Applicability Statement for RFC 2544: Use on Production Networks Considered Harmful
RFC 6815
Document | Type |
RFC - Informational
(November 2012; No errata)
Updates RFC 2544
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Authors | Scott Bradner , Kevin Dubray , Jim McQuaid , Al Morton | ||
Last updated | 2015-10-14 | ||
Replaces | draft-chairs-bmwg-2544-as | ||
Stream | Internent Engineering Task Force (IETF) | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized (tools) htmlized bibtex | ||
Reviews | |||
Stream | WG state | WG Document | |
Document shepherd | Bill Cerveny | ||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 6815 (Informational) | |
Action Holders |
(None)
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||
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | Ron Bonica | ||
IESG note | Document Shepherd: Bill Cerveny <wcerveny@wjcerveny.com> | ||
Send notices to | wcerveny@wjcerveny.com |
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) S. Bradner Request for Comments: 6815 Harvard University Updates: 2544 K. Dubray Category: Informational Juniper Networks ISSN: 2070-1721 J. McQuaid Turnip Video A. Morton AT&T Labs November 2012 Applicability Statement for RFC 2544: Use on Production Networks Considered Harmful Abstract The Benchmarking Methodology Working Group (BMWG) has been developing key performance metrics and laboratory test methods since 1990, and continues this work at present. The methods described in RFC 2544 are intended to generate traffic that overloads network device resources in order to assess their capacity. Overload of shared resources would likely be harmful to user traffic performance on a production network, and there are further negative consequences identified with production application of the methods. This memo clarifies the scope of RFC 2544 and other IETF BMWG benchmarking work for isolated test environments only, and it encourages new standards activity for measurement methods applicable outside that scope. 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/rfc6815. Bradner, et al. Informational [Page 1] RFC 6815 RFC 2544 Applicability November 2012 Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................3 1.1. Requirements Language ......................................4 2. Scope and Goals .................................................4 3. The Concept of an Isolated Test Environment .....................4 4. Why the Methods of RFC 2544 Are Intended Only for ITE ...........4 4.1. Experimental Control and Accuracy ..........................4 4.2. Containing Damage ..........................................5 5. Advisory on RFC 2544 Methods in Production Networks .............5 6. Considering Performance Testing in Production Networks ..........6 7. Security Considerations .........................................7 8. Acknowledgements ................................................7 9. References ......................................................8 9.1. Normative References .......................................8 9.2. Informative References .....................................8 Appendix A. Example of RFC 2544 Method Failure in Production Network Measurement ....................................9 Bradner, et al. Informational [Page 2] RFC 6815 RFC 2544 Applicability November 2012 1. Introduction This memo clarifies the scope and use of IETF Benchmarking Methodology Working Group (BMWG) tests including [RFC2544], which discusses and defines several tests that may be used to characterize the performance of a network interconnecting device. All readers of this memo must read and fully understand [RFC2544]. Benchmarking methodologies (beginning with [RFC2544]) have always relied on test conditions that can only be produced and replicated reliably in the laboratory. These methodologies are not appropriateShow full document text