Diagnosis and Performance Monitoring - Deploying and Managing a Cloud Infrastructure - page 127

Bandwidth Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that the application shifts around in
the form of files. Bandwidth measures help in planning storage capacity as well as deter-
mining the proper caching characteristics of the file system. File caching helps in improving
performance by keeping certain frequently accessed parts of various files in a small readily
accessible memory (such as cache memory and random access memory). Bigger and faster
cache memories of a file system ensure higher bandwidth.
Latency Sensitivity Some applications are impacted negatively if a system takes too long
to read or write, such as displaying some latency or synchronization error. Just as the CPU
benefits from RAM rather than from actual storage, these applications can greatly benefit
from well-thought-out caching algorithms, such as those in real-time applications like
distributed multiplayer games and real-time distributed monitoring systems.
FIGURE 5.2 File system read/write performance
Metadata Performance
In most file systems, metadata is generated to provide information about specific files.
For those unfamiliar, metadata is simply detailed information about a specific file, file