Web Capacity Planning

Summer, 1999
http://www.csci.uark.edu/~aapon/courses/capacityplanning/

Description: This course teaches a quantitative approach to analyzing client/server and Web-based systems. Students will learn how to develop performance predictive models for capacity planning. Instead of relying on intuition, ad hoc procedures, and rules of thumb, students will learn a uniform and formal way for dealing with performance problems. The performance models are based on the theory of queuing networks. By the end of the summer each student will complete, as part of a team, a performance capacity planning study on a real computing system. Project information, including abstracts, will be posted on-line.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing. It is assumed that the student has some fundamental knowledge of operating systems and computer networks.

Required Text: "Capacity Planning for Web Performance: metrics, models, and methods", Daniel A. Menasce and Virgilio A. F. Almeida, Prentice Hall, June 1998.

Reference Text: "Capacity Planning and Performance Modeling: from mainframes to client-server systems", Daniel A. Menasce, Virgilio A. F. Almeida, and Larry W. Dowdy, Prentice Hall, 1994.

Outside Readings: These will come from published journal articles or textbook chapters and made accessible to students. A scheduled list of readings and assignments will be maintained on-line.
Schedule: Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:

Basics of performance and client/server systems
Performance issues in client/server environments
Web server and intranet performance issues
Step-by-step approach to capacity planning
Workload characterization
Standard industry benchmarks
System and component-level performance models
Web performance modeling
Workload forecasting
Performance measurement

Professor: Amy W. Apon
Phone: 575-6794 (Dept: 575-6427)
Office Hours: until 11:30 a.m. on Mondays, and other times as arranged.

Time/Place: 8:00am - 10:30am on Mondays, 320 Science

Grading: The grade in the course will be based on homework exercises, class participation, a course project, a midterm exam, and a final exam. The course project will be an extensive performance study of a real system, and will count for 40% of the final grade. The performance study project will be done in teams of two or three.
A breakdown of the grading is as follows:

Capacity planning project: 40%
Midterm exam: 25%
Final Exam: 25%
Class participation and homework: 10%

Safety and Computer Use: All use of computer equipment at the University of Arkansas falls under the acceptable computer use guidelines of the University. Any violations of these guidelines will result in dismissal from the course with a failing grade, and possible punitive or legal action!

Course Credit: Web Capacity Planning is worth 3 hours of graduate credit.

Last updated May 14, 1999.

Description:	This course teaches a quantitative approach to analyzing client/server and Web-based systems. Students will learn how to develop performance predictive models for capacity planning. Instead of relying on intuition, ad hoc procedures, and rules of thumb, students will learn a uniform and formal way for dealing with performance problems. The performance models are based on the theory of queuing networks. By the end of the summer each student will complete, as part of a team, a performance capacity planning study on a real computing system. Project information, including abstracts, will be posted on-line.
Prerequisite:	Graduate standing. It is assumed that the student has some fundamental knowledge of operating systems and computer networks.
Required Text:	"Capacity Planning for Web Performance: metrics, models, and methods", Daniel A. Menasce and Virgilio A. F. Almeida, Prentice Hall, June 1998.
Reference Text:	"Capacity Planning and Performance Modeling: from mainframes to client-server systems", Daniel A. Menasce, Virgilio A. F. Almeida, and Larry W. Dowdy, Prentice Hall, 1994.
Outside Readings:	These will come from published journal articles or textbook chapters and made accessible to students. A scheduled list of readings and assignments will be maintained on-line.
Schedule:	Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to: Basics of performance and client/server systems Performance issues in client/server environments Web server and intranet performance issues Step-by-step approach to capacity planning Workload characterization Standard industry benchmarks System and component-level performance models Web performance modeling Workload forecasting Performance measurement
Professor:	Amy W. Apon Phone: 575-6794 (Dept: 575-6427) Office Hours: until 11:30 a.m. on Mondays, and other times as arranged.
Time/Place:	8:00am - 10:30am on Mondays, 320 Science
Grading:	The grade in the course will be based on homework exercises, class participation, a course project, a midterm exam, and a final exam. The course project will be an extensive performance study of a real system, and will count for 40% of the final grade. The performance study project will be done in teams of two or three. A breakdown of the grading is as follows: Capacity planning project: 40% Midterm exam: 25% Final Exam: 25% Class participation and homework: 10%
Safety and Computer Use:	All use of computer equipment at the University of Arkansas falls under the acceptable computer use guidelines of the University. Any violations of these guidelines will result in dismissal from the course with a failing grade, and possible punitive or legal action!
Course Credit:	Web Capacity Planning is worth 3 hours of graduate credit.

Web Capacity Planning

Summer, 1999 http://www.csci.uark.edu/~aapon/courses/capacityplanning/

Summer, 1999
http://www.csci.uark.edu/~aapon/courses/capacityplanning/