Overture testbed – a study into the provision of a service test & development platform for high performance web/network applications

The Overture Testbed project aims to clearly demonstrate both the problems and potential
solutions involved in delivering high performance, web/network based services over current
infrastructure.
Ongoing studies have demonstrated problems with modern network infrastructure, globally
and nationally, as demand rises. Whilst these problems have been largely masked by a
continuous increase in network infrastructure capacity, the fundamental problems remain.
These problems are exposed by an ever more rapid requirement for capacity/bandwidth
upgrades (raising costs of delivery). The continuing demand for many types of services, in
particular video and interactive services, exacerbates the need for capacity whilst adding to
quality variability. At the same time, these are precisely the services that are sensitive to such
variability.
Interaction with content is becoming a greater part of proposed services, such as online
gaming and personalised fashion retailing. Applications that aim to do this need to be tested in
a realistic network environment to assess their ability to function in target networks, both
nationally and globally.
The number of personal network-connected devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) is growing, as
is consumer engagement with them. In order to continue serving consumers well, and to open
up new ways of interacting with them, the need for better testing in real-world scenarios is
becoming more pressing.
The Overture Testbed aims to create a platform and/or service through which testing can be
conducted reliably and repeatably by both large and small enterprises. The testbed will be a
developer-controlled, end-to-end delivery environment which emulates web services and
networks over diverse and realistic loading conditions. This will facilitate the construction of
apps and services that deliver more consistent higher quality experiences, to end users. The
testbed will therefore enable better user experiences and improved commercial viability.