February 3, 2009
Sponsored by Compuware
4733 Chabot Drive, Suite 100
Pleasanton, CA 94588
Agenda
8:30 – 9:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:30 – 10:30 Mongo* Measurement Requires Mongo Capacity Management
Speaker: Neil Gunther, Performance Dynamics Company
The A.A. Michelson+ Award is named in honor of the first American to win the Nobel Prize in physics in 1907; except he was born in Prussia, not America$. He received the Nobel Prize for designing and performing the most famous null experiment in physics. It required a 2-ton stone table, sitting in a pool of mercury, buried in a basement. Today, we can do the same thing on a silicon chip.
The Michelson-Morley experiment is not the only null experiment in physics, it's just the most famous one, because its failure to measure the predicted "aether" (yes, same as in "ethernet") ultimately revolutionized physics. Other null experiments have tried to measure the predicted "Fifth Force" and magnetic monopoles, just to name a few.
The latest in this long line of "Where the hell is it?" experiments is now under way at CERN in Switzerland---the LHC (Large Hadron^ Collider). The predicted entity is called the "Higgs field" or "Higgs boson" or simply "The Higgs."
You've read about it on the Web. The difference between Michelson-Morley and the LHC is the shear scale of the equipment and the computing power needed to collect and analyze the data that it will generate: 15,000 TB per year! And once this fire-hose is turned on, there will be no stopping to ask, "Um, how should we manage this?"
As Neil pointed out his my acceptance speech, the world of computing and capacity management is about to undergo a revolution, not unlike that caused by the arrival of the World Wide Web. Since the Web was invented by physicists at CERN, you can rest assured there will be some surprises. How will this impact you? Come and find out.
* See http://onlineslangdictionary.com/definition+of/mongo
+ BTW: It's not pronounced "Mike-al-sun". Come and hear the correct way.
$ Prof. Michelson also appeared in an episode of the "Bonanza" TV show.
^ How many times have you said "hadron" without knowing what it is?
10:45 – 11:45 Wasted MIPS, Wanton MIPS: a MIPS Recovery Initiative
Speaker: Tom Halinski, Compuware Corporation
Companies are continually looking for cost-reduction opportunities (especially in today’s economy) while they are simultaneously investing in hardware and software to drive business needs and competitive edge. MIPS levels are directly related to hardware and software costs. Industry analysts estimate that the cost for a single MIPS is $3000-$7000. Market indicators suggest that MIPS are likely to continue to grow. MIPS growth is triggered by events such as business growth, new technologies & application defects. An accepted practice was to “throw” more MIPS at these problems. However, because hardware and software costs are tied to MIPS levels, and software portfolios have grown enormously over time, this is an increasingly expensive approach.
The ideal solution is a proactive approach that identifies wasted MIPS and unnecessary MIPS consumption/growth. When you reduce MIPS levels, you directly reduce hardware and software cost. This solution addresses unnecessary MIPS consumption by minimizing application inefficiencies that erode performance as well as identifying software defects and reoccurring faults that lead to excessive MIPS usage. It offers a set of best practices that can be easily integrated into development, test and production processes. The earlier you can identify and correct problems in the application lifecycle, the greater the potential savings.
11:45 ‑ 1:00 NCCMG Business Meeting/ Lunch sponsored by Compuware/Compuware Product Presentation
1:00 – 2:00 The Apdex Index Revealed
Speaker: Neil Gunther, Performance Dynamics Company
The Apdex Index is a single number intended as a high-level indicator of application responsiveness. Are you using it? Though it is promoted by the Apdex Alliance (http://www.apdex.org/index.html) as a single number, simple enough to be easily understood by executive managers, others of us see that there is more to it than meets the eye. Several in-depth presentations were given at CMG 2008. Did you know about them? In addition to briefly reviewing those presentations, Neil will reveal how the Apdex response-time information can be applied in a way different from that promoted by the Apdex Alliance.
Please pre-register by contacting Keith McAndrew at (916) 715-8352 by Friday January 30, 2009. Registration is $25 at the door.
Report from the November 2008 meeting:
Speakers: Tom Halinski, Adrian Cockcroft, Hugh Smith and Bruce Spencer
Call for speakers in 2009. If you are interested in speaking, call Cathy Nolan at (925) 675-5308 or (925) 890-8390.
If you have not attended a meeting within the last two years, you will be deleted from the mailing list. To remain on the mailing list, either attend one meeting or email cathy.nolan@bankofamerica.com by November 1, 2009.