From: "Brigitta Shore"To: Subject: Test Bed Provides Rigorous Testing at Alcatel Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 11:48:53 -0800 Press Contacts: Brigitta Shore Shore Communications (604) 729-9479 bshore@radiant.net Neal Nelson Neal Nelson & Associates (312) 755-1000 neal@nna.com CASE STUDY Linux-based Test Bed provides rigorous quality testing at Alcatel Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data communications solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 120,000 employees and sales of US$25.0 billion, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. When introducing a new element to a customer's network, compatibility with the existing infrastructure and performance of the system are critical to the implementation. One of the tools Alcatel uses is Neal Nelson & Associates' Linux-based test bed to put all its products through high stress, real-life testing in a controlled lab environment. This avoids downtime and potential damage to information stored at actual customer sites. "Our high standards for quality testing provides confidence in our code and to our customers, that our products are solid solutions," says Steve Melahn, pre-sales test engineer who runs Alcatel's pre-sales test laboratory. The right testing technology To meet Alcatel's strict testing requirements, they searched for a solution that could simulate specific types of traffic and use extreme loads to identify a product's limitations. The company chose Neal Nelson & Associates' Linux-based Multinode Remote Terminal Emulator (RTE). "We can recreate a real life scenario right down to the hardware, software and configuration files and then test the anticipated user traffic loads," says Neal Nelson, president of Neal Nelson and Associates. "Our test bed allows a forward thinking company like Alcatel – which is committed to quality assurance – to achieve the highest level of confidence in their solution." Minimizing downtime while maximizing performance With 25 percent of Fortune 100 companies saying they would be bankrupt if their network were down for four days, a company's technology infrastructure has become one of its most critical components. So when upgrades or new products are introduced to an existing IT system, it is imperative that results of the change are known before implementation. By replicating a client's system in their lab and subjecting it to severe stress tests, Alcatel identifies potential glitches, rectifies it and tests again and again, until satisfied that the customer will not experience those implications. Getting products to market quicker Alcatel also pushes products to market quicker by using their lab to test pre-release software and hardware to solve more problems in-house and speed up beta testing. Alcatel remains at the forefront of technology by delivering innovative, first-to-market products that are already stable and robust. Staying on top of technology The lab typically runs across issues and anomalies only seen in networks under heavy stress, which usually equates to complex troubleshooting and debugging. "Since we demonstrate concepts, our lab is used to testing the latest technology," says Melahn. "Nelson's test bed allows us to stay ahead in a rapidly changing environment by helping us to understand the latest technologies and how to best optimize them." The Multinode RTE in action When a recent client needed to migrate their existing network with 100 switches over to a new network, Alcatel's lab was called upon to demonstrate how this could be achieved with minimal downtime and destruction to the network. The client also took this opportunity to test upgrading their hardware and software. A typical approach to these projects would involve several steps. An analysis on the migration process and new software is step one in identifying problem areas. Step two involves rectifying the problems and providing further solutions to enhance the migration and performance of the system. Clients are often present in the lab for the final stage of delivering proof of concept; identify what works best, where the risks are, and recommendations for improvement. The tests are run on Nelson's Multinode RTE, which is comprised of 32 Linux servers configured as a single "virtual" system with supercomputer speed and capacity. The configuration can emulate 1,984 high-intensity users based on 64 Ethernet connections. Once the configuration and test criteria have been established, the system is automated to manage and monitor the various nodes of the cluster and can run 24 hours a day. Typically, the shorter tests are run during the day with the longer 12 hour tests run automatically overnight. Extreme testing eliminates customer's risk Alcatel is committed to putting their products through extreme testing to ensure that customers get the best solutions possible with the least amount of risk. "Using Neal Nelson & Associates' Multinode RTE has enabled us to do just that", says Melahn. The test facility will also continue to be a focal point for all new products, with customers benefiting from Alcatel's reliable leading-edge technology. ###