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    <h2>Contents</h2>
    <ul>
      <li><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></li>
      <li><a href="#donors">Donors</a></li>
      <li><a href="#admins">Netperf Cluster Admins</a></li>
      <li><a href="#resources">Netperf Cluster Resources</a></li>
      <li><a href="#procedures">Netperf Cluster Procedures</a></li>
      <li><a href="#notes">Current Configuration Notes and News</a></li>
    </ul>

    <a name="introduction"></a>
    <h2>Introduction</h2>

    <p>The netperf cluster provides a multi-node, SMP-capable, network
      functionality and performance test capability for the <a
      href="../../">FreeBSD Project</a>, supporting a variety of on-going
      sub-projects including the <a href="./index.html">netperf project</a>,
      and on-going work on
      high performance threading.  The cluster is available on a check out
      basis for developers, who must request accounts be created by
      contacting one of the <a href="#admins">netperf cluster admins</a>.
      The cluster includes both 1gbps and 10gbps test segments, with
      network hardware from a number of vendors.</p>

    <a name="donors"></a>
    <h2>Donors</h2>

    <p>The netperf cluster was made possible through the generous donation
      of a number of organizations, including:</p>

    <ul>
      <li><p><a href="http://www.sentex.ca/">Sentex Data Communications</a>,
	who not only host the complete cluster, provide front-end build
	system, several test systems, and the management infrastructure
	(remote power, serial console, network switch, etc), but also appear
	to be endlessly willing to help configure, reconfigure, and
	troubleshoot at almost any time of day or night.</p></li>

      <li><p><a href="http://www.freebsdsystems.com/">FreeBSD Systems</a>,
	who through a generous matching grant with the FreeBSD Foundation,
	provide the majority of testing hardware used in the cluster,
	including three dual-Xeon test systems.</p></li>

      <li><p>The <a href="http://www.FreeBSDFoundation.org/">FreeBSD
	Foundation</a>, who provided a matching grant for the purposes of
	purchasing testing hardware, as well as taking ownership of hardware,
	offering tax receipts to donors in its role as a non-profit, and
	participating in cluster planning.</p></li>

      <li><p><a href="http://www.ironport.com">IronPort Systems</a>, who have
	donated a test server.</p></li>

      <li><p><a href="http://www.ixsystems.com/">iXsystems</a>, who have
	donated several test servers.</p></li>

      <li><p><a href="http://www.google.com/">Google, Inc.</a>, who have
	donated two test servers.</p></li>

      <li><p><a href="http://www.cisco.com/">Cisco, Inc.</a>, who have
	donated a 10gbps switch.</p></li>

      <li><p><a href="http://www.chelsio.com/">Chelsio Communications</a>,
	who have donated two 10gbps network cards.</p></li>

      <li><p><a href="http://www.myricom.com/">Myricom, Inc.</a>, who have
	donated two 10gbps network cards.</p></li>

      <li><p><a href="http://www.intel.com/">Intel Corporation</a>, who
	have donated two 10gbps network cards.</p></li>

      <li><p><a href="http://www.meinberg-usa.com/">Meinberg</a>, who
	have donated a LANTIME M600 IEEE 1588 Grandmaster Clock.</p></li>

      <li><p>&a.gnn;, who has donated a quad-core AMD test
	system.</p></li>

      <li><p>&a.rwatson;, who has donated a dual-CPU PIII system and a
	Portmaster terminal server.</p></li>
    </ul>

    <p>Donations to support the netperf cluster have an immediate and
      substantial impact on the success of a number of on-going performance
      projects, providing access to high-end hardware to a large number of
      developers.  If you or your company are interested in helping to
      support continued development of the netperf cluster as a resource for
      FreeBSD development, please contact the <a href="#admins">netperf
      cluster admins</a>.</p>

    <a name="admins"></a>
    <h2>Netperf Cluster Admins</h2>

    <p>The FreeBSD netperf cluster is managed by a small team of
      developer/administrators to support SMP development and performance
      testing on high-end hardware.  If you have any questions, including
      questions about access to the cluster as a developer, or about possible
      future donations of testing hardware, please feel free to contact them
      via netperf-admin at FreeBSD.org.</p>

    <a name="resources"></a>
    <h2>Netperf Cluster Resources</h2>

    <p>The Netperf cluster consists of several systems interconnected using a
      management network, as well as individual back-to-back gigabit ethernet
      links for a test network.  The following systems are available as
      testing resources on a check-out basis:</p>

