[539] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
NEW OS/2 UTILITY: Ganymede Software's Chariot
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael_Evans@bocaraton.ibm.com)
Sat Jan 13 06:27:22 1996
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 1996 10:09:34 GMT
From: Michael_Evans@bocaraton.ibm.com
Reply-To: sjoyce@ganymede.nctda.org
Submitted by: Michael Evans (michael_evans@bocaraton.ibm.com)
Source: Steve Joyce (sjoyce@ganymede.nctda.org)
Date received: 1996 January 4
Date posted: 1996 January 13
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Immediate Release
For Information, contact:
Steve Joyce (VP of Marketing), Voice: (919) 558-1138,
sjoyce@ganymede.nctda.org
GANYMEDE SOFTWARE ANNOUNCES CHARIOT
===================================
Performance is a critical factor in network computing. Technologies are
changing more than ever: 100M Ethernet, switched LANs, Frame Relay,
multimedia applications, ATM, and the list goes on. The requirement to
provide a realistic measure of the performance of networks and the equipment
used to build them is now being met.
Today, Ganymede Software is announcing Chariot, a software tool that will
change how the industry measures network performance. Chariot runs as a set
of coordinated network programs that simulate the data traffic of real
client/server applications. It can be used to evaluate the performance of a
single device - such as a router, adapter, or switch - or to measure the
end-to-end performance of a complex network. With Chariot, creating and
running tests is simple, whether you want to simulate a single file transfer
or create hundreds of connections, mixing protocols and types of application
traffic.
Chariot consists of two components: a console and endpoints. From the
console, you create and run tests. The console runs a test by distributing
test instructions to the endpoints. Each endpoint is a "skinny" network
application that understands how to execute test scripts over different
protocols. Each endpoint can run many test scripts at once, to many other
endpoints. After the endpoints have completed a test, they send the
performance information they have gathered to the console. The console
combines the results and summarizes them for easy analysis. Chariot provides
you with information about response time and throughput, and how consistent
they were during the test. Chariot's unique design allows it to run very
large tests, whether in a test lab or to endpoints distributed throughout a
network.
IBM's networking divisions have begun using Chariot in their system tests of
hardware and software. According to Jim Gray, an IBM Fellow in the Network
Software Division, "Chariot allows us to easily configure a range of
workloads that accurately model our customer's production networks. This has
already improved our product quality and performance. We anticipate further
benefits as the use of Chariot spreads amongst our customers and other
vendors since we will then have a common industry-wide frame of reference for
discussing network performance."
NETWORK MANAGERS USING CHARIOT
==============================
Designing and running a multi-protocol network that performs well can be
difficult. Should you use TCP/IP or APPN? What happens when you combine
them on a single backbone? How do HPR and IP encapsulation affect the
decision? Which is better: switched 10M Ethernet, shared 100M Ethernet, or
ATM? What will happen when you roll out new applications or add new users?
The answers depend on your existing network infrastructure, your
applications, and their traffic patterns. What network managers need is an
easy-to-use tool that can handle a wide variety of performance analysis
tasks.
Test the performance and capacity of products
Before buying new routers, switches, adapters, or network software, you
would like to have a good idea of how they will perform in your
environment. One of Chariot's beta testers is MCNC, North Carolina's
microelectronics, communications and networking center. MCNC is providing
an ATM infrastructure for customers and vendors to evaluate high speed
networking technology and applications. "Our clients are extremely
interested in how legacy data applications will perform and interoperate
using IP encapsulation and LAN emulation," explains Nancy Agosta -
Director, MCNC's Center for Network Testing Services. "Cell and frame
generators may not provide a complete picture of network performance.
Using Chariot to inject real application traffic onto the network allows us
to test networking devices in an environment that is similar to an actual
production network."
Predict the effects of running new applications
Today's applications frequently send large amounts of data, including
images and multimedia. Before you deploy a new application, you want to
know how it will perform and what effect it will have on the network.
Using Chariot, you can simulate the application, measure response time, and
measure the changes in the performance of other concurrent applications.
You can anticipate and prevent problems instead of reacting to them!
Avoid network downtime
Have you ever made changes to your network over the weekend and come back
Monday to find that your users have discovered a problem? Network downtime
can be expensive. Using Chariot to quickly stress test your entire network
from a single console makes these unpleasant surprises much less likely.
Identify the source of performance problems
Most corporate networks are managed by an IS organization, while the
client/server applications are managed by the groups that use them. When
performance problems arise, it can be difficult to determine where the
problem lies. Chariot allows the help desk to test the network using an
application's network flows, but without the application. This makes it
simpler to isolate where the problems are and to pass them to the right
group the first time.
Monitor the performance from network service providers
Services such as Frame Relay are normally provided with a Committed
Information Rate (CIR). However, it can be difficult to determine the
actual throughput you're receiving. Chariot can drive application traffic
through the service, giving you an accurate measure of the performance
you're achieving.
There is no other tool that can handle so many network performance tasks so
well.
NETWORK VENDORS USING CHARIOT
=============================
Vendors who build networking software and hardware need accurate, reliable
information about how their products perform. Product sales often hinge on
their ability to provide performance and capacity planning information.
While WinMarks tests workstation performance and TPC-C tests database
performance, there are no comparable standard tests to evaluate application
performance in networks. Using a metric like "64 byte frames-per-second"
allows accurate, repeatable tests; however it gives little insight into how
a multi-protocol network, running a mix of applications, will perform.
