README WebStone 2.0 Release version



WARNING: WebStone 2.0 results should not be compared with WebStone 1.1

	results. Even under the same fileset performance will not be

	equivalent.



Please see the notes for 2.0beta6 for quick and dirty install

	This version includes a port of the webstone source code to Windows

NT. This port is still in progress, so it is not possible to guarantee

that everything is working correctly - however in our test configurations

it has performed correctly. Note that the supporting scripts and report

generating code has not been ported to NT yet.



	This version also institutes some basic run rules to eliminate the

lack of conformity in Webstone performance quotes.

	To report Webstone numbers, some basic rules should be followed:



	1) The fileset used for the test must be the fileset.standard fileset

	included in the distribution. Tests of CGI performance must be

	with the file filelist.cgi-heavy, and tests of NSAPI performance

	must be carried out with filelist.dynamic-heavy



	2) The run time should be set for 10 minutes, and the number of

	clients should vary from 20 clients to 100 clients in increments

	of 10. When a connections/second time is quoted, it must include

	information about the number of clients involved.



	3) Any special TCP/IP tuning which the server has recieved should

	be documented, as well as HTTPD server version and configuration

	information such as logging, DNS lookups and number of threads.



	

README - WebStone 2.0beta6



WARNING: Do not compare WebStone 2.0 results with WebStone 1.0 results.

	WebStone 2.0 introduces significant changes in testing methodology

	and reporting.



This is the WebStone benchmark. Quick and dirty install:

	- set up a Web server

	- put this directory (WebStone) on a seperate machine (the "controller")

	- "./webstone -setup", which does the following:

		- gui-configure

		  This script may fail if you don't have a Web browser or

		  Perl5. Don't worry, unless you want to use the GUI.

	  	- autoconf

		  If the GNU autoconf fails for your OS, please forward the

		  error messages, and any porting hints, to the author.

		- make install

		  This may not be necessary, since IRIX binaries are included.

		- edit conf/testbed to reflect your site

		  See the doc/FAQ-webstone.html for details.

	- ./webstone -genfiles will put the files in conf/fileset 

		onto your Web server.

	- ./webstone

	- to display a table of results: ./webstone -results



If you'd like to try out the GUI for WebStone:

	- run "./webstone -setup", as above.

	- make sure you have a Web browser installed

	- ./configure

	- ./webstone -gui



Files of interest:

	README: This document.

	README.FIRST: Quick and dirty directions.

	README.DynamicWorkload: Information on the CGI and NSAPI workloads.

	webstone: wrapper shell script for everything. 

		Takes options:

		-gui: start the GUI mode

		-kill: kill stray WebStone processes

		-genfiles: build files (from conf/fileset)

			and rcp onto the server $SERVER

		- results: print table of results

		-setup: initial make and setup

		-silent: runs in the background

		-tail: tail -f of most recent run



Files of interest (./src):

	Makefile, *.c, *.h: The Webstone source code



Files of interest (./bin):

	checkfilelist: uses rsh to check web server for files in filelist.

	genfiles, genrand: generates files of arbitrary length.

	getstats: Collects network statistics from Web server, clients.

	killbench: terminates stray WebStone processes.

	rebootall: reboots all WebStone webclients.

	runbench: wrapper script for WebStone.

	webmaster: WebStone controller executable.

	webstone: WebStone client executable.

	wscollect: reports results in tabular format.



Files of interest (./conf):

	filelist: default list of files on the Web server,

		with workload description.

	filelist.photo: Model of a popular Web site 

		containing photographic images.

	filelist.ss: Model of SGI's Silicon Surf WWW site.

	fileset: list of files for genfiles to create.

	testbed: config file describing Web server, client, and network setup.



Documentation (./doc):

	FAQ.html: The FAQ, current as of this distribution.

	LICENSE: Legal status of WebStone.

	testbed.help: Explains the parameters in conf/testbed.

	webstone-white-paper.ps: The original WebStone white paper.

	webstone.gif: The WebStone logo.



Additional documentation:

	FAQ.html: Frequently Asked Questions, with answers

	webstone.ps: PostScript white paper on WebStone



Problems, etc. may be addressed to the WebStone mailing list.

Read the FAQ for details.



