Novell Network Performance and Reliability Testing

There are a number of utilities available that will test the performance and resilience of a Novell network. Of these, we tend to use/recommend the following:-

1) The LAN Driver Test Programs suite, supplied by Novell (also available on the Apricot Technical Support BBS as NOVDIAGS.ZIP in File Area 37).

This consists of a menu of tests that can be performed on a network. Of these tests, two in particular are of use when testing the performance and reliability of the network. The Network Endurance Test can be run on a number of workstations to simulate a number of users constantly using the network. The test causes each workstation to carry out a number of operations, including flagging network files, doing a directory of network files, copying files from one location on the network to another, ncopying files from one network location to another, deleting files, purging files, comparing files, mapping drives, getting userlists, and so on. The test is repetitive, and will place the server under a varying workload as each part of the test is executed.

Ideally, this test would be run on up to 20 workstations overnight or over the weekend.

Also included as part of this test suite is the Network Performance Test (perform3). This tests the speed of the network when transferring data packets of varying sizes. It can be run on a single workstation to get a feel of the performance of that workstation over the network, or it can be run from a number of workstations to show how performance varies with the number of workstations that are active.

2) As a pure test of server resilience under heavy disk utilisation, set up a small batch file that does the following (where <TEMP> is a subdirectory that is unique to the workstation running the test):-

:START
NCOPY SYS:PUBLIC SYS:<TEMP>
GOTO START

This would ideally be run on a number of workstations, each one using a different <TEMP> directory. It would also ideally be run overnight or over the weekend.

3) To test the server under a steady disk and network loading, use the above batch file procedure, but replace NCOPY with COPY.

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