InterWorking Labs
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Network testing, Software |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Founder | Chris Wellens, Marshall Rose |
| Headquarters | Scotts Valley , United States |
| Products | SilverCreek, Maxwell series |
InterWorking Labs is a private enterprise located in Scotts Valley, California, dedicated to enhancing the performance of applications and embedded systems. Established in 1993 by Chris Wellens and Marshall Rose, it holds the distinction of being the pioneer company solely focused on verifying compliance with network protocol standards. Their solutions facilitate seamless interoperability between devices from various manufacturers across worldwide networks.
Products
The product portfolio of InterWorking Labs addresses the diagnosis, replication, and resolution of issues impacting application performance.
Their first offering, SilverCreek, conducts comprehensive testing on Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agent implementations found in devices such as switches, servers, and telephones. It runs hundreds of thousands of tests covering conformance, stress, robustness, and negative scenarios. This process uncovers faults in both proprietary and standard MIBs along with SNMP versions v1, v2c, and v3 protocol stacks.
The Maxwell series simulates authentic network environments by introducing elements like latency, rerouting paths, packet corruption, protocol degradation, DNS response delays, and bandwidth constraints. It includes impairment capabilities for protocols such as TCP/IP, DHCP, ICMP, TLS, and SIP. Maxwell is extendable through C, C++, or Python programming languages and supports graphical user interfaces, command-line operations, as well as scripting.
Inspired by Maxwell's demon—a theoretical concept demonstrating selective molecular control—Maxwell functions within network sessions to selectively alter packets based on user-defined rules before forwarding them. This allows clients to emulate realistic network conditions within a controlled laboratory setting ahead of deployment.
InterWorking Labs gains strategic insights from advisory contributions by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which enhances its leadership position in network testing technologies.
History
The company was founded in 1993 by Chris Wellens and Marshall Rose. Their initial encounter occurred in 1992 at the Interop Company in Mountain View, California, where Wellens served as Director of Technology while Rose led the IETF Working Group for the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
Wellens managed Interop’s extensive 5000-node InteropNet along with interoperability demonstrations. He observed that engineers from different organizations frequently encountered difficulties ensuring their products communicated correctly due to varying interpretations of protocols. These challenges generated requests for an interoperability testing facility. Recognizing this industry gap, Interop’s founder and CEO Dan Lynch commissioned Wellens to develop a business plan for such a lab. Rose recommended concentrating initially on SNMP testing because of its prevalent issues. Wellens agreed to organize a developer summit provided Rose would create test cases and assist with planning.
Following the acquisition of Interop by Ziff-Davis, which opted not to pursue the lab initiative, Wellens proceeded to establish InterWorking Labs independently in 1993. The company hosted its inaugural SNMP interoperability test summit in January 1994 utilizing 50 tests crafted by Rose. Numerous implementations failed these evaluations, underscoring the necessity for interoperability solutions. The subsequent summit later that year attracted significant industry participants such as Cabletron Systems, Cisco Systems, IBM, among others, solidifying InterWorking Labs’ influence within the market.
In 2000, Wellens invited Karl Auerbach to join the Board of Directors. By 2002, Auerbach—formerly part of Cisco's Advanced Internet Architecture team—assumed the role of CTO. Additionally, an advisory board was formed including IETF protocol experts like Andy Bierman and Jeff Case to enhance the company’s strategic direction and technical capabilities.
Markets
Wireless communication systems utilized by hospitals, law enforcement, and the military have transformed computer networks into vital lifeline utilities. Networks that underpin sectors such as the economy, transportation, energy, and food distribution constitute a region's critical infrastructure. Maintaining reliable network functionality during challenging conditions is a critical priority for governments, military organizations, and industries alike.
Wellens notes that UCITA has predominantly protected software developers from accountability related to product malfunctions. Nonetheless, there is a growing likelihood that developers will be held more accountable for network disruptions—particularly when thorough testing options existed but were not implemented. For example, security vulnerabilities or network outages caused by denial of service attacks can lead to losses amounting to millions of dollars for online merchants.