Written with computer scientists and engineers in mind, this book brings queueing theory decisively back to computer science.

This book is an introduction to analytical performance modeling for computer systems, i.e., writing equations to describe their performance behavior. It is accessible to readers who have taken college-level courses in calculus and probability, networking, and operating systems. This is not a training manual for becoming an expert performance analyst. Rather, the objective is to help the reader construct simple models for analyzing and understanding the systems that they are interested in. Describing a complicated system abstractly with mathematical equations requires a careful choice of assumptions and approximations. They make the model tractable, but they must not remove essential characteristics of the system, nor introduce spurious properties. To help the reader understand the choices and their implications, this book discusses the analytical models for 40 research papers. These papers cover a broad range of topics: GPUs and disks, routers and crawling, databases and multimedia, worms and wireless, multicore and cloud, security and energy, etc. An appendix provides many questions for readers to exercise their understanding of the models in these papers.

As computers become more complex, the number and complexity of the tasks facing the computer architect have increased. Computer performance often depends in complex way on the design parameters and intuition that must be supplemented by performance studies to enhance design productivity. This book introduces computer architects to computer system performance models and shows how they are relatively simple, inexpensive to implement, and sufficiently accurate for most purposes. It discusses the development of performance models based on queuing theory and probability. The text also shows how they are used to provide quick approximate calculations to indicate basic performance tradeoffs and narrow the range of parameters to consider when determining system configurations. It illustrates how performance models can demonstrate how a memory system is to be configured, what the cache structure should be, and what incremental changes in cache size can have on the miss rate. A particularly deep knowledge of probability theory or any other mathematical field to understand the papers in this volume is not required.

Table of contents

Addresses the major issues involved in computer design and architectures. Dealing primarily with theory, tools, and techniques as related to advanced computer systems, it provides tutorials and surveys and relates new important research results. Each chapter provides background information, describes and analyzes important work done in the field, and provides important direction to the reader on future work and further readings. The topics covered include hierarchical design schemes, parallel and distributed modeling and simulation, parallel simulation tools and techniques, theoretical models for formal and performance modeling, and performance evaluation techniques.

The Art of Computer Systems Performance Analysis "At last, a welcome and needed text for computer professionals who require practical, ready-to-apply techniques for performance analysis. Highly recommended!" -Dr. Leonard Kleinrock University of California, Los Angeles "An entirely refreshing text which has just the right mixture of theory and real world practice. The book is ideal for both classroom instruction and self-study." -Dr. Raymond L. Pickholtz President, IEEE Communications Society "An extraordinarily comprehensive treatment of both theoretical and practical issues." -Dr. Jeffrey P. Buzen Internationally recognized performance analysis expert ". it is the most thorough book available to date" -Dr. Erol Gelenbe Université René Descartes, Paris ". an extraordinary book.. A worthy addition to the bookshelf of any practicing computer or communications engineer" -Dr. Vinton G. Cer??? Chairman, ACM SIGCOMM "This is an unusual object, a textbook that one wants to sit down and peruse. The prose is clear and fluent, but more important, it is witty." -Allison Mankin The Mitre Washington Networking Center Newsletter