An Introduction to the SSSI WIOCP I/O Metrics

Empirical file and disk I/O operation performance metrics can be invaluable with regard to substantiating theories and assessing claims about disk I/O performance. This is especially so when these metrics reflect the actual file and disk I/O operation activity performed by individual applications and workloads during normal usage. Moreover, such empirical I/O metrics can be instrumental in uncovering and understanding performance bottlenecks, determining more precise I/O performance requirements, better matching disk storage purchases to the particular workload usage and needs, and designing as well as optimizing various disk storage solutions. This white paper briefly describes how the SNIA SSSI “Workload I/O Capture Program (WIOCP)” collects these empirical I/O operation performance metrics in a simple and easy manner with little time or effort required by the SSSI WIOCP participants. In addition, this white paper provides numerous examples of how the collected SSSI WIOCP I/O metrics can provide insights into the particular ways that applications actually perform and experience I/O operation activity in real-life use. These examples are based upon SSSI WIOCP I/O metrics that have been collected and made available for free download from the SNIA I/O Traces, Tools, and Analysis (IOTTA) Repository