[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] [OPEN-ILS-DEV] Evergreen & Software Performance Analysis

Kathy Lussier klussier at masslnc.org
Wed Feb 27 13:32:55 EST 2013


Hi Tim,

Sure, if there are specific steps taken where you routinely find system 
performance/response times lacking, please add them to the list. This 
could give us some ideas of areas that need to be evaluated. I would say 
that falls within identifying specific "pain" points (not the "paint" 
points that I sent in my original e-mail) that you see.

Kathy

Kathy Lussier
Project Coordinator
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
(508) 343-0128
klussier at masslnc.org
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier

On 2/27/2013 11:45 AM, Tim Spindler wrote:
> Kathy,
>
> Are do you want some information like workflows that seem slow? For 
> instance, just got a report from a library about specific steps they 
> are doing to catalogiing where certain individual processes are slow.
>
> Tim
>
> On Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 11:37 AM, Kathy Lussier <klussier at masslnc.org 
> <mailto:klussier at masslnc.org>> wrote:
>
>     Hi all,
>
>     It was brought to my attention that everyone who may have some
>     input for this discussion may not have an Evergreen wiki account.
>     In that case, please feel free to send an e-mail (to the list, not
>     directly to me) identifying any performance issues you believe
>     should be addressed through a performance evaluation. I'll be
>     happy to add them to the wiki.
>
>     What I'm looking for is:
>
>     1. Any specific paint points you see in performance.
>     2. Any specific questions you think a performance evaluation
>     should answer.
>     3. Any ideas you might already have regarding causes of
>     performance problems. In reading through the logs from the "future
>     of the staff client" meeting, I noticed several people said they
>     thought it was important to bring these ideas together before
>     reaching out to a consultant, and I agree that this is an
>     important first step in the process.
>
>     I posted just a few of our local issues at
>     http://www.evergreen-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=dev:testing:performance_issues:
>
>     STAFF CLIENT:
>
>     Memory leaks - is there an inherent problem with the technology
>     used in the staff client (xulrunner, Dojo) that is the source of
>     the memory leak problem and other performance problems?
>     Slow retrieval of patron records
>
>     MESSAGING (OPENSRF):
>     Staff client batch operations (e.g. updates/deletes from copy buckets)
>
>     DATABASE:
>     Catalog search - is there a way to optimize searching in the
>     catalog so that users get faster results and are able to start
>     re-implementing things like search.relevance_adjustment to provide
>     boosts to relevance ranking?
>
>     I'm quite sure there are far more pain points out there, so please
>     don't feel shy about contributing to the list!
>
>
>     Kathy
>
>
>
>     Kathy Lussier
>     Project Coordinator
>     Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
>     (508) 343-0128  <tel:%28508%29%20343-0128>
>     klussier at masslnc.org  <mailto:klussier at masslnc.org>
>     Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
>
>     On 2/25/2013 11:44 AM, Kathy Lussier wrote:
>>     Hi all,
>>
>>     Having heard no objections to proceeding with finding somebody to
>>     do a software performance analysis, I have created a page on the
>>     wiki at
>>     http://www.open-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=dev:testing:performance_issues
>>     where we can identify the pain points that need further
>>     evaluation and add any questions that we hope a performance
>>     analysis might be able to answer.
>>
>>     I have started the list off with some basic issues/questions that
>>     have come up in our own systems. During the future of the staff
>>     client meeting, Dan Scott had mentioned that there might be three
>>     points of attack:client, opensrf, database.  I thought dividing
>>     the list into those three areas might be a good way to start.
>>
>>     I'm hoping that all the knowledgeable sys admins out there who
>>     have a stronger understanding of the system architecture than I
>>     do can build this list into something that might be a good
>>     starting point for any performance evaluation, whether it's done
>>     by a third party or by somebody in the Evergreen community. By
>>     identifying the questions we hope a performance evaluation might
>>     answer, we are also identifying what our expectations are before
