

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.
