Methodology of load testing of firewalling tools

Abstract

Objective. The purpose of the work is to develop a methodology for load testing domestic firewalls to assess their real throughput and stability under load. This is necessary to verify the compliance of the characteristics of the proposed firewalls declared by the manufacturer for use in specific protected automated systems. Method. The research method is empirical. A test bench with a Cisco TRex traffic generator that emulates the load is proposed. Traffic patterns are created to simulate various network conditions. The testing methodology includes three modes: routing without filtering, complete traffic blocking, and filtering at the application level. The load is gradually increased until the limit values of stable operation are identified. Result. A testing methodology was developed to conduct load testing of firewalls. Quantitative indicators of firewall performance in different modes were determined. Conclusion.The proposed methodology is intended for an objective assessment of firewall performance. It allows choosing optimal solutions for information protection, identifying critical scenarios and preventing the use of insufficiently productive solutions.