Release Notes (2.0 beta6):

	* fixed a bug for Web servers not on port 80

	* further changes to bin/wscollect.pl



Release Notes (2.0 beta5):

        * numerous minor fixes suggested by gcc -Wall -pedantic

	* updated FAQ

	* changed bin/wscollect.pl to use Perl formats



Release Notes (2.0 beta4):

	* added #include <sys/time.h> to bench.h

	* changed webclient located to $TMPDIR - this should help people

	who don't want to run WebStone as root

	* changed check for libm to floor() instead of sqrt(). Apparently

	some systems implement sqrt() in libc - let's hope no one implement

	floor() in libc and sqrt() in libm!



Release Notes (2.0 beta3):

	* more portability fixes

	* successfully compiled on FreeBSD 2.2, IRIX without any source

	changes



Release Notes (2.0 beta2):

	* additional timezone fixes for SunOS



Release Notes (2.0 beta1):

	* fixed a bug in the rexec portion of webmaster.c

	* fixed a bug in the usage() routine of webmaster.c

	* added bin/genfiles-from-filelist.sh

		- bin/genfiles-from-filelist.sh <filename>

		- generates appropriate-length files from <filename>

		- <filename> must contain three fields:

			<relative URL>	<weight>	#<size in bytes>

			example: /file.html	1	#1024

	* added bin/mine-logs.pl

		- usage: mine-logs.pl <filename>

		  where <filename> is an http server log file

		- writes a WebStone workload to standard output



Release Notes (2.0 alpha5):

	* revised default testbed file

	* changed wscollect to wscollect.pl for consistency

	* changed webstone-gui to webstone-gui.pl for consistency

	* added some NT porting hints

	* added autoconf, which should help Linux and SunOS porting



Release Notes (2.0 alpha4):

	* added SunOS and Linux portability elements

	* new scheme for random access to pages

	* converted several static arrays to dynamic pointers



Release Notes (2.0 alpha2):

	* fixed per-page statistics

	* new, client-independent data-passing scheme

	* added support for proxy servers



Release Notes (2.0 alpha1):

	* new filelist scheme - however, this breaks per-page statistics

	* minor fixes



Release Notes (1.1):

	* Improved webclient performance by combining GET and ACCEPT

		HTTP headers in one write() call.

	* Improved webclient performance on systems that always attempt

		to map protocol names to numbers using YP.

	* WARNING: since the old code introduced a significant latency

		in some systems, DO NOT compare WebStone 1.1 results

		with results generated by any previous versions.



Release Notes (1.0.3):

        * Netscape Server 1.1.2 exposed a couple bugs, which I've now fixed.



Release Notes (1.0.2):

        * Fixed runbench so that ITERATIONS, MINCLIENTS, and MAXCLIENTS don't

                have to have a common denominator any more.

        * Fixed a few cosmetic bugs.



Release Notes (1.0.1):

        * Fixed select() bug in webmaster



Release Notes (1.0 final):

	* Fixed the "Error reading 2nd timing info" bug

	* Fixed numerous bugs in the GUI

	* Froze feature set. Work can now begin on WebStone 1.1



Release Notes (1.0b3):

	* New Web browser GUI

		NOTE: most Web browsers take up substantial CPU time.

		If you run the GUI, we recommend that you make the controller 

		a separate machine, and don't run any WebStone clients on it.

	* Minor bug fixes

		Squashed some dubious error messages, fixed some client-

		controller communications problems.

	* Reporting changes

		Changes the units and order of the final summary statistics.

		Basically, this is for my own convenience, so I don't have to

		massage the data quite so much before using it. wscollect

		now reports only the metrics I regard as important - but all

		metrics are still reported in the runs/*/run files.



LEGAL STUFF:



This file and all files contained in this directory are 

copyright 1995, Silicon Graphics, Inc.



This software is provided without support and without any obligation on the 

part of Silicon Graphics, Inc. to assist in its use, correction, modification 

or enhancement. There is no guarantee that this software will be included in 

future software releases, and it probably will not be included.



THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITH NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND INCLUDING THE 

WARRANTIES OF DESIGN, MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, 

OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE OR TRADE PRACTICE. 



In no event will Silicon Graphics, Inc. be liable for any lost revenue or 

profits or other special, indirect and consequential damages, even if 

Silicon Graphics, Inc. has been advised of the possibility of such damages. 