Vendors need to provide their customers with better information and they
need to obtain that information quickly and easily.
NetEdge Systems is currently rolling out Transparent LAN Data Service to
its customers that need LAN connectivity across a high speed WAN.
According to Bill Tao, Vice President of Engineering, "Chariot offers us a
simple, yet powerful, mechanism for validating the performance of
LAN-based applications running across an ATM router backbone. Running
Chariot on standard PC hardware, we will be able to generate network
traffic that simulates hundreds of end users."
Although Chariot's primary role is performance testing, it is also valuable
for long-running, multi-protocol stress testing. Cisco Systems, the
leading supplier of internetworking devices, is currently beta testing
Chariot. According to Nick Francis - Director, Product Marketing, "Cisco
is committed to delivering reliable, high performance connectivity to the
mainframe for customers that are replacing Front End Processors with
channel-attached routers. Using Chariot, we can generate hundreds of
end-user application sessions across the channel for stress and regression
testing. In addition, the performance information we collect will help our
customers in capacity planning and network design."
Performance Testing Before Chariot
Most vendors are using a combination of products and tools to test
performance. For example, they may be using IBM's TPNS to test SNA and
applications like FTP or PING for testing TCP/IP. While these tests are
helpful, they do have shortcomings. TPNS requires expert skills and
dedicated mainframe system resources. The common TCP/IP applications
weren't designed to be performance test tools; they include screen and disk
I/O as part of the measurement of a network's performance. Factors not
related to the network should be minimized to produce accurate, consistent
measurements.
Some vendors use the frame-generating capabilities of LAN analyzers to test
performance. These types of tests create network traffic that doesn't
match real application flows. "We've gone on record numerous times
pointing out the many limitations imposed on testing products with packet
generation equipment,"commented Kevin Tolly, President and CEO of The Tolly
Group. "What we've needed is a flexible, high-performance, multi-protocol
test tool to evaluate everything from NICs to FRADs to LAN switches.
Chariot, from Ganymede Software, is a product built to do just that."
CHARIOT'S FEATURES
==================
Real application flows
You can run tests using the same data traffic that your applications
generate. Chariot's scripting capabilities allow it to simulate almost any
application. It can replicate an application's network traffic without
other overhead, such as disk I/O or extraneous processing.
Flexible and easy-to-use scripts
You can create a mix of protocols and network traffic from the set of
application scripts included with Chariot. Example scripts include file
transfer, distributed database, Lotus Notes, web browsers, and a set of
standard network benchmarks. Each script includes variables, such as the
amount of data to send and the number of transactions to run. These
variables make it easy to create the tests you want to run.
Multi-protocol support
Many of today's network performance problems come from merging SNA and
TCP/IP backbones. Chariot lets you mix protocols in a test to measure the
effect of one protocol on another. Changing a test script from one
protocol to another is as easy as a click of the mouse.
Scaleable tests
Chariot can support hundreds of simultaneous connections in a test. Each
computer running as an endpoint can support multiple connections, running
different scripts, and a mix of protocols. Because of Chariot's low test
overhead, a single pair of machines can saturate a LAN segment.
Information you need
Once you've run a test, you want to interpret the data quickly and easily.
Chariot provides comprehensive information, including the minimum, maximum,
and average throughput, response time, and transaction rates. You can also
view the detailed timings from each script that was run. For more advanced
functions, you can export the data to a spreadsheet such as Excel or 1-2-3.
Simple to get started
Some network performance tools require expert installation and up to a week
of training. In contrast, Chariot's beta testers installed the product and
started running tests in less than half an hour.
AVAILABILITY
============
Chariot has been in beta test for several months and Ganymede plans to make
it generally available at the end of January 1996. For the first release of
Chariot, the console will run on OS/2 and the endpoints will run on OS/2 and
Windows 95. Test scripts can be run over TCP/IP and APPC. During 1996,
Ganymede will expand the variety of platforms and protocols supported. MVS,
Novell, and Windows NT top our list of new platforms, and IPX will be the
next protocol.
PRICING
=======
Chariot's price starts at $11,000. A typical configuration will cost
approximately $15,000.
GANYMEDE SOFTWARE INC.
======================
Ganymede Software Inc. was founded in April 1995 and is headquartered in
Research Triangle Park, N.C. Ganymede develops tools to test and monitor
network performance. Each year, companies dedicate a large percentage of
their information technology budgets to building data communication networks.
Ganymede's products assist in making the diverse components of those networks
work together in the most effective manner.
The founders of Ganymede Software are Tim Huntley, Steve Joyce, Peter
Schwaller, and Dr. John Q. Walker. They spent the past five years building
APPC and APPN products, teaching application programming, and providing
technical support for thousands of customers. They have taught at
conferences around the world, authored a book on client/server programming,
and written numerous articles.
CONTACT INFORMATION
===================
Steve Joyce (VP of Marketing)
Voice: (919) 558-1138
Fax: (919) 558-1139
sjoyce@ganymede.nctda.org
Ganymede Software Inc.
P.O. Box 12076
2 Davis Drive, Suite 124
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2076
http://www.ganymede.nctda.org
(c) Ganymede Software 1995.
Chariot is a registered trademark of Ganymede Software. Other names are
trademarks of their owners.
