[ldapdata] LDAP Newsletter: DOUBLE ISSUE -- LDAP Server Performance: Benchmarks and Load Testing
- From: Hallett German <hrgerman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ldapdata@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <ldapdata@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2005 19:14:01 -0400
LDAP: ACCESS & DATA ADMINISTRATION NEWSLETTER
4/23/05 DOUBLE ISSUE
Topics: LDAP Server Performance: Benchmarks and Load Testing
Issue Contents:
* LDAP Server Performance: Benchmarks and Load Testing
* Next Time: LDAP Server Performance: Certifications
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This newsletter is sponsored by Alessea Consulting.
Business/IT Services for small and medium businesses.
Specializing in network identity, project management, and
business development.
Visit us and read more about the Alessea difference.
URL: <http://www.alessea.com>http://www.alessea.com
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By Hallett German
Topic: LDAP Server Performance Part 1: Benchmarking and Certifications
This is a new series about LDAP Server Performance. One that will take us
through many
topics such as server benchmarks/certifications, server sizing, capacity
planning,
and server optimization. We hope to provide you a good roadmap of the
products and trends in
these fields.
This first article in the series will review LDAP server benchmarking and
load testing
software. There is SO much to cover we made this a double issue, so let's
get started!
LDAP BENCHMARKING
In the ideal sense, benchmarking compares one software product to another.
Unfortunately, the "winner" or "loser" has big sales and marketing share
implications.
So, one can always expect on every LDAP server's website to find the mandatory
white paper on how their LDAP server outperformed their competitors. This white
paper may be interesting to read but will not likely help in choosing the
directory
server which is best for you.
To counter the claims of these white papers has been the growing
availability of
a rich software library of benchmarking and stress-testing tools. These
tools build
on the long history of the practices of capacity planning, and
system/database/application performance
analysis & optimization.
In 1985, Mindcraft, Inc was formed in Los Gatos, California. It has a main
mission of
being a software testing library. But somewhere along the way, the company
decided
to make an effort to create and promote benchmarking standards. One of
these was
the DirectoryMark measurement metric born in 1998. The test executables to
run these tests are free
but the source code is not. Note that the code uses the Netscape SDK.
There are available for Windows2000/3 and Solaris platforms. It should work
with any
LDAP version 2 or version 3 compliant directory. The 1.3 (latest version of
DirectoryMark)
says it works with Microsoft Active Directory on Windows 2000/2003,
ADAM (Active Directory Application Mode).
The 1.0 documentation provided a list of servers DirectoryMark was tested
but it
sorely needs an update. Mindcraft does not provide direct support but does
have a
Frequently Asked Questions
(<http://www.mindcraft.com/directorymark/dirmarkfaq.html>http://www.mindcraft.com/directorymark/dirmarkfaq.html)
and an on-line forum which seems fairly quiet.
(Available at
<http://pub86.ezboard.com/fperformancetestingandmarketingfrm2>http://pub86.ezboard.com/fperformancetestingandmarketingfrm2)
The following steps are needed to get your benchmark test working: (This is
based on the MS Windows instructions.)
1. Have a test directory Server available
2. Use the perl script dbgen.pl to load test data into your directory. An
LDIF file
is then created.
3. Import the LDIF into your directory server.
4. Create your test script(s) (containing the LDAP commands that you are
going to use
for testing) using the scriptgen perl script.
5. Create a directory to hold your test results.
6. Edit the DirectoryMark config file with the appropriate information to
access
your directory, script locations, result locations, etc.
7. Run at the MS Windows command prompt: DirectoryMark.exe config
8. Check the results
9. Rerun with a different script(s)
Note that Mindcraft also produces certified performance reports which are
thorough
but not always for the current release. You can re-create these tests
yourself by using
the run rules (canned scripts) supplied with the product.
We also encourage the user to read the article by Wang, Schulzrine, Kandlur
and Verma referenced below.
In the third article we will delve more into the measurements and analysis of
benchmarking.
LOAD GENERATORS
There is a second class of tools that share of the aspects of LDAP server
benchmarking
but are primarily load generators. Load testing emphasizes performance
rather than
functionality.
SLAMD (officially called the "SLAMD Distributed Load Generation Engine") seems
to be a popular third-party choice. It was created by developers at Sun as
a load testing tool that can be used to load test popular Internet Web
protocols (such
as HTTP, SMTP, IMAP, and POP.) The software is Java-based and open source.
The SLAMD site
provides mailing lists
(<http://www.slamd.com/mailing-lists.shtml>http://www.slamd.com/mailing-lists.shtml),
frequently asked questions
(<http://www.slamd.com/faq.shtml>http://www.slamd.com/faq.shtml), and a
futures list
(<http://www.slamd.com/future-plans.shtml>http://www.slamd.com/future-plans.shtml)
SLAMD also provides many other extras such as an Java-based API to
customize testing,
an embedded scripting engine for load testing, and a useful tool to capture
LDAP sessions
and convert them into a SLAMD script-compatible format. Note that HTML and
command-line interfaces are provided.
SLAMD has a rich library of documentation on the product's capabilities.
Some recommendations include: Benchmarking the Sun One 5.2 Directory Server
with SLAMD,
and the Scripting Guide (especially the chapter on Interacting with LDAP
servers)
Microsoft, Novell and Sun all provide free load generators that work with
their LDAP servers.
