Inquisitor (hardware testing software)

Infobox_OS
name = Inquisitor



caption = Inquisitor 3.0
developer = Mikhail Yakshin, et al
family = Linux
source_model = Open source
working_state = Current
latest_release_version = 3.0
latest_release_date = release date|2008|07|20
kernel_type = Monolithic kernel
ui = Text, curses-based
license = GPLv3 and other licenses
website = [http://www.inquisitor.ru/ www.inquisitor.ru]

Inquisitor is a free hardware diagnostics, stress testing, certification and benchmarking platform, based on Linux. It is available in 3 formats:

* Standalone — as a package to be installed into existing Linux installation; such practice is somewhat limited in available tests.
* Live — distributed as a Linux live CD distribution; system under test should be booted from it; this way one particular system can be tested throughly.
* Enterprise — a most advanced format; multiple systems can be tested simultaneously by booting from network using PXE, in fully controlled environment; all testing progress and results are collected on central server to be analyzed by testing operator.

Thanks to this multi-format design, Inquisitor scales well and can be run at both single home computer and large OEM manufacturing installations to test thousands of computers simultaneously. As a platform, Inquisitor emphasizes usability and modular design in its goals.

History

Inquisitor started in early 2004 as a closed project developed by Mikhail Yakshin at ALT Linux for MaxSelect, a Russian hardware vendor. [cite news
first = Михаил
last = Рамендик
title = Linux наступает: обзор позиций
url = http://www.cnews.ru/reviews/free/2004/part8/linux.shtml
work = CNews] First versions were closed-source, although some effort was made to open some of its components. [cite conference
first = Михаил
last = Якшин
url = http://www.inquisitor.ru/about/in_media/obninsk-2005.html
title = Система автоматизированного тестирования и контроля качества оборудования "Inquisitor"
conference = Вторая международная конференция разработчиков свободных программ на Протве
conferenceurl = http://www.altlinux.ru/events/second_developers_conference.html
date = 2005-07-25
location = Obninsk] Versions 1 and 2 were fully developed in-house and were fully adopted by MaxSelect and its multiple branches. These versions concentrated on server-based enterprise testing and were optimized mostly for notebook hardware. [cite web
url = http://www.maxselect.ru/news/article.html?id=1705
title = MaxSelect: структурные изменения и планы по развитию в 2004 г.]

In 2005, a special abridged version of Inquisitor suite was developed for distribution on Live CDs. These Live CDs were supplied with MaxSelect products, so every buyer can stress test their newly bought hardware to ensure it runs stable. [cite journal
title = Интервью Павла Мельникова, директора подразделения ноутбуков и мобильных устройств компании MaxSelect
journal = Hardware Special
url = http://maxselect.ru/news/article.html?id=5968]

In August, 2007, all legal complications were solved and Inquisitor was announced as an open source platform. This platform can be used to implement various Linux-based solutions that deal with hardware testing, monitoring and benchmarking. As of July, 2008, version 3.0 is released into public.

Tests

Minimal steps that can be undertaken for purposes of testing or benchmarking are called "tests" in Inquisitor and are implemented as simple Unix shell scripts that run other (binary) programs and collects their results. In its simplest form, test outputs only binary result: success or failure, but more advanced API is supplied for benchmarks that output results

As of 2008, Inquisitor distribution includes following tests: [ [http://www.inquisitor.ru/doc/tests/index.html A list of tests in Inquisitor at website] ]

References

* cite web
url = http://www.linuxcenter.ru/lib/history/lh-05.phtml
author = Костромин В.А
title = Свободная система для свободных людей (обзор истории операционной системы Linux)

See also

* Phoronix Test Suite

External links

* [http://www.inquisitor.ru/ Official site]