Using the micro-test Utility

Use the micro-test utility to measure the performance of Watson™ Explorer Engine servers.

With the variety of platforms and hardware available, producing a minimum specification for the IBM® Watson Explorer software based on hardware speed alone does not address the requirements of an enterprise product. Add the increased use of virtualization and the fact that many servers are used for multiple functions, and the need for a functional test becomes clear. The micro-test utility is an alternative way to measure the actual real-world performance of any server that runs Watson Explorer Engine. The micro-test utility can run a series of program execution, buffer, read, and write tests. The results of these tests can then be used by product support and professional services to determine the appropriateness of the current server configuration for any deployment scenario.

The micro-test utility can run a single test or a pre-defined series of tests automatically. A summary of all results is displayed after the tests are completed. The micro-test utility can do the following tests:

Process Creation

This test measures the time that it takes to run an application (the micro-test utility itself is used for this test). You can add a numeric argument to repeat the execution a specified number of times. Results are provided as the average time that the utility took to run.

Temporary file creation

This test measures the time to create a temporary file in your temporary directory, or a directory of your choosing. The probability that any given temporary file isn't deleted can be controlled (simulated leaking). Results are provided as an average time to create the temporary file.

Buffered Write speed

This test simulates buffered writing (by using fopen/fwrite) of a file to a specified directory. The size of the file and amount of data that is written to that file at any one time can be also specified. Write times are reported in megabytes per second.

Buffered Read speed

This test simulates buffered reading (by using fopen/fread) of a specified data file. The amount of data that is read at one time can also be specified. Read times are reported in megabytes per second.

Unbuffered Write speed

This test simulates direct writing of a file to a specified directory. The size of the file and amount of data that is written to that file at any one time can be also specified. Write times are reported in megabytes per second.

Unbuffered Read speed

This test simulates unbuffered reading of a specified data file. The amount of data that is read at one time can be also specified. Read times are reported in megabytes per second.

Unbuffered Seek rate

This test uses unbuffered I/O to measure seek times. The test duration, number of threads, file-size, block-size, and file name can all be specified for this test. Results are reported as average seeks per second.

Virus scanner detection

This test simulates a virus infection by creating a file with the signature of a common virus (this file does not contain a virus). The result is given as a Yes or No answer to the question, Virus scanner detected?.

XSL time

This test checks the time to read an XSL document and apply a style sheet to it. For this test, a sample XSL document and style sheet time are created. Both files are read, and the style sheet is applied to the document. Reading the file and applying the style sheet are repeated until the test is completed, the files are deleted at the conclusion of the test. The results are given as the average time to read and apply the xsl.

SQLite

This test measures SQLite performance of the system. You can specify a file name for the SQLite database and the number of operations to run. The results are given as SQLite operations per second. The SQLite test measures the performance of individual and transactional operations for inserting, selecting, updating, and deleting entries in the database with both indexed and unindexed data.

Process Switching

This test computes the process-switching time of a Microsoft Windows system. You can add a numeric argument to repeat the execution a specified number of times. The results are given as the average time to switch processes. This test is available on Windows systems only.