Application of remote terminal emulation in the procurement process
E. J. McFaul · 1977
The procurement of communications-oriented computer systems in the Federal Government has recently embraced a technological concept which will significantly affect the trend of such activities for many years to come. This concept, generally referred to as Remote Terminal Emulation, provides the potential customer with a means of testing and evaluating a proposed system under loading conditions that closely approximate the intended live environment but without the logistical problems that have plagued such attempts in the past. This capability takes on added significance when viewed in the context of the federal procurement process which usually involves the execution of a benchmark by all participating vendors at some point in the procurement cycle. In order to be equitable among all vendors, as well as provide meaningful results for subsequent evaluation, the benchmark must not only be representative of the anticipated workload but must also exhibit one very important characteristic---repeatability. Until recently, this latter requirement reduced most benchmarks to essentially batch-oriented exercises, with but a smattering of interactive processing that did little more than establish the functional capability. With the use of Remote Terminal Emulation, the situation has changed. Potential customers are now able to test and evaluate proposed systems with benchmarks that provide significant workload levels (benchmarks with over one hundred emulated terminals are not uncommon) such that meaningful evaluation data can be obtained. This paper documents the experience of the U. S. Geological Survey in using Remote Terminal Emulation during a recent procurement of a nationwide communications-oriented computer system.