Getting deeper into our test methodology
By Christine Burns, NetworkWorld.com, 04/06/05
There is only so much information we can cram into our “How We Tested” sidebars. In these sidebars that run with every Clear Choice Test article we print, we describe what platform and network configurations were used to test the products and outline the tools and the type of scripts and traffic mixes we used to give the products a good run for their money.
We embark on this exercise so that readers can recreate our tests in their own environments. But admittedly, these sidebars fall short because they aren’t all that interactive, so that readers can’t really glean specific information on how to best test these products for their own use. While our testers are always on line to answer pointed questions via email, I’m pleased to say that we’re going one better here.
As part of the Networld+Interop show running May 3-5 in Las Vegas, we’ve set up the Network World Testing Track. In these interactive sessions, members of our Lab Alliance will discuss developing test methodologies, offer advice on the pitfalls to avoid during the testing process, and outline which products should be included in your testing short list. Product areas addressed in this set of Testing Track talks are end-point security products, wireless gear and SSL VPNs.
Tuesday, May 3rd at 2 PM
Lab Alliance members Mandy Andress and Rodney Thayer have categorized the plethora of endpoint security products based on function and are testing them from both inside the network and outside the network. While the first round of testing honed in on products that actively do something to identify and block or stop malicious traffic or programs/services from reaching end point, Andress and Thayer are currently conducting their second round tests on endpoint policy enforcement products.
In this session, Andress and Thayer will outline the endpoint security market, explain the deployment scenario upon which their testing is based and give an explanation of the attacks launched against each product to test their resiliency.
Wednesday, May 4th at 2 PM
In an industry first test of how well enterprise wireless access points and switches can accommodate voice traffic, Lab Alliance member David Newman set the bar for this type of performance evaluation. In fact, Tom Alexander, CTO of test gear maker VeriWave, Inc. and co-author of the methodology used in the Network World test, presented some of these test results to the newly formed IEEE task group on WLAN test methodology.
In this session, Newman and Alexander will discuss methodology, test results, and underlying importance of correlating application-layer and data link-layer test results to get a comprehensive picture of WLAN gear performance.
Thursday, May 5th at 9 AM
In his second round of ground breaking anti-spam product testing, Network World Lab Alliance partner Joel Snyder evaluated 35 software, appliance and service offerings.
From that experience, Snyder has amassed plenty of data – not to mention numerous scars -- on how these products and the vendors who make them behave. Attend this session to hear Snyder detail his favorite factors for testing spam catch rates and determining false positive performance of these products.
All of these sessions will be held in the Breakers J room of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
If you miss them there, check back here after the fact for a link to an on-demand version of the sessions.
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