Let us look at each of these:
MICROSOFT -- ADTEST
Microsoft offers an Active Directory Performance Testing Tool (ADTest.exe)
that it
recommends for Active Directory and AD/AM under Windows 2003 (and Windows
2000 if needed).
To initiate ADTest.exe at the windows prompt, enter adtest -r testname.
(-r stands for run).
adtest -? lists all of the possible options. Some of the popular test names
are the following:
-adam (test ad/am), -mms (metadirectory), and -sam (sam -security
accounts manager).
Other setting are configuration/debugging settings for tests, and
administrative operation tests.
Using your own or the canned "adtest.ats" text configuration file, you can
quickly create your own load
testing scenarios. As an example, this file includes these tests
-- l1_10attr, l1_20attr, l1_30attr. These tests search for 10-30
attributes depending which one you selected.
Once you download this testing tool, do take the time to read through the
included white paper
for a review of tool capabilities and suggestions on possible tests to perform.
NOVELL
Novell seems to have many detailed Tech Notes and Knowledge Forums
on performance testing but we were unable to find much information on the
tools used in their whitepapers.
(Please send us any info you may have on this and you will be mentioned in
a future newsletter!)
One Tech Note referred to DirectoryMark and searchrate (described below).
There is no doubt that you can
build your test suite based on the eDirectory SDK
(<http://developer.novell.com/ndk/edirsdk.htm>http://developer.novell.com/ndk/edirsdk.htm)
In our travels, we also found a nifty LDAP search benchmark tool.
(<http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/1590.html>http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/1590.html)
This product works from the GUI
or command line interface. This was created by Richard Stubbs who last we
heard was
doing directory efforts at University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
SUN --LDCLT AND SEARCHRATE
Sun offers the powerful ldclt load testing tool as part of their
Directory Server Resource Kit.
(<http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6400-10/ldclt.html>http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6400-10/ldclt.html)
To start the tool enter at the command line ldclt and the various options
simulating your search, load,
and test intervals (such as -a -- number of concurrent operations)
-H/-h/-? lists all the available options and details.
These tests can be very specific using the -e parameter
(such as add,delete and other LDAP administrative operations).
The result of this run will be various summary statistics which can be used
as part of your analysis.
Another common tool is searchrate
(<http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6400-10/srchrate.html>http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6400-10/srchrate.html)
measuring LDAP search performance.
It will return statistics such as number of search operations performed.
Other tools are also available to measure additional LDAP operations
(<http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6400-10/ldapthreepart.html>http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6400-10/ldapthreepart.html)
Next time, we take a brief aside looking at the LDAP server certification
process before
looking deeper at benchmarking.
References:
Here are some representative references:
BENCHMARK TOOLS
<http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/1590.html>http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/1590.html
Benchmark LDAP query tester for LDAP servers
<http://www.slamd.com/>http://www.slamd.com/
Open-source Java Application that can stress-test LDAP server workloads.
Results are currently stored in a LDAP directory as well.
<http://www.slamd.com/docs/benchmarking_ds52.pdf>http://www.slamd.com/docs/benchmarking_ds52.pdf
How to Benchmark LDAP Servers
with SLAMD tools
<http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/Ludo/20040906>http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/Ludo/20040906
Blog summary of LDAP load-testing tools.
<http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6400-10/contents.html>http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6400-10/contents.html
Sun One Benchmarking and stress test tools
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4814fe3f-92ce-4871-b8a4-99f98b3f4338&DisplayLang=en>http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4814fe3f-92ce-4871-b8a4-99f98b3f4338&DisplayLang=en
Active Directory load testing tool (ADTest.exe)
<http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/1590.html>http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/1590.html
Utility to benchmark the speed of LDAP searches
COMPARATIVE BENCHMARKS
<http://www.isode.com/whitepapers/m-vault-benchmarking.htm>http://www.isode.com/whitepapers/m-vault-benchmarking.htm
Isode versus Sun with detailed results
<http://email.uoa.gr/docs/ldap/Measurement.pdf>http://email.uoa.gr/docs/ldap/Measurement.pdf
A ground-breaking article by Wang, Schulzrine, Kandlur
and Verma on how to measure and improve LDAP system performance
and the measurement methodology as well
<http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2000/0515rev2.html>http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2000/0515rev2.html
The classic 2000 Network World article comparing LDAP servers
Next Time: LDAP Server Performance: Part 2: Certifications
Topic: Articles and Comments Welcome
I welcome 100-800 word articles for inclusion in future
issues. Vendors and LDAP data administrators are
particularly welcome. Of course, you receive full credit and
ownership of your article. Thanks in advance for your help.
Please feel free to comment on how useful it was and what
you would like to see in the future.
Contact me at <mailto:hallett.german@xxxxxxxxxxx>hallett.german@xxxxxxxxxxxx
______________________________________________________________
About Hal German
Hallett German has 20 years experience in a variety of
IT positions and in implementing stable infrastructures.
This includes directories/messaging architecture,
desktop support, and IT management. Hal is the founder
of the Northeast SAS Users Group and former President
of the REXX Language Association. He is the author of
three books on scripting languages. Periodically, he
writes articles on various business and IT topics.
______________________________________________________________
Contacting Hal German/Past Issues
Mail: <mailto:hallett.german@xxxxxxxxxxx>hallett.german@xxxxxxxxxxx
Archive of the LDAP Administration Newsletter:
<http://www.alessea.com/newsletters.htm>http://www.alessea.com/newsletters.htm
_______________________________________________________________
Copyright Alessea Consulting 2005
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