Testing


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Introduction

The general topic of "testing" is very broad. If you are writing a NDIS driver then it is your responsibility to perform:

bulletFunctional Tests - Tests invented by yourself or others to illustrate that your driver functions as required.
bulletQualification Tests - Tests that prove, to some degree, that your driver is reliable and functions correctly.

Here the term functional tests probably means tests invented and used during the development process. The term qualification tests means test performed at the end of development as part of acceptance of the driver. Qualification of NDIS drivers usually involves both in-house qualification tests as well as performance of Microsoft WHQL tests to obtain a driver digital signature.

This section addresses testing beyond the basics mentioned above. The topics include suggestions in these areas:

bulletEdge Case Testing - Testing when host events occur that are not usual in normal operation.
bulletPerformance Testing - Testing to determine a drivers performance and possibly guide performance improvements.
bulletTesting on Impaired Networks - Testing on networks with atypical packet loss, packet delay, etc.
bulletOthers T.B.D.

Mostly these topics are just reminders of conditions and/or behaviors that you might have overlooked.

 

NDIS Edge Case Testing

If you are a driver developer then it is ultimately your responsibility to insure that the driver functions properly and is reliable in the field. It is certain that you have developed test methods that demonstrate functionality and stress the driver's normal operation. You may also have tested your driver using the Driver Test Manager (DTM) for a WHQL digital signature.

Edge cases are simply conditions that aren't encountered (often...) in normal operation. This note is just a reminder of some NDIS-related edge conditions that need to be examined as part of your test scenarios.

NDIS Edge Case Testing

 

Prokash Sinha's Notes on NDIS Driver Performance Topics

If you are a driver developer then you will probably need to understand the performance limitations of your driver and possibly take the time to analyze and make improvements.

I've invited Prokash Sinha ("pro") to contribute a few notes about driver performance for NDIS.com. Prokash is a Senior I/O Developer at Hewlett-Packard. In his line of work performance is a big issue.

These are 'getting started" notes intended to help NDIS driver developers to think systematically about these topics...

Prokash Sinha's Notes on NDIS Driver Performance Topics

 

 

Topic Status
August 25, 2010 Added Prokash Sinha's notes about performance.
August 18, 2010 Added note about NDIS edge case testing.

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