per@sics.se (Per Gunningberg) (11/24/89)
A N N O U N C E M E N T
The release of SICS Protocol Implementation Measurement System tool,
SPIMS
Swedish Institute of Computer Science has released the research
prototype of SPIMS, a protocol performance measurement tool for
research and non-commercial use. A commercial version is distri-
buted by TeleLOGIC Uppsala AB, Sweden.
SPIMS is used to measure the performance of protocol and
"protocol-like" services including, response time (two-way de-
lay), throughput and the time to open and close connections. It
has been used to:
* benchmark alternative protocol implementations
* observe how performance varies when parameters in specific
implementations have been varied, ie to tune parameters.
It is implemented on Unix, including SunOS 4., Unix BSD4.3, DNIX
(Unix System V, with extensions) and Ultrix 2.0/3.0. It runs as
user processes and requires a TCP-connection for measurement
set-up. No kernel modifications or any modifications to measured
protocols are required.
SPIMS currently has interfaces to the DoD Internet Protocols:
UDP, TCP, FTP, SunRPC, the ISO protocols from the ISODE 4.0 dis-
tribution package: FTAM, ROSE, ISO TP0 and to Sunlink 5.2 ISO TP4
as well as Stanford's VMTP. Also available are a rudimentary set
of benchmarks, stubs for new protocol interfaces and a user manu-
al.
Distribution
There are two different distribution classes depending on re-
questing organization:
1.Universities and non-profit organizations.
To these organizations, SPIMS source code is distributed
free of charge. There are two ways to get the software:
1. FTP. If you have an Internet FTP connection, you can
use anonymous FTP to sics.se [192.16.123.90], and re-
trieve the file in pub/spims-dist/dist890915.tar.Z
(this is a .6MB tar image) in BINARY mode. Log in as
user anonymous and at the password prompt, use your
complete electronic mail address.
2. On a Sun 1/4-inch cartridge tape. For mailing, a
handling fee of US$150.00 will be charged. Submit a
bank check with the request. Do not send tapes or en-
velopes.
2.Commercial organizations.
There are two version to chose between, the research proto-
type and a supported version for commercial use. The
research prototype is for internal research only and for no
commercial use whatsoever.
Research prototype
The SPIMS source code is distributed for a one time fee
of US$500.00. Organizations interested in the research
prototype need to contact us via e-mail and briefly
motivate why they qualify (non-commercial use) for the
research prototype. They will thereafter get a permis-
sion to obtain a copy from the same distribution source
as for universities.
Commercial version
TeleLOGIC Uppsala AB, a subsidiary of Swedish Telecom,
distributes and supports a version for commercial use.
It consists of object code for SunOS 4., Unix BSD4.3,
DNIX, and Ultrix 2.0/3.0. Support for other Unix-like
implementations will be considered according to demand.
The same interfaces to the DoD Internet and ISO proto-
cols from the ISODE 4.0 are included as well as a user
manual.
License
SPIMS is not in the public domain and the software is covered by
licenses. Use of the SPIMS software represents acceptance of the
terms and conditions of the licenses. The licenses are enclosed
in the distribution package. Licenses and SPIMS cover letter can
also be obtained via an Internet FTP connection without getting
the complete software. The retrieval procedure is identical to
the above university distribution via FTP. The file to retrieve
is pub/spims-dist/licenses.tar.Z
How SPIMS works
Measurements take place between processes over the measured pro-
tocol. SPIMS generates messages and transfers them via the meas-
ured protocol service according to a user-supplied specification.
Unique in SPIMS is the measurement specification language which
is used to specify a measurement session. In the language there
are constructs for different application types (like bulk data
transfer), for specifying frequency and sequence of messages, for
distribution over message sizes and for combining basic specifi-
cations. These specifications are independent of both protocols
and protocol implementations and can be used for benchmarking.
More information
For more information about the research prototype distribution,
contact:
Swedish Institute of Computer Science
Att: Birgitta Klingenberg
P.O. Box 1263
S-164 28 Kista
SWEDEN
e-address: spims@sics.se
Phone: +46-8-7521500, Fax: +46-8-7517230
For further information about SPIMS for the commercial user
please contact:
Claes Hojenberg
TeleLOGIC Uppsala AB
P.O. Box 1218
S-751 42 UPPSALA
Sweden
e-address: claes@uplog.se
Phone: +46-18-189400, Fax: +46-18-132039
For more details on the internals of SPIMS, see:
Nordmark & Gunningberg, "SPIMS: A Tool for Protocol Im-
plementation Performance Measurements", Proc. of 13:th
Conf. on Local Computer Networks, Minneapolis 1989, pp
222-229.
How SPIMS can be used to benchmark protocols, see:
Gunningberg, Bjorkman, Nordmark, Sjodin, Pink &
Stromqvist, "Application Protocols and Performance
Benchmarks", IEEE Communications Magazine, June 1989,
Vol. 27, No.6, pp 30-36.
Sjodin, Gunningberg, Nordmark, & Pink, "Towards Proto-
col Benchmarks", IFIP WG6.1/6.4 Protocols for High-
Speed Networks, May 1989, Zurich. To be published.
How SPIMS can be used when tuning protocols, see:
Nordmark & Cheriton, "Experiences from VMTP: How to
achieve low response time", IFIP WG6.1/6.4 Protocols
for High-Speed Networks, May 1989, Zurich. To be pub-
lished.