On System Scalability

Abstract

A significant number of systems fail in initial use or even during integration because factors that have a negligible effect when systems are lightly used have a harmful effect as the level of use increases. This scalability problem (i.e. the inability of a system to accommodate an increased workload) is not new. However the increasing size (more lines of code, greater number of users, widened scope of demands and the like) of US Department of Defense systems makes the problem more critical today than in the past. This technical note presents an analysis of what is meant by scalability and a description of factors to be considered when assessing the potential for system scalability. The factors to be considered are captured in a scalability audit, a process intended to expose issues that if overlooked can lead to scalability problems

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA457003

Entities

People

  • Charles Weinstock
  • John B. Goodenough

Organizations

  • Carnegie Mellon University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Application Software
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Department Of Defense
  • Electronic Commerce
  • Engineering
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Operating Systems
  • Parallel Computing
  • Parallel Processing
  • Software Development
  • User Interface
  • Workload

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Systems Analysis and Design