Throughput
Summary
Throughput is a measure of how much data can be processed by a system or network within a given amount of time. It is typically measured in units such as bits per second, bytes per second, or packets per second. It is used to measure the performance of a system or network and is an important metric for determining the capacity and scalability of the system.
The formula for throughput calculation is:
Throughput = Total Data Transferred / Total Time Elapsed
For example, if a system transferred 1000 bytes of data in 2 seconds, the throughput would be:
Throughput = 1000 bytes / 2 seconds = 500 bytes/second
Similarly, if a network transmitted 10,000 packets in 5 seconds, the throughput would be:
Throughput = 10,000 packets / 5 seconds = 2000 packets/second
| Device | Metric | Throughput Calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Network Router | Packets per second | Total packets transmitted / Total time elapsed |
| Disk Drive | Megabytes per second | Total data transferred / Total time elapsed |
| CPU | Instructions per second | Total instructions executed / Total time elapsed |
| Web Server | Requests per second | Total requests received / Total time elapsed |
| Database Server | Queries per second | Total queries executed / Total time elapsed |
| Load Balancer | Connections per second | Total connections processed / Total time elapsed |
| Firewall | Connections per second | Total connections processed / Total time elapsed |
| Network Switch | Bits per second | Total bits transmitted / Total time elapsed |
| Memory | Transactions per second | Total memory transactions / Total time elapsed |
| Cloud Storage | Objects per second | Total objects stored / Total time elapsed |
| Wireless Access Point | Megabits per second | Total data transmitted / Total time elapsed |
| Storage Area Network | IOPS | Total I/O operations / Total time elapsed |
| Cloud server | vCPUs per second | Total vCPUs allocated / Total time elapsed |
| CDN | Requests per second | Total requests served / Total time elapsed |
| Video Streaming Server | Streams per second | Total streams served / Total time elapsed |
Throughput is an important metric for systems architecture because it helps to determine the maximum capacity of a system or network, and it can help identify bottlenecks or other issues that may be limiting performance. By monitoring throughput, architects and system administrators can make informed decisions about how to optimize performance and improve scalability. Additionally, measuring throughput can help in determining the cost/benefit of upgrading or scaling a system or network.
It's important to note that Throughput can be affected by many factors such as network congestion, system load, and resource contention. Therefore, measuring throughput can help understand the root cause of a performance issue.