Performance Methodology
1-8 Oracle HTTP Server powered by Apache Performance Guide
Performance Methodology
Achieving optimal effectiveness in your system requires planning, monitoring, and
periodic adjustment. The first step in performance tuning is to determine the goals
you need to achieve and to design effective usage of available technology into your
applications. After implementing your system, it is necessary to periodically
monitor and adjust your system For example, you might want to ensure that 90% of
the users experience response times no greater than 5 seconds and the maximum
response time for all users is 20 seconds. Usually, it’s not that simple. Your
application may include a variety of operations with differing characteristics and
acceptable response times. You will need to set measurable goals for each of these.
Figure 1–5 Adjusting Capacity and Functional Demand
You will also need to determine variances in the load. For example, users might
access the system heavily between 9:00am and 10:00am and then again between
1:00pm and 2:00pm. If your peak load occurs on a regular basis, for example, daily
or weekly, the conventional wisdom is to configure and tune systems to meet your
peak load requirements. The lucky users who access the application in off-time will
typically achieve better response times than your peak-time users. If your peak load
is infrequent, you may be willing to tolerate higher response times at peak loads for
the cost savings of smaller hardware configurations.