    <ul>
      <li><p><b>zoo.FreeBSD.org</b> is the front-end build and management
	system.  This system was donated by Sentex Communications.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>elephant</b> is a dual-PIII 800MHz system with ATA disk
	subsystem.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>orangutan</b> is a dual-Xeon 2GHz system equipped with an
	Adaptec SCSI RAID array.  This system was donated by IronPort
	Systems.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>tiger-1</b>, <b>tiger-2</b>, and <b>tiger-3</b> are a set of
	interconnected, matching dual-Xeon 3GHz systems with ATA disk
	subsystems.  Each has four if_em network interfaces, and these are
	interconnected so that various topologies can be created.
	These systems were donated by FreeBSD Systems and the FreeBSD
	Foundation.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>cheetah</b> is a dual core Opteron 270 system with two
	2GHz CPUs each with two cores using a Tyan K8S Pro (S2882)
	motherboard.  The machine identifies as a quad processor machine
	in dmesg.  The system has SATA disk, 2GB of RAM, 1GB for each
	processor, and 5 ethernet ports.  fxp0 is the management port
	and em0, em1, bge0 and bge1 are gigE interfaces which will
	eventually connect cheetah to elephant and orangutan.  This system
	was donated by George Neville-Neil.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>hippo</b> is a quad-processor Pentium III 500MHz system
	with 50GB RAID array, donated by Sentex Communications.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>camel</b> is a dual core Pentium D 3.0Ghz SMP system
	with four SATA disks and two hardware crypto devices, donated by
	Sentex Communications.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>interlope</b> is a Celeron 2.5GHz system with two SATA
        disks running SUN Solaris 10, donated by
	Sentex Communications.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>apc2</b>, <b>apc3</b>, and <b>apc4</b> are the remote power
	consoles for the test network.  These systems were donated by
	Sentex Communications.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>leopard1</b>, <b>leopard2</b>, and <b>leopard3</b> are
	dual-core Intel systems hooked up to the 10gbps test cluster,
	and use Chelsio and Myricom 10gbps cards.  These systems were
	donated by iXsystems.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>hydra1</b> and <b>hydra2</b> are 8-core Intel systems
	hooked up to the 10gbps test cluster.  These systems were donated
	by Google and the FreeBSD Foundation.</p></li>
    </ul>

    <p>The current serial port and network configuration of test systems, as
      well as password information, can be found in /etc/motd on zoo.  We
      are currently interested in adding amd64 and em64t hardware to the
      cluster.</p>

    <a name="procedures"></a>
    <h2>Netperf Cluster Procedures</h2>

    <p>As the netperf cluster is a centrally managed and shared resource,
      understanding and consistent following of its procedures is important.
      In particular, following of the procedures makes it easier for
      developers to have reasonable expectations about the configuration of
      systems in the cluster, as well as to avoid treading on each others
      toes.</p>

    <p>Pointers and documentation on Netperf Cluster procedures can be found
      on the <a href="http://wiki.freebsd.org/NetperfClusterPointers">
      Netperf Cluster Pointers</a> page on the FreeBSD wiki.

    <a name="notes"></a>
    <h2>Current Configuration Notes and News</h2>

    <p>A few hopefully up-to-date configuration notes that may be relevant
      to users of the netperf cluster:</p>

    <ul>
      <li><p><b>20070727</b> - The 10gbps testbed is now being configured,
	thanks to donations from iXsystems, Chelsio, Myricom, Intel, Google,
	Cisco, and the FreeBSD Foundation.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>20061211</b> - The <a
	href="http://wiki.freebsd.org/NetperfClusterReservations">Netperf
	Cluster Reservations page</a> is now online on the wiki.  Also, a
	<a href="http://wiki.freebsd.org/NetperfClusterPointers">Netperf
	Cluster Pointers</a> wiki page has been set up documenting procedures
	for the Netperf cluster.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>20061205</b> - <b>zoo.FreeBSD.org</b> has been updated to
	the most recent version of 6-STABLE.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>20050624</b> - <b>cheetah</b> is now online!</p></li>

      <li><p><b>20050204</b> - <b>orangutan</b> is now configured to use
	PXEboot, thanks to help from Sentex.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>20050203</b> - system upgrades to <b>tiger-1</b>,
	<b>tiger-2</b>, and <b>tiger-3</b> have been completed -- the latest
	versions of 4.x (ar0s1) and 6.x (ar0s2) are now installed.</p></li>

      <li><p><b>20050203</b> - <b>zoo.FreeBSD.org</b> has been updated to
	the most recent version of 5-STABLE.</p></li>
    </ul>

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