Application: The Impact of I/O on Application Performance

 

In previous assignments, you used threads to improve the performance of a sort algorithm. Threads were initially applied in order to achieve processing concurrency in order to reduce the time required to sort data. This week’s readings highlighted various ways that I/O performance can impact the overall performance of an application or a system. The readings also identified specific principles that can be applied to improve the efficiency of I/O.

For this Assignment, you will consider the I/O performed in the threaded sort Assignment from Week 2 and how the I/O contributes to the performance of the threaded sort. Applying the principles identified in this week’s reading, along with the concurrency control mechanisms from Week 3, you will revise the threaded sort application in an effort to improve the I/O performance in order to affect an overall performance improvement.

To prepare:

Evaluate the manner by which the threaded sort application performs I/O to retrieve the data to be sorted.

Propose a strategy to improve the performance by applying one or more of the principles to improve the efficiency of I/O that were identified in this week’s reading.

By Day 7, implement your strategy by modifying your solution to the threaded sort Assignment from Week 2.

In addition, write a 2- to 3-page paper that evaluates how I/O performance impacts overall program performance. Make sure to include the following:

A description of your I/O strategy

An explanation on how you expected your strategy to improve performance

A summary of the actual change in performance observed when running the updated threaded sort

Submit a zip archive of your NetBeans project, implementing your strategy, to the Assignment Part 1 - Week 5 submission link and your 2- to 3-page paper to the Assignment Turnitin Part 2 - Week 5submission link.

Note: While both Part 1 and Part 2 submissions are required, you will only see your grade for this Assignment in the My Grades area for the Week 5 Assignment Part 1.