TABLE OF CONTENTS A full performance analysis of a complex computer system can be difficult to complete in a short time-scale if the system consists of many interworking subsystems, often widely separated geographically, and if time and budget pressures prevent the normal in-depth assessment of performance. There is, however, a way to identify performance problems and provide indications of where performance engineering effort should be directed to greatest effect the performance health check.
This chapter covers the full richness of the performance health check; normally a subset of the techniques would be employed, tailored to the particular requirements of the situation time-scales often dictate how deeply the analysis should go. Note that the approach here concentrates on systems; networks would be covered in an analogous way.
A performance health check is a high-level, broad-brush survey of the performance characteristics both of the system and of the practices of the delivering project. The primary purpose of the health check is to identify key performance risks for a project. History has shown that major performance problems, or even complete project failure, could have been avoided if performance risks had been identified at an early stage and managed effectively. The health check approach can usefully be applied in a variety of situations:
the project may still be in the early stages of design and development, it may be in the throes of deployment, or the system may have been deployed and operational...
