Re: QUESTION: use Snort to benchmark silicon

[Matthew Watchinski <mwatchinski () sourcefire com>]

There isn't really a De-facto way.  You can, however, utilize devices
like SmartBits and Avalanche from Spirent, or the new BreakingPoint
Systems devices to develop consistent performance test beds.

http://www.bpointsys.com/
http://www.spirent.com/

This however, may not do what you want under most conditions.  These
devices are designed to test IPS/IDS systems and how they handle
traffic, they really aren't designed to test hardware performance.

It is possible, however, to utilize these devices to do comparisons
between hardware platforms.  You just need to be very careful about what
software and configuration differences you have between each platform
and account for those differences in your testing.

There is also RFC 2544 - Benchmarking Methodology for Network
Interconnect Devices.  That might be of some use to you.

Cheers,
-matt

Chu Chen-Chau-ra9643 wrote:
> Dear Folks:
>
> I am a newbie for Snort and appreciate every bit of help.
>
> I wonder if there is some sort of de facto or established way of
> using Snort to benchmark the underlying devices (chips, systems, etc.)
> using a fixed source (say, pcap file for playback ?) or certain
> composition of packet streams to be pumped by network testers ?
>
> My concern is about how different processors/chips/platforms can execute
> Snort in a tightly controlled environment for silicon benchmarking.
>
> It is NOT about:
>
>    (1) to judge if another security appliance or software 
>    is better or worse than Snort in terms of catching offenses
>    or how robust they are.
>
>    (2) How Snort itself has improved over time and runs faster
>    now.
>
> If you are interested in what I am trying to do, please 
> let me know what concerns you have in carrying out such a
> benchmark comparison.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Chu
>
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