RFC 3511 (rfc3511) - Page 1 of 34
Benchmarking Methodology for Firewall Performance
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group B. Hickman
Request for Comments: 3511 Spirent Communications
Category: Informational D. Newman
Network Test
S. Tadjudin
Spirent Communications
T. Martin
GVNW Consulting Inc
April 2003
Benchmarking Methodology for Firewall Performance
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This document discusses and defines a number of tests that may be
used to describe the performance characteristics of firewalls. In
addition to defining the tests, this document also describes specific
formats for reporting the results of the tests.
This document is a product of the Benchmarking Methodology Working
Group (BMWG) of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Test setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4.1 Test Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.2 Virtual Client/Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.3 Test Traffic Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.4 DUT/SUT Traffic Flows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.5 Multiple Client/Server Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.6 Network Address Translation (NAT). . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.7 Rule Sets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.8 Web Caching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.9 Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Hickman, et al. Informational