Tom Henderson and ExtremeLabs' facilities

Lab overview: ExtremeLabs, Inc. and its personnel have been examining and comparing products for fourteen years, and have extensive network integration experience over a wide variety of hardware and software platforms. ExtremeLabs, Inc. is an agnostic test facility specializing in WLAN, SANs, CTI Integration, and performs both private testing and analysis as well as twenty+/year published reviews in major publications, often Network World. The lab has an association with a major broadcast television facility, and the lab is populated with genuine engineers, not just geeky journalists or end-users with an attitude.

Equipment in the lab:

Servers

• Compaq Computer
  
• Prosignia 3000
  
• Prosignia 3000
  
• 760 (twin 733mhz CPU)

Gateway

• 1Ghz 1U Server

Workstations

• Compaq misc desktops
  
• Compaq Presario 700US notebooks (several)
  
• HP Pavilion misc workstations
  
• Sony PCG-1CX notebook
  
• "Whitebox" workstations (several)

Storage

• FC-based SAN with 12 port switch

Networking

• Ethernet 1000BaseT- 12 port crossbar switch
  
• Ethernet 100BaseTX - 2) 16 port crossbar switches w/GBE uplinks
  
• Ethernet 100BaseTX - 48 Ethernet Ports
  
• Misc GBE, 100BaseTX, CardBus adapters
  
• Ethernet 802.11a/802.11b APs (several)
  
• SMC Wireless Gateway (2)
  
• Dedicated intruder alert/stream analyzer (home brew)
  
• Softswitch router; 2.4MB/sec Internet connection; 4hops to NAP
  
• Available: OC48, OC192 (at Abiline NOC) and traffic generators

Analyzers

• Agere/Scope analyzers
  
• Fluke Analyzers
  
• NG/NAI Sniffers
  
• Copper TDRs to Cat 5+

Cable Plant

• SM and MMF
  
• Cat 5 (tested to TIA TSB-67)

Software in the lab:

Licensed Use Benchmarks

• Bapco
  
• Spec
  
• I/OMeter
  
• others

Operating Systems Support

• Windows 98, 98SE, 2000 Advanced Server, 2000 Pro, XP, BizServ
  
• Linux 2.2.X, 2.4.X, 2.5.X
  
• FreeBSD 4+
  
• BeOS
  
• MacOS/X Jaguar

Directory Service Support

• NetWare 5.0
  
• Microsoft AD
  
• OpenLDAP

Database Support

• MS SQLServer 2000
  
• Oracle 9i
  
• MySQL

Cloning

• PC Anywhere/Ghost
  
• All OS/software patched to vendor recommended levels monthly

Backup

• 300GB SAN and offsite mirror at ISP

Expanded lab capabilities: Full fibre infrastructure available via 12 ports of non-blocking GBE. Over 20 IEEE 802.11 APs available; integrated CA/IKE; various protocol analyzers available. Lab has access to Internet II.

Network Connections: Primary: OC-48, two hops to NAP. Secondary: cable modem; 802.11 relay

Personnel:

• Tom Henderson, principal
  
• ExtremeLabs, Inc. contracts staff on a project-by-project basis.

Lab specific URLs:

• http://www.extremelabs.com

Back to Henderson's bio and recent articles

Apply for your free subscription to Network World. Click here. Or get Network World delivered in PDF each week.

Request a reprint or permission to use this article.