1 research outputs found
A framework for the characterization and analysis of software systems scalability
The term scalability appears frequently in computing literature, but it is a term that is poorly defined and
poorly understood. It is an important attribute of computer systems that is frequently asserted but rarely
validated in any meaningful, systematic way. The lack of a consistent, uniform and systematic treatment
of scalability makes it difficult to identify and avoid scalability problems, clearly and objectively describe
the scalability of software systems, evaluate claims of scalability, and compare claims from different
sources.
This thesis provides a definition of scalability and describes a systematic framework for the characterization
and analysis of software systems scalability. The framework is comprised of a goal-oriented
approach for describing, modeling and reasoning about scalability requirements, and an analysis technique
that captures the dependency relationships that underlie typical notions of scalability. The framework
is validated against a real-world data analysis system and is used to recast a number of examples
taken from the computing literature and from industry in order to demonstrate its use across different
application domains and system designs