Practical Service Level Management

Measure, manage, and improve the speed and reliability of web services

• Complete reference for creating relevant, effective Service Level Agreements
• Detailed discussions of both technical and business performance metrics and their statistical treatment
• Performance and management implications of various web services delivery infrastructures, including caching and load distribution
• Discussion of the transport infrastructure, including quality of...
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Measure, manage, and improve the speed and reliability of web services

• Complete reference for creating relevant, effective Service Level Agreements
• Detailed discussions of both technical and business performance metrics and their statistical treatment
• Performance and management implications of various web services delivery infrastructures, including caching and load distribution
• Discussion of the transport infrastructure, including quality of service (QoS) technology and traffic shaping
• Instrumentation system design
• Measurement collection, aggregation, correlation, and use for real-time service level control and reporting
• Quick problem detection, "triage" problem diagnosis, and root-cause analysis
• Automated, policy-based system management
• Load testing, modeling, and capacity planning for web systems
• Calculation of return on investment for web infrastructure improvements
• Structured plan for implementation of SLM techniques

The web has become a major vehicle for transforming business processes, but ineffective management of web-based services can result in high costs and user dissatisfaction. Service Level Management (SLM) is therefore a competitive weapon in the web marketplace, providing the tools needed to improve performance and reliability of web services while simultaneously controlling costs.

Practical Service Level Management: Delivering High-Quality Web-Based Services shows you how you can measure, manage, and improve network performance and quality of experience (QoE) for critical web services. Starting with an explanation of SLM and common performance metrics, the book provides detailed discussions of methods to measure and improve performance. Service Level Agreements, instrumentation, performance-improvement technologies, load testing, and long-term planning are all covered in detail. This book provides both technical engineers and non-technical managers with an organized, cohesive plan for measuring, improving, and evaluating the performance of web-based services.

Whether you are delivering services to other businesses or directly to customers, Practical Service Level Management: Delivering High-Quality Web-Based Services walks you through the complete process of designing a balanced solution for your situation. Use it to help design a system with the speed, reliability, and flexibility that are critical success factors for your business.

This book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.