Software Systems Architecture: Working with Stakeholders Using Viewpoints and Perspectives, Second Edition

26. The Performance and Scalability Perspective

This chapter discusses two related quality properties for large information systems: performance and scalability. These properties are important because, in large systems, they can cause more unexpected, complex, and expensive problems late in the system lifecycle than most of the other properties combined.

Intel chief Gordon Moore observed in 1965 that the processing power of computer chips doubled approximately every 18 to 24 months (now known as Moore’s Law). This remark seems to apply almost as well today as it did in 1965, so one would hope that by now performance and scalability would have ...