Workflow

The workflow for different kinds of networking experiments can be generalized to a certain degree. For instance, the usual steps of an experiment are as follows:

• Design the experiment
• Execute the experiment for a particular number of times and collect data
• Evaluate the resulting data to obtain performance metrics.

This typical workflow supported at the DES-Testbed. The sequential steps are depicted in the graphic below and consist of the following actions. First, the user creates an experiment package consisting of the DES-Cript experiment description and additional files, such as a kernel image or a custom traffic generator (1). The user uploads the package via the management console to the testbed server, which is referred to as DES-Portal (2). The scheduler, which is hosted at the DES-Portal, starts the experiment by connecting to the participating nodes and configures them accordingly (3). The experiment is then executed.
Afterwards, all mesh routers copy their log files to the testbed server, where they are inserted into the database (4). Finally, the testbed server notifies the user via email (5) that the experiment has finished and the results are available for further evaluation. 

Two components of the DES-Testbed are required for the realization of this experimentation process. The DES-TestBed Management System (TBMS) comprises all software components needed for the experiment execution and management. A detailed description of its components and assignments is available here. DES-Cript refers to our domain specific language (DSL) for experiment descriptions. Such descriptions specify all actions in the steps of experimenting and the format can be interpreted by DES-TBMS for an automic execution. A detailed description of DES-Cript can be found here.