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System Architecture

System Architecture

The system architecture is actually just a consolidation of the logical and physical architectures.
The diagram below is an example depiction of system architecture. Obviously, it does not
include every aspect of the architecture, but it does serve to highlight some points of interest for
performance testing, in this case:
·

Authentication and application tiers can be served by two servers.

The mapping will allow information to better design performance tests.

Performance tests can be targeted at the application tier directly, for example.

Putting these two pieces of the puzzle together adds the most value to the performance-testing
effort. Having this information at your fingertips, along with the more detailed code architecture
of what functions or activities are handled on which tiers, allows you to design tests that can
determine and isolate bottlenecks.

Figure 8.4 System Architecture

Considerations

Consider the following key points when capturing the system's logical and physical architecture:
·

Some teams view testing as a "black-box" activity; that is, it reminds and educates the team
of the necessity to design performance tests well and maintain knowledge of the entire
system -- from the load-balancing scheme to the thread-sharing model of code objects.
Doing so allows the performance tester to identify high risk areas early in the project.