Benchmarking XML Based Application Oriented Network Infrastructure and Services

Common application infrastructure services are shifting from back-end hosts to the network edges. Cisco Systems application oriented networking (AON) initiative is an example of this emerging trend. Benchmarking such infrastructure and services is expected to play an important role in the networking industry. We present AONBench specifications and methodology to benchmark networked XML application servers and appliances. AONBench is not a benchmarking tool. It is a specification and methodology for performance measurements, which leverages from existing XML microbenchmarks and uses HTTP for end-to-end communication. We implement AONBench specifications for end-to-end performance measurements through public domain HTTP load generation tool ApacheBench and Apache Web server. We present three case studies of using AONBench for architecting real application oriented networking products