[Madwifi-devel] [Call For Ideas] "madwifi.org labs": setting up a testbed

[Michael R. <mre...@ma...>]

Hi all.

Setting up a testbed to support development of ath5k (and MadWifi) -
that's an idea I carry with me since more than a year. Now that we finally
have clean ways to accept and handle donations, it's time to let this idea
become true.


One problem we're facing in terms of developing ath5k (and MadWifi) is
that it's not easy for developers / team members to get hands on all the
hardware they might need for their work. Not all of us are lucky enough to
work for a company that has loads of hosts and Atheros-based hardware.
Those that do have this luck usually are not allowed to grant access to
other developers. And the current practice to dispense donated hardware to
members on request is inefficient.

In response I'd like to set up a testbed, an installation that every team
member can access via internet. It should provide access to hosts with
different CPU architectures as well as different types of Atheros-based
hardware (ideally covering all available Atheros chipsets). Common tasks
should be supported, such as getting register dumps from chipsets, testing
the drivers in certain situations, debugging them and so on.

The advantages are obvious: we can provide an installation that a single
developer hardly can afford out of his own pockets, and all developers can
benefit from it. Donated equipment can be used in more efficient ways.
Developers less likely need to search for someone who runs a certain
architecture or Atheros chipset to test specific changes for a certain
environment. And so on.


What we have so far:

 1. A german university is interested to host the testbed. They use
MadWifi as base for self-built Access Points that serve their campus-wide
WLAN, and they would provide us with room, power and internet
connectivity. I have an appointment with them on Friday (March 7) and will
provide pictures of the location and hopefully some more details on their
offer.

 2. bubakov.net, a large community network in the Czech republic with more
than 1200 members, is ready to donate an impressing amount of money to
madwifi.org (from what I know ~5000 USD).

 3. Hardware from past donations, such as MiniPCI cards or the server that
has been donated by Netgate.


What we need:

A plan. :) So far there's just a very rough concept in my head (which I'll
soon describe in a separate posting).

What different tasks could this testbed fulfill? What features are
required to effectively support the work of developers working on ath5k
and MadWifi? What hardware could help to achieve these goals?

Any interested party is welcome to contribute ideas. It does not matter if
you're a end user, a developer or member of the madwifi.org team - please
don't hesitate to tell us your ideas, even if you think they are
eccentric. All input is highly appreciated.

Bye, Mike