the DUT/SUT under different HTTPS response object size.

   Scenario 1: The client MUST negotiate HTTPS and close the connection
   with FIN immediately after completion of a single transaction (GET
   and RESPONSE).

   Scenario 2: The client MUST negotiate HTTPS and close the connection
   with FIN immediately after completion of 10 transactions (GET and
   RESPONSE) within a single TCP connection.

7.8.2.  Test Setup

   Test bed setup SHOULD be configured as defined in Section 4.  Any
   specific test bed configuration changes such as number of interfaces
   and interface type, etc.  MUST be documented.

7.8.3.  Test Parameters

   In this section, benchmarking test specific parameters SHOULD be
   defined.

7.8.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters

   DUT/SUT parameters MUST conform to the requirements defined in
   Section 4.2.  Any configuration changes for this specific
   benchmarking test MUST be documented.

7.8.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters

   Test equipment configuration parameters MUST conform to the
   requirements defined in Section 4.3.  Following parameters MUST be
   documented for this benchmarking test:

   Client IP address range defined in Section 4.3.1.2

   Server IP address range defined in Section 4.3.2.2



Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 45]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   Traffic distribution ratio between IPv4 and IPv6 defined in
   Section 4.3.1.2

   RECOMMENDED cipher suites and key sizes defined in Section 4.3.1.3

   Target objective for scenario 1: 50% of the connections per second
   measured in benchmarking test TCP/HTTPS Connections per second
   (Section 7.6)

   Target objective for scenario 2: 50% of the inspected throughput
   measured in benchmarking test HTTPS Throughput (Section 7.7)

   Initial objective for scenario 1: 10% of Target objective for
   scenario 1" (an optional parameter for documentation)

   Initial objective for scenario 2: 10% of "Target objective for
   scenario 2" (an optional parameter for documentation)

   HTTPS transaction per TCP connection: test scenario 1 with single
   transaction and the second scenario with 10 transactions

   HTTPS 1.1 with GET command requesting a single object.  The
   RECOMMENDED object sizes are 1, 16, and 64 KByte.  For each test
   iteration, client MUST request a single HTTPS response object size.

7.8.3.3.  Test Results Validation Criteria

   The following test Criteria is defined as test results validation
   criteria.  Test results validation criteria MUST be monitored during
   the whole sustain phase of the traffic load profile.  Ramp up and
   ramp down phase SHOULD NOT be considered.

   a.  Number of failed Application transactions (receiving any HTTP
       response code other than 200 OK) MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out
       of 100,000 transactions) of attempt transactions.

   b.  Number of Terminated TCP connections due to unexpected TCP RST
       sent by DUT/SUT MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out of 100,000
       connections) of total initiated TCP connections

   c.  During the sustain phase, traffic should be forwarded at a
       constant rate.

   d.  Concurrent TCP connections MUST be constant during steady state
       and any deviation of concurrent TCP connections SHOULD be less
       than 10%. This confirms the DUT opens and closes TCP connections
       almost at the same rate




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 46]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   e.  After ramp up the DUT MUST achieve the "Target objective" defined
       in the parameter Section 7.8.3.2 and remain in that state for the
       entire test duration (sustain phase).

7.8.3.4.  Measurement

   TTFB (minimum, average and maximum) and TTLB (minimum, average and
   maximum) MUST be reported for each object size.

7.8.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results

   The test procedure is designed to measure TTFB or TTLB when the DUT/
   SUT is operating close to 50% of its maximum achievable connections
   per second or inspected throughput.  This test procedure MAY be
   repeated multiple times with different IP types (IPv4 only, IPv6 only
   and IPv4 and IPv6 mixed traffic distribution), HTTPS response object
   sizes and single and multiple transactions per connection scenarios.

7.8.4.1.  Step 1: Test Initialization and Qualification

   Verify the link status of all connected physical interfaces.  All
   interfaces are expected to be in "UP" status.

