Subject: Re: Latency and load step tests

From: David Newman <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 14:21:11 -0400

> So what this kind of looks like as a method is something like this:
> 
> a)	step tests on forwarding rate to determine thruput_rate as per
> 	2544 today
> 
> b)	step tests on latency from thruput_rate down to ??? to determine
> 	the "breaks" or "knees" in the latency 'curve.' The result is a
> table.
>

I concur. These two sets of tests would be useful.

> How do we bound the "down to ??"?  I suppose the test steps down until the
> latency no longer changes.
> 

Yes, that's the problem. I don't know how to define "??" in a more
concrete way than "the point where latency is far lower than it was
under a heavier load"--and that's far too soft a definition.

I am OK with a step test that walks through various increments (say, 10
percent or 1 percent load increments). The actual increment to be used
seems less important to me than the requirement that the increments be
declared when presenting the results.

dn