System Performance Evaluation: Methodologies and Applications

Throughout successive generations of information technology, the importance of the performance evaluation of software, computer architectures, and computer networks endures. For example, the performance issues of transaction processing systems and redundant arrays of independent disks replace the virtual memory and input-output problems of the 70s. ATM performance issues supercede those associated with electronic telephony of the 70s. As performance issues evolve with the technologies, so must our approach to evaluation. In System Performance Evaluation: Methodologies and Applications, top academic and industrial experts review the major issues now faced in this arena. In a series of structured, focused chapters, they present the state-of-the-art in performance methodologies and applications. They address developments in analytical modeling and its interaction with detailed analysis of measurement data. They also discuss performance evaluation methodologies for large-scale software systems - in general and in the context of critical applications, such as nuclear reactor control and air transportation systems. With its particular emphasis on network performance for wireless networks, the Internet, and ATM networking, System Performance Evaluation becomes the ideal vehicle for professionals in computer architecture, networking, and software engineering to stay up-to-date and proficient in this essential aspect of information technology.