System and process for projecting hardware requirements for a web site

A process for predicting a maximum number of concurrent users that can be supported by a web site using a particular hardware configuration, the process comprising the steps of:

• building a performance model for the web site and the particular hardware configuration, wherein building the performance model includes the sub-steps of:
• selecting at least one web application task from among a plurality of application tasks which can be executed by a user of the web site via a browser;
• and
• selecting a number of browsers to access the web site concurrently;
• calculating a capacity figure;
• formulating a user model by predicting an average latency time and a desired response time;
• and
• calculating the maximum number of concurrent users that can be supported by the web site by selecting the calculated capacity figure from an appropriate result category and multiplying the selected calculated capacity figure by the sum of the average latency time and the desired response time.

A process for building a performance model for a web site, the process comprising the steps of:

• selecting a plurality of features for the performance model including a particular programming language platform;
• selecting at least one web application task from among a plurality of web application tasks which can be executed by a user of the web site;
• selecting at least one CPU configuration from among a plurality of CPU configurations;
• selecting a number of browsers to access the web site concurrently;
• creating a plurality of result categories by forming a graph having a first axis corresponding to the selected web application task and a second axis corresponding to the selected CPU configuration;
• performing a capacity test for each one of the plurality of result categories using the selected web application task;
• and
• calculating a capacity figure for each one of the plurality of result categories, wherein the step of calculating the capacity figure includes the sub-steps of determining an average response time, and dividing the selected number of browsers accessing the web site by the determined average response time.

A system for predicting hardware requirements for a web site, wherein the web site uses a particular programming language platform, the system comprising:

• a performance model for the web site, wherein the performance model includes a plurality of capacity result categories, a capacity figure being provided for each one of the plurality of capacity result categories, each of the capacity figures being determined as a quotient of a number of browsers accessing the web site concurrently divided by an average response time for the number of browsers to execute a selected web application task;
• a user model including means for predicting a plurality of parameters including a number of concurrent users, an average latency time, and a desired response time, and means for calculating a desired capacity figure based on the predicted plurality of parameters;
• and
• comparison means for predicting a required hardware configuration by comparing the calculated desired capacity figure with the determined capacity figures of the performance model.

A medium storing code for causing a processor to project hardware requirements for a web site, wherein the web site makes use of a particular application platform, the medium comprising:

• code for building a performance model for the web site, wherein the code for building the performance model includes:
• a) code for selecting at least one feature for the web site;
• b) code for selecting at least one web application task to execute from among a plurality of web application tasks which can be executed by a user of the web site via a browser;
• and
• c) code for selecting a number of browsers to access the web site concurrently, each of the number of browsers corresponding to a user of the web site;
• code for formulating a user model by predicting a plurality of parameters, the plurality of parameters including a number of concurrent users, an average latency time, and a desired response time;
• code for calculating a desired capacity figure based on the predicted plurality of parameters;
• and
• code for predicting a required hardware configuration.

A medium storing code for causing a processor to build a performance model for a web site, the medium comprising:

• code for selecting a plurality of features for the performance model including a particular programming language platform;
• code for selecting at least one web application task from among a plurality of web application tasks which can be executed by a user of the web site;
• code for selecting at least one CPU configuration from among a plurality of CPU configurations;
• code for selecting a number of browsers to access the web site concurrently;
• code for creating a plurality of result categories by forming a graph having a first axis corresponding to the selected web application task and a second axis corresponding to the selected CPU configuration;
• code for performing a capacity test for each one of the plurality of result categories using the selected web application task;
• and
• code for calculating a capacity figure for each one of the plurality of result categories, wherein the step of calculating the capacity figure includes the sub-steps of determining an average response time, and dividing the selected number of browsers accessing the web site by the determined average response time.