   Configure traffic load profile of the test equipment to establish
   "Initial objective" as defined in the parameters Section 7.8.3.2.
   The traffic load profile can be defined as described in
   Section 4.3.4.

   The DUT/SUT SHOULD reach the "Initial objective" before the sustain
   phase.  The measured KPIs during the sustain phase MUST meet the test
   results validation criteria a, b, c, d, e and f defined in
   Section 7.8.3.3.

   If the KPI metrics do not meet the test results validation criteria,
   the test procedure MUST NOT be continued to "Step 2".

7.8.4.2.  Step 2: Test Run with Target Objective

   Configure test equipment to establish "Target objective" defined in
   the parameters table.  The test equipment SHOULD follow the traffic
   load profile definition as described in Section 4.3.4.

   The test equipment SHOULD start to measure and record all specified
   KPIs.  The frequency of measurement SHOULD be less than 2 seconds.
   Continue the test until all traffic profile phases are completed.

   Within the test results validation criteria, the DUT/SUT MUST reach
   the desired value of the target objective in the sustain phase.



Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 47]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   Measure the minimum, average and maximum values of TFB and TTLB.

7.9.  Concurrent TCP/HTTPS Connection Capacity

7.9.1.  Objective

   Determine the number of concurrent TCP connections that the DUT/SUT
   sustains when using HTTPS traffic.

7.9.2.  Test Setup

   Test bed setup SHOULD be configured as defined in Section 4.  Any
   specific test bed configuration changes such as number of interfaces
   and interface type, etc.  MUST be documented.

7.9.3.  Test Parameters

   In this section, benchmarking test specific parameters SHOULD be
   defined.

7.9.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters

   DUT/SUT parameters MUST conform to the requirements defined in
   Section 4.2.  Any configuration changes for this specific
   benchmarking test MUST be documented.

7.9.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters

   Test equipment configuration parameters MUST conform to the
   requirements defined in Section 4.3.  Following parameters MUST be
   documented for this benchmarking test:

      Client IP address range defined in Section 4.3.1.2

      Server IP address range defined in Section 4.3.2.2

      Traffic distribution ratio between IPv4 and IPv6 defined in
      Section 4.3.1.2

      RECOMMENDED cipher suites and key sizes defined in Section 4.3.1.3

      Target concurrent connections: Initial value from product
      datasheet or the value defined based on requirement for a specific
      deployment scenario.

      Initial concurrent connections: 10% of "Target concurrent
      connections" (an optional parameter for documentation)




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 48]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


      Connections per second during ramp up phase: 50% of maximum
      connections per second measured in benchmarking test TCP/HTTPS
      Connections per second (Section 7.6)

      Ramp up time (in traffic load profile for "Target concurrent
      connections"): "Target concurrent connections" / "Maximum
      connections per second during ramp up phase"

      Ramp up time (in traffic load profile for "Initial concurrent
      connections"): "Initial concurrent connections" / "Maximum
      connections per second during ramp up phase"

   The client MUST perform HTTPS transaction with persistence and each
   client can open multiple concurrent TCP connections per server
   endpoint IP.

   Each client sends 10 GET commands requesting 1 KByte HTTPS response
   objects in the same TCP connections (10 transactions/TCP connection)
   and the delay (think time) between each transaction MUST be X
   seconds.

   X = ("Ramp up time" + "steady state time") /10

   The established connections SHOULD remain open until the ramp down
   phase of the test.  During the ramp down phase, all connections
   SHOULD be successfully closed with FIN.

7.9.3.3.  Test Results Validation Criteria

   The following test Criteria is defined as test results validation
   criteria.  Test results validation criteria MUST be monitored during
   the whole sustain phase of the traffic load profile.

   a.  Number of failed Application transactions (receiving any HTTP
       response code other than 200 OK) MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out
       of 100,000 transactions) of total attempted transactions.

   b.  Number of Terminated TCP connections due to unexpected TCP RST
       sent by DUT/SUT MUST be less than 0.001% (1 out of 100,000
       connections) of total initiated TCP connections.

   c.  During the sustain phase, traffic SHOULD be forwarded constantly.

