From the moment we started planning until the last switch was boxed for return, we took heat for testing our 10Gig contenders in sunny Hawaii. Although the local scenery certainly deserves the nickname “paradise,” we spent nearly all of our time indoors — in a world-class test lab that could be called a paradise for networking geeks.The Advanced Network Computing Laboratory (ANCL), located at the University of Hawaii’s Manoa campus, is designed to test cutting-edge enterprise- and carrier-class networking equipment and provides high-quality tests for publication as well as real-world network-engineering experience for computer science students attending the university.The University of Hawaii has a long history in network research. It is the home of AlohaNet — the precursor to Ethernet — and is where the world’s first wired and wireless CSMA (carrier sense multiple access) networks were invented. AlohaNet was later confined to wires, carrier detection was added, and the name was changed to Ethernet. Some of the people who worked on AlohaNet are involved in our network testing at ANCL, including the lab’s associate director, Brian Chee. ANCL is outfitted to test on any medium, including high-grade copper and single- and multimode fiber, and has 125 kilometers of long-link fiber at its disposal. Recently the lab has added 802.11a and 802.11b wireless networking. Installed servers cover all the bases, including Windows NT/2000, Sun Solaris, Red Hat and Mandrake Linux, IBM AIX, and Novell NetWare. Client numbers vary daily but always cover the gamut, including Linux, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Mac OS.The lab’s permanent switch infrastructure comprises 10/100Mbps copper, 10/100Mbps fiber, and Gigabit Ethernet over multimode fiber. Traffic generators and test equipment include products from Ixia and Spirent — we used Spirent Communications’ SmartBits and Avalanche/Reflector test platforms — and clients running NetIQ’s Chariot.The lab is equipped with protocol analyzers from Fluke and Network Instruments. Software from Cisco and Compaq (now Hewlett-Packard) is used to manage the network. What’s Up Gold and APC’s Enterprise Manager are also employed as management tools. All this equipment kept us from getting a tan, but it certainly provided our 10Gig contenders with a cutting-edge lab environment. Look for more ANCL-based tests in future issues. Technology Industry