Workload Generation for Scalable Social Computing Applications

A major challenge for developers of large scale social computing applications is generating a realistic workload to test their system's ability to scale. Scaling is defined as servicing more or fewer users while keeping the cost per user constant [6]. Social Computing sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr experience a high influx of new users which induces a load on server processing. As server load increases, many unexpected performance bottlenecks occur. The Web 2.0 development model demands the ability to rapidly deploy new features and automatically scale with the number of users[6]. To test the scalability of these applications before deployment, an innovative workload generator is needed. This research proposes the development and research of a flexible, developer-friendly workload that enhances the capabilities of the developer and generates user representative workloads. While past workload generator attempts have focused primarily on testing server capabilities, this study adds emphasis to testing the scalability of the Web Application. It intakes developer specific statistics in the form of a mix matrix for site traversals, and grants developers control of the number of users as well as “think time”. The workload generator will be deployed to the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) which is a commercial web service that allows customers to rent computer systems on a “pay as you go” basis. This will allow creation of loads that simulate multiple users accessing the server simultaneously. It will act as a testing mechanism for various Web 2.0 Applications. 1. World Wide Web The World Wide Web can be considered the universe of network-accessible information. Interconnectivity of systems via the web has initiated various new forms of computing