Measuring Computer Performance

  • Introduction
  • Metrics of performance
  • Average performance and variability
  • Errors in experimental measurements
  • Comparing alternatives
  • Measurement tools and techniques
  • Benchmark programs

Measuring Computer Performance
A Practitioner's Guide

David J. Lilja
Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 2000

ISBN 0-521-64105-5

  • Linear regression models
  • Design of experiments
  • Simulation and random number generation
  • Queueing analysis
  • Glossary
  • Appendices

Additional references on operational analysis

 

Reviewers' comments

"Lilja's book is conceptually well formulated, mathematically well grounded, and even intuitively appealing... This book is clearly an essential reference for the professional engaged in computer (or network) performance measurement and capacity planning."

-ACM Computing Reviews, April 2001

 

"... practically oriented book will be of interest to anyone who wants a detailed, yet intuitive, understanding of computer systems performance analysis."

-Engineering Designer

Measuring Computer Performance sets out the fundamental techniques used in analyzing and understanding the performance of computer systems. The emphasis is on practical methods of measurement, simulation, and analytical modeling. The book discusses performance metrics and provides detailed coverage of the strategies used in benchmark programs. In addition to intuitive explanations of key statistical tools, the general "design of experiments" technique is described to show how the maximum amount of information can be obtained with minimum effort. Features include appendices listing common probability distributions and statistical tables and a glossary of important technical terms.