Describing performance problems
Support personnel often receive information that is insufficient to accurately determine the nature of a performance problem. You must be able to describe the problem in as much detail as possible.
About this task
- Can the problem be demonstrated by running a specific command or reconstructing a sequence of events? What is the least complex example of the problem.
- Is the slow performance intermittent? Does it get slow at certain times, but then returns to normal? Does it occur at certain times of the day or in relation to some specific activity?
- Is everything slow or only some things? What aspect is slow? For example, time to run a command, or elapsed time to complete a process, or time to paint the screen?
- When did the problem start occurring? Was the situation the same since the system was first installed or went into production? Did anything change on the system before the problem occurred (such as adding more users or migrating more data to the system)?
- If the issue is client and server, can the problem be demonstrated locally on the server (network versus server issue)?
- If network related, how are the network segments configured (including bandwidth such as 100 Mb/sec or 10 Mb/sec)? Are there any routers between the client and server?
- What vendor applications are running on the system, and are those applications involved in the performance issue?
- What is the impact of the performance problem on the users?