7.9.3.4.  Measurement

   Average Concurrent TCP Connections MUST be reported for this
   benchmarking test.




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 49]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.9.4.  Test Procedures and Expected Results

   The test procedure is designed to measure the concurrent TCP
   connection capacity of the DUT/SUT at the sustaining period of
   traffic load profile.  The test procedure consists of three major
   steps.  This test procedure MAY be repeated multiple times with
   different IPv4 and IPv6 traffic distribution.

7.9.4.1.  Step 1: Test Initialization and Qualification

   Verify the link status of all connected physical interfaces.  All
   interfaces are expected to be in "UP" status.

   Configure test equipment to establish "initial concurrent TCP
   connections" defined in Section 7.9.3.2.  Except ramp up time, the
   traffic load profile SHOULD be defined as described in Section 4.3.4.

   During the sustain phase, the DUT/SUT SHOULD reach the "Initial
   concurrent TCP connections".  The measured KPIs during the sustain
   phase MUST meet the test results validation criteria "a" and "b"
   defined in Section 7.9.3.3.

   If the KPI metrics do not meet the test results validation criteria,
   the test procedure MUST NOT be continued to "Step 2".

7.9.4.2.  Step 2: Test Run with Target Objective

   Configure test equipment to establish the target objective ("Target
   concurrent TCP connections").  The test equipment SHOULD follow the
   traffic load profile definition (except ramp up time) as described in
   Section 4.3.4.

   During the ramp up and sustain phase, the other KPIs such as
   inspected throughput, TCP connections per second and application
   transactions per second MUST NOT reach to the maximum value that the
   DUT/SUT can support.

   The test equipment SHOULD start to measure and record KPIs defined in
   Section 7.9.3.4.  The frequency of measurement SHOULD be less than 2
   seconds.  Continue the test until all traffic profile phases are
   completed.

   Within the test results validation criteria, the DUT/SUT is expected
   to reach the desired value of the target objective in the sustain
   phase.  Follow step 3, if the measured value does not meet the target
   value or does not fulfill the test results validation criteria.





Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 50]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


7.9.4.3.  Step 3: Test Iteration

   Determine the achievable concurrent TCP connections within the test
   results validation criteria.

8.  IANA Considerations

   The IANA has allocated 2001:0200::/48 for IPv6 testing, which is a
   48-bit prefix from the [RFC4733] pool.  For IPv4 testing, the IP
   subnet 198.18.0.0/15 has been assigned to the BMWG by the IANA.  This
   assignment was made to minimize the chance of conflict in case a
   testing device were to be accidentally connected to part of the
   Internet.  The specific use of the IPv4 addresses is detailed in
   [RFC2544] Appendix C.

9.  Security Considerations

   The primary goal of this document is to provide benchmarking
   terminology and methodology for next-generation network security
   devices.  However, readers should be aware that there is some overlap
   between performance and security issues.  Specifically, the optimal
   configuration for network security device performance may not be the
   most secure, and vice-versa.  The Cipher suites recommended in this
   document are just for test purpose only.  The Cipher suite
   recommendation for a real deployment is outside the scope of this
   document.

10.  Contributors

   The following individuals contributed significantly to the creation
   of this document:

   Alex Samonte, Amritam Putatunda, Aria Eslambolchizadeh, David
   DeSanto, Jurrie Van Den Breekel, Ryan Liles, Samaresh Nair, Stephen
   Goudreault, and Tim Otto

11.  Acknowledgements

   The authors wish to acknowledge the members of NetSecOPEN for their
   participation in the creation of this document.  Additionally, the
   following members need to be acknowledged:

   Anand Vijayan, Baski Mohan, Chao Guo, Chris Brown, Chris Marshall,
   Jay Lindenauer, Michael Shannon, Mike Deichman, Ray Vinson, Ryan
   Riese, Tim Carlin, and Toulnay Orkun






Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 51]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


12.  References

12.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

12.2.  Informative References

   [RFC2544]  Bradner, S. and J. McQuaid, "Benchmarking Methodology for
              Network Interconnect Devices", RFC 2544,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2544, March 1999,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2544>.

