To solve performance problems in modern computing infrastructures, often comprising thousands of servers running hundreds of applications, spanning multiple tiers, you need tools that go beyond mere reporting. You need tools that enable performance analysis of application workflow across the entire enterprise. That's what PDQ (Pretty Damn Quick) provides. PDQ is an open-source performance analyzer based on the paradigm of queues. Queues are ubiquitous in every computing environment as buffers, and since any application architecture can be represented as a circuit of queueing delays, PDQ is a natural fit for analyzing system performance. Building on the success of the first edition, this considerably expanded second edition now comprises four parts. Part I contains the foundational concepts, as well as a new first chapter that explains the central role of queues in successful performance analysis. Part II provides the basics of queueing theory in a highly intelligible style for the non-mathematician; little more than high-school algebra being required. Part III presents many practical examples of how PDQ can be applied. The PDQ manual has been relegated to an appendix in Part IV, along with solutions to the exercises contained in each chapter. Throughout, the Perl code listings have been newly formatted to improve readability. The PDQ code and updates to the PDQ manual are available from the author's web site at www.perfdynamics.com

Analyzing computer systems performance is a tedious and recurring task of system administrators, programmers and project managers. This work makes this difficult subject understandable, executable, and manageable.

Makes performance analysis and queueing theory concepts simple to understand and available to anyone with a background in high school algebra Presents the practical application of these concepts in the context of modern, distributed, computer system designs Packed with helpful examples that are based on the author's experience analyzing the performance of large-scale systems over the past 20 years.

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This book is an indispensable reference for developers and administrators who want to maximize the performance of their Sun systems. Revised and updated to cover the latest SPARC and software release (including Solaris 2.6). This book presents a collaboration of configuration and performance information not available anywhere else.

Bring new power, performance, and scalability to your existing Perl code! Cure whatever ails your Perl code! Maintain, optimize, and scale any Perl software... whether you wrote it or not Perl software engineering best practices for enterprise environments Includes case studies and code in a fun-to-read format Today's Perl developers spend 60-80% of their time working with existing Perl code. Now, there's a start-to-finish guide to understanding that code, maintaining it, updating it, and refactoring it for maximum performance and reliability. Peter J. Scott, lead author of Perl Debugged, has written the first systematic guide to Perl software engineering. Through extensive examples, he shows how to bring powerful discipline, consistency, and structure to any Perl program-new or old. You'll discover how to: Scale existing Perl code to serve larger network, Web, enterprise, or e-commerce applications Rewrite, restructure, and upgrade any Perl program for improved performance Bring standards and best practices to your entire library of Perl software Organize Perl code into modules and components that are easier to reuse Upgrade code written for earlier versions of Perl Write and execute better tests for your software...or anyone else's Use Perl in team-based, methodology-driven environments Document your Perl code more effectively and efficiently If you've ever inherited Perl code that's hard to maintain, if you write Perl code others will read, if you want to write code that'll be easier for you to maintain, the book that comes to your rescue is Perl Medic. If you code in Perl, you need to read this book.–Adam Turoff, Technical Editor, The Perl Review. Perl Medic is more than a book. It is a well-crafted strategy for approaching, updating, and furthering the cause of inherited Perl programs.–Allen Wyke, co-author of several computer books including JavaScript Unleashed and Pure JavaScript. Scott's explanations of complex material are smooth and deceptively simple. He knows his subject matter and his craft-he makes it look easy. Scott remains relentless practical-even the 'Analysis' chapter is filled with code and tests to run.–Dan Livingston, author of several computer books including Advanced Flash 5: Actionscript in Action

Under today’s shortened fiscal horizons and contracted time-to-market schedules, traditional approaches to capacity planning are seen by management as inflating production schedules. In the face of relentless pressure to get things done faster, this book facilitates rapid forecasting of capacity requirements, based on opportunistic use of available performance data and tools so that management insight is expanded but production schedules are not. The book introduces such concepts as an iterative cycle of improvement called "The Wheel of Capacity Planning," and Virtual Load Testing, which provides a highly cost-effective method for assessing application scalability.