>>     we enter the process. I would want to be clear on our
>>     expectations before formally talking to any third party so that
>>     we can be fully informed about whether an evaluation could meet
>>     those expectations.
>>
>>     Kathy
>>
>>
>>     Kathy Lussier
>>     Project Coordinator
>>     Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
>>     (508) 343-0128  <tel:%28508%29%20343-0128>
>>     klussier at masslnc.org  <mailto:klussier at masslnc.org>
>>     Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
>>     On 2/20/2013 2:26 PM, Mike Rylander wrote:
>>>     On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 2:10 PM, Kathy Lussier
>>>     <klussier at masslnc.org <mailto:klussier at masslnc.org>> wrote:
>>>
>>>         Hi all,
>>>
>>>         I wasn't sure if I should add this to the QA discussion, but
>>>         it seemed worthy of its own thread.
>>>
>>>         During the "future of the staff client" meeting, I advocated
>>>         for bringing in a consultant to do a software performance
>>>         analysis for Evergreen to help us identify where the
>>>         critical bottlenecks are in the system in the hopes that we
>>>         could then identify the areas that need to be worked on to
>>>         improve performance. At the time, I didn't have any concrete
>>>         suggestions on finding a consultant who could take on this
>>>         project, but I have since done some more investigation and
>>>         have a couple of leads, the most promising of which is an
>>>         individual local to Massachusetts who previously worked for
>>>         many years at Stratus Technologies where he was involved in
>>>         all levels of performance analysis. He now teaches
>>>         graduate-level courses on performance evaluation and also
>>>         does contract work.
>>>
>>>         Now that I actually have concrete leads, I would like to get
>>>         the ball rolling, provided there is support from the larger
>>>         community. I'm not quite sure how this might fit in with
>>>         ESI's planned QA efforts or with the possibility of bringing
>>>         in a firm like OmniTI as Dan suggested, but my reading into
>>>         these QA e-mails is that the focus would be on testing new
>>>         commits.
>>>
>>>
>>>     I want to clarify something that Dan seems to have assumed
>>>     incorrectly: that anything ESI does is mutually exclusive with
>>>     bringing in outside expertise.  Nobody has any grounds to stop
>>>     such an effort, and it would be ridiculous to argue otherwise,
>>>     words put into my mouth notwithstanding.  The initial focus of
>>>     an ESI effort will be what exists today, through infrastructure,
>>>     so that what exists tomorrow can then be tested.
>>>
>>>     As for how it would fit in, ESI would absorb and internalize any
>>>     advice or direction, just like any other community member, and
>>>     work within the community to incorporate that.
>>>
>>>     So, why have ESI involved at all?  Besides the fact that we
>>>     create a significant portion of the code, and that it benefits
>>>     us as much as anyone to have a more stable Evergreen, there is a
>>>     need for ongoing, active leadership in QA.  The fact is that it
>>>     has not materialized yet, so we're looking for a way to make
>>>     that a maintainable proposition for the community's benefit.
>>>      That means ongoing, deep integration with both developer and
>>>     user communities.  And that is not something that we can expect
>>>     from OmniTI or any other organization that is not plugged into
>>>     those communities.  Could some other organization step into that
>>>     role, and provide years of ongoing QA support?  Perhaps so, but
>>>     ESI exists today and has the Evergreen expertise needed to avoid
>>>     long (and costly) ramp-up time.
>>>
>>>     The point is this, though, ESI will encourage any effort to
>>>     improve Evergreen, and is willing and able to work in the
>>>     community, as we always do, to further those efforts.
>>>     Thanks, Kathy!
>>>
>>>     -- 
>>>     Mike Rylander
>>>      | Director of Research and Development
>>>      | Equinox Software, Inc. / Your Library's Guide to Open Source
>>>      | phone:  1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457)
>>>      | email: miker at esilibrary.com <mailto:miker at esilibrary.com>
>>>      | web: http://www.esilibrary.com
>>
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Tim Spindler
> tjspindler at gmail.com <mailto:tjspindler at gmail.com>
>
> *P**   Go Green - **Save a tree! Please don't print this e-mail unless 
> it's really necessary.*
>

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