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	Issue TOC Print full article Print this page Download as PDF E-Mail this URL Flame the author     In this article Introduction A Different Kind of Test Bed Executive Summary Diagram of NWC Inc. Lab

Back in January we had an idea: Build an extension of our Real-World Labs® in Green Bay, Wis., to handle business-application testing, so we'd be able to pound on business software as hard as we bang on network hardware. That way we could evaluate integration and deployment issues in a true 24x7 business environment. Just shy of a year later, we're standing in the middle of that lab, looking at some sweet hardware supporting the production environment of NWC Inc.

We've set up a bona fide enterprise environment, warts and all, where business applications under test will have to play nice with our installed infrastructure and data sets. That's important because, no matter what application vendors tell you, software integration and interoperability are way, way behind hardware standards compliance. In fact, this endeavor gave new meaning to the term real-world lab. Got politics? So did we. Got red tape? Yup. Got hardware that breaks the first time you plug it in? Oh yeah. Got integration issues? Do you really have to keep asking? But the worst part was having a camera watch us constantly so our online team could stream us live. If you've checked out the NWC Inc. cam (at inc.networkcomputing.com/), you've probably seen some pretty impressive temper tantrums!

Still, despite all the frustration and caffeine consumption, we're glad we did it. NWC Inc. is as real as it gets without actually being part of an enterprise. As NWC Inc. grows as a "company," its data set and the complexity of its hardware and software infrastructure will grow right along with it. And that's going to make for some kick-ass reviews. Stay tuned.