   [RFC2616]  Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H.,
              Masinter, L., Leach, P., and T. Berners-Lee, "Hypertext
              Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1", RFC 2616,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2616, June 1999,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2616>.

   [RFC2647]  Newman, D., "Benchmarking Terminology for Firewall
              Performance", RFC 2647, DOI 10.17487/RFC2647, August 1999,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2647>.

   [RFC3511]  Hickman, B., Newman, D., Tadjudin, S., and T. Martin,
              "Benchmarking Methodology for Firewall Performance",
              RFC 3511, DOI 10.17487/RFC3511, April 2003,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3511>.

   [RFC4733]  Schulzrinne, H. and T. Taylor, "RTP Payload for DTMF
              Digits, Telephony Tones, and Telephony Signals", RFC 4733,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4733, December 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4733>.

   [RFC6815]  Bradner, S., Dubray, K., McQuaid, J., and A. Morton,
              "Applicability Statement for RFC 2544: Use on Production
              Networks Considered Harmful", RFC 6815,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6815, November 2012,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6815>.






Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 52]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   [RFC8446]  Rescorla, E., "The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol
              Version 1.3", RFC 8446, DOI 10.17487/RFC8446, August 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8446>.

Appendix A.  Test Methodology - Security Effectiveness Evaluation

A.1.  Test Objective

   This test methodology verifies the DUT/SUT is able to detect, prevent
   and report the vulnerabilities.

   In this test, background test traffic will be generated in order to
   utilize the DUT/SUT.  In parallel, the CVEs will be sent to the DUT/
   SUT as encrypted and as well as clear text payload formats using a
   traffic generator.  The selection of the CVEs is described in
   Section 4.2.1.

   o  Number of blocked CVEs

   o  Number of bypassed (nonblocked) CVEs

   o  Background traffic performance (verify if the background traffic
      is impacted while sending CVE toward DUT/SUT)

   o  Accuracy of DUT/SUT statistics in term of vulnerabilities
      reporting

A.2.  Test Bed Setup

   The same Test bed MUST be used for security effectiveness test and as
   well as for benchmarking test cases defined in Section 7.

A.3.  Test Parameters

   In this section, the benchmarking test specific parameters SHOULD be
   defined.

A.3.1.  DUT/SUT Configuration Parameters

   DUT/SUT configuration Parameters MUST conform to the requirements
   defined in Section 4.2.  The same DUT configuration MUST be used for
   Security effectiveness test and as well as for benchmarking test
   cases defined in Section 7.  The DUT/SUT MUST be configured in inline
   mode and all detected attack traffic MUST be dropped and the session
   Should be reset






Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 53]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


A.3.2.  Test Equipment Configuration Parameters

   Test equipment configuration parameters MUST conform to the
   requirements defined in Section 4.3.  The same Client and server IP
   ranges MUST be configured as used in the benchmarking test cases.  In
   addition, the following parameters MUST be documented for this
   benchmarking test:

   o  Background Traffic: 45% of maximum HTTP throughput and 45% of
      Maximum HTTPS throughput supported by the DUT/SUT (measured with
      object size 64 KByte in the benchmarking tests "HTTP(S)
      Throughput" defined in Section 7.3 and Section 7.7.

   o  RECOMMENDED CVE traffic transmission Rate: 10 CVEs per second

   o  RECOMMEND to generate each CVE multiple times (sequentially) at 10
      CVEs per second

   o  Ciphers and Keys for the encrypted CVE traffic MUST use the same
      cipher configured for HTTPS traffic related benchmarking tests
      (Section 7.6 - Section 7.9)

A.4.  Test Results Validation Criteria

   The following test Criteria is defined as test results validation
   criteria.  Test results validation criteria MUST be monitored during
   the whole test duration.

