Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) A. Morton
Request for Comments: 6985 AT&T Labs
Category: Informational July 2013
ISSN: 2070-1721
IMIX Genome: Specification of Variable Packet Sizes
for Additional Testing
Abstract
Benchmarking methodologies have always relied on test conditions with
constant packet sizes, with the goal of understanding what network
device capability has been tested. Tests with a constant packet size
reveal device capabilities but differ significantly from the
conditions encountered in operational deployment, so additional tests
are sometimes conducted with a mixture of packet sizes, or "IMIX"
("Internet Mix"). The mixture of sizes a networking device will
encounter is highly variable and depends on many factors. An IMIX
suited for one networking device and deployment will not be
appropriate for another. However, the mix of sizes may be known, and
the tester may be asked to augment the fixed-size tests. To address
this need and the perpetual goal of specifying repeatable test
conditions, this document defines a way to specify the exact
repeating sequence of packet sizes from the usual set of fixed sizes
and from other forms of mixed-size specification.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for publication by the
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Not all documents
approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6985.
Morton Informational [Page 1]RFC 6985 IMIX Genome July 2013Copyright Notice
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................2
2. Requirements Language ...........................................3
3. Scope and Goals .................................................3
4. Specification of the IMIX Genome ................................4
5. Specification of a Custom IMIX ..................................6
6. Reporting Long or Pseudorandom Packet Sequences .................7
6.1. Run-Length Encoding ........................................7
6.2. Table of Proportions .......................................7
6.3. Deterministic Algorithm ....................................7
6.4. Pseudorandom Length Algorithm ..............................8
6.5. Pseudorandom Sequence Algorithm ............................8
7. Security Considerations .........................................8
8. Acknowledgements ................................................8
9. References ......................................................9
9.1. Normative References .......................................9
9.2. Informative References .....................................9
1. Introduction
This memo defines a method to unambiguously specify the sequence of
packet sizes used in a load test.
Benchmarking methodologies [RFC2544] have always relied on test
conditions with constant packet sizes, with the goal of understanding
what network device capability has been tested. Tests with the
smallest size stress the header processing capacity, and tests with
the largest size stress the overall bit-processing capacity. Tests
with sizes in between may determine the transition between these two
capacities.
Morton Informational [Page 2]RFC 6985 IMIX Genome July 2013
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