The Practical Performance Analyst

By: 
Neil Gunther
Published: 
2000
Pages: 
468
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Book Description

At last! Performance analysis made easy and applicable for large distributed systems. Here is a practical new perspective on performance analysis-one that makes this difficult subject understandable and useful. It demystifies the complex underlying formulas, and shows how to apply performance analysis to all kinds of large-scale computer systems, including client/server and communications systems. At the heart of this book is a unique methodology called performance-by-design. Timeless and independent of any specific technology, it is a tested approach for ensuring that goals are set and met. The emphasis is on assessing overall performance in large-scale systems, not just tuning one particular hardware subsystem or software compoenet. This tool enables you to bypass such arcane concerns as the mathematics of queueing theory, and cut right to the real-world chase. Written in a friendly, intuitive style, this book will help you master performance analysis and apply it at either end of the development cycle: to support decisions in the early stages of system design, or to evaluate your existing system.

PUBLISHER: Author's Choice Press

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1 comment
Ross Collard's picture
Ross Collard

I rate this book a “must have” for a performance tester, though its primary areas of focus are (a) architecture and design, and (b) keeping systems running reliably. Too often, testers have only a limited understanding of how things work. The “thing” may be an application, database, network, support infrastructure, or a particular technology, and this lack of understanding leads to shot-in-the-dark testing, where the approach is to “try it and maybe we’ll stumble across something interesting”. Gunther’s book illuminates the darkness. I found especially useful the discussions on scalability, the causes of instability, and interpreting diagnostic data.

The book is readable and immediately relevant, because it uses realistic examples and discusses common but difficult problems. The math-phobic will like it, though it is content-rich. The back cover says: “At last! Performance analysis made easy and applicable for large distributed systems. Here is a practical new perspective on performance analysis -- one that makes this difficult subject understandable and useful.” I agree wholeheartedly.

Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - 11:24

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