Sonifying Performance Data to Facilitate Tuning of Complex Systems

Henthorne, Cody M.

Sonifying Performance Data to Facilitate Tuning of Complex Systems

dc.contributor.author	Henthorne, Cody M.	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	Tilevich, Eli	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Arthur, James D.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Bukvic, Ivica Ico	en
dc.contributor.department	Computer Science	en
dc.date.accessioned	2017-06-13T19:44:24Z	en
dc.date.adate	2010-10-27	en
dc.date.available	2017-06-13T19:44:24Z	en
dc.date.issued	2010-09-06	en
dc.date.rdate	2013-12-07	en
dc.date.sdate	2010-09-14	en
dc.description.abstract	In the modern computing landscape, the challenge of tuning software systems is exacerbated by the necessity to accommodate multiple divergent execution environments and stakeholders. Achieving optimal performance requires a different configuration for every combination of hardware setups and business requirements. In addition, the state of the art in system tuning can involve complex statistical models and tools which require deep expertise not commonly possessed by the average software engineer. As an alternative approach to performance tuning, this thesis puts forward the use of sonification-conveying information via non-speech audio-to aid software engineers in tuning complex systems. In particular, this thesis designs, develops, and evaluates a tuning system that interactively (i.e., in response to user actions) sonifies the performance metrics of a computer system. This thesis demonstrates that interactive sonification can effectively guide software engineers through performance tuning of a computer system. To that end, a scientific survey determined which sound characteristics (e.g., loudness, panning, pitch, tempo, etc.) are best suited to express information to the engineer. These characteristics were used to create a proof-of-concept tuning system that was applied to tune the parameters of a real world enterprise application server. Equipped with the tuning system, engineers-not experts in enterprise computing nor performance tuning-were able to tune the server, so that its resulting performance surpasses that exhibited under the standard configuration. The results indicate that sound-based tuning approaches can provide valuable solutions to the challenges of configuring complex computer systems.	en
dc.description.degree	Master of Science	en
dc.identifier.other	etd-09142010-004739	en
dc.identifier.sourceurl	http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-09142010-004739/	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78162	en
dc.language.iso	en_US	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.rights	In Copyright	en
dc.rights.uri	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/	en
dc.subject	Empirical Study	en
dc.subject	Human Factors	en
dc.subject	J2EE	en
dc.subject	Enterprise Application Servers	en
dc.subject	Sonification	en
dc.subject	Performance Tuning	en
dc.title	Sonifying Performance Data to Facilitate Tuning of Complex Systems	en
dc.type	Thesis	en
dc.type.dcmitype	Text	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Computer Science	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	masters	en
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science	en