[plug] Network Performance Testing

[Daniel Axtens]

I have found speed test websites to be of very dubious value, especially at high network speeds (I'm currently on an AARNET connection in Canberra, and the displayed result from speedtest.net in no way matches my actual experience).

Furthermore, the load that a startup weekend will produce is very very different to the load speedtest.net tests: lots of simultaneous connections, to various servers across the world, rather than a single connection to a single nearby server.

What may be of considerable value is to set up a well-configured Squid caching proxy. Then, if you have a bunch of people all downloading the same Node.js modules/Python packages/whatever, it should only go out to the internet once, and all subsequent hits will be served off the cache. The proxy can also be set up to block common, unimportant, high-bandwidth, background downloads (e.g. Windows Updates). 

HTH,
Daniel



On 05/03/2013, at 11:16 PM, Jason Nicholls <jason at mindsocket.com.au> wrote:
> 
> They have servers in Australia so they should pick the most appropriate one and run the test.
> 
> 
> On Tue, Mar 5, 2013 at 8:10 PM, Euan de Kock <euan at dekock.net> wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> I've had a request from Brodie McCulloch at Spacecubed. He's looking for anyone who can advise on or perform a network performance test for him.
> 
> PLUG has recently installed the wired ethernet infrastructure for Spacecubed, and Brodie has upgraded his service in preparation for the Perth Startup Weekend which is on from Friday through to Sunday. He's not too sure how well his internet feed will scale and would like some assurance that he's getting the speed he's paying for.
> 
> If you think you can help, or have any advice to offer please reply back to this list, and I'll collate/coordinate anything that's passed on.
> 
> Many Thanks in Advance,
> 
> Euan de Kock,
> President - Perth Linux User Group (PLUG).
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Jason Nicholls
> jason at mindsocket.com.au
> 0430 314 857
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
> http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
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