   a.  Number of failed Application transaction in the background
       traffic MUST be less than 0.01% of attempted transactions

   b.  Number of Terminated TCP connections of the background traffic
       (due to unexpected TCP RST sent by DUT/SUT) MUST be less than
       0.01% of total initiated TCP connections in the background
       traffic

   c.  During the sustain phase, traffic should be forwarded at a
       constant rate

   d.  False positive MUST NOT occur in the background traffic

A.5.  Measurement

   Following KPI metrics MUST be reported for this test scenario:

   Mandatory KPIs:

   o  Blocked CVEs: It should be represented in the following ways:



Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 54]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


      *  Number of blocked CVEs out of total CVEs

      *  Percentage of blocked CVEs

   o  Unblocked CVEs: It should be represented in the following ways:

      *  Number of unblocked CVEs out of total CVEs

      *  Percentage of unblocked CVEs

   o  Background traffic behavior: it should represent one of the
      followings ways:

      *  No impact (traffic transmission at a constant rate)

      *  Minor impact (e.g. small spikes- +/- 100 Mbit/s)

      *  Heavily impacted (e.g. large spikes and reduced the background
         HTTP(S) throughput > 100 Mbit/s)

   o  DUT/SUT reporting accuracy: DUT/SUT MUST report all detected
      vulnerabilities.

   Optional KPIs:

   o  List of unblocked CVEs

A.6.  Test Procedures and Expected Results

   The test procedure is designed to measure the security effectiveness
   of the DUT/SUT at the sustaining period of the traffic load profile.
   The test procedure consists of two major steps.  This test procedure
   MAY be repeated multiple times with different IPv4 and IPv6 traffic
   distribution.

A.6.1.  Step 1: Background Traffic

   Generate the background traffic at the transmission rate defined in
   the parameter section.

   The DUT/SUT MUST reach the target objective (HTTP(S) throughput) in
   sustain phase.  The measured KPIs during the sustain phase MUST meet
   the test results validation criteria a, b, c and d defined in
   Appendix A.4.

   If the KPI metrics do not meet the acceptance criteria, the test
   procedure MUST NOT be continued to "Step 2".




Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 55]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


A.6.2.  Step 2: CVE Emulation

   While generating the background traffic (in sustain phase), send the
   CVE traffic as defined in the parameter section.

   The test equipment SHOULD start to measure and record all specified
   KPIs.  The frequency of measurement MUST be less than 2 seconds.
   Continue the test until all CVEs are sent.

   The measured KPIs MUST meet all the test results validation criteria
   a, b, c, and d defined in Appendix A.4.

   In addition, the DUT/SUT SHOULD report the vulnerabilities correctly.

Appendix B.  DUT/SUT Classification

   This document attempts to classify the DUT/SUT in four different four
   different categories based on its maximum supported firewall
   throughput performance number defined in the vendor datasheet.  This
   classification MAY help user to determine specific configuration
   scale (e.g., number of ACL entries), traffic profiles, and attack
   traffic profiles, scaling those proportionally to DUT/SUT sizing
   category.

   The four different categories are Extra Small, Small, Medium, and
   Large.  The RECOMMENDED throughput values for the following
   categories are:

   Extra Small (XS) - supported throughput less than 1Gbit/s

   Small (S) - supported throughput less than 5Gbit/s

   Medium (M) - supported throughput greater than 5Gbit/s and less than
   10Gbit/s

   Large (L) - supported throughput greater than 10Gbit/s

Authors' Addresses

   Balamuhunthan Balarajah
   Berlin
   Germany

   Email: bm.balarajah@gmail.com







Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 56]


Internet-Draft    Benchmarking Network Security Devices       April 2021


   Carsten Rossenhoevel
   EANTC AG
   Salzufer 14
   Berlin  10587
   Germany

   Email: cross@eantc.de


   Brian Monkman
   NetSecOPEN
   417 Independence Court
   Mechanicsburg, PA  17050
   USA

   Email: bmonkman@netsecopen.org



































Balarajah, et al.        Expires October 8, 2021               [Page 57]