On Fri, 30 Aug 1996, Steve Schnell, Sprint Corporation wrote:
OK, you can color me a NAP apologist. As a NAP operator I don't have the resources at my disposal to conduct the suggested tests. (A couple of DEC Alpha or other capable workstations attached to the NAP media would be a nice asset.) However, as a L2 network operator I would be VERY interested in learning of my customers' perception of the service provided.
What would it take to set up a couple of Alphas, routers and zero-mile T1's in a portable testing kit to go around from NAP to NAP and run tests? I'm thinking of something like the mobile air-quality testing labs that park in one location for a month, run tests, and then move on. Such machines could run a full suite of tests including FTP'ing large files, downloading complex web pages (i.e. multiple images) as well as the lower level things like ping tests. This kind of test would provide useful numbers that customers can understand as well as point out problem areas that a NAP operator might need to investigate. And with co-operative NAP peers, the same test kit could be used with T1's out to various locations that feed into the NAP so as to run the same tests across the peer's routers and lines. Would this kind of testing reveal any useful information that could not be gotten from examining router stats? Michael Dillon - ISP & Internet Consulting Memra Software Inc. - Fax: +1-604-546-3049 http://www.memra.com - E-mail: michael@memra.com