Network Application Performance Analysis: Hero's Guide to Troubleshooting Slow Transactions

This guide presents a repeatable methodology for troubleshooting poorly performing applications. It is designed to help the network analyst focus on key network-visible behaviors that influence application performance, with the goal of identifying exactly where and why transaction delays occur—without the distraction of costly red herrings.
In many cases, the methodology presented here is applied as a drill-down or deep-dive analysis from a symptom or fault domain identified by a complementary application or network monitoring solution, especially where ambiguity is unacceptable. In other cases it is applied independently, where performance problems may remain invisible to or undiagnosable by monitoring solutions.
It is designed to address typical web or client/server business applications—the types where poor performance results in user complaints, diminished productivity and lost revenue opportunities.
Perhaps most importantly, it highlights the tight interaction between network conditions, server configurations and application behaviors, understanding the critical importance of effective collaboration between network, system and application teams.
The guide includes relevant TCP, network and application background, and while it references Dynatrace Network Analyzer as the tool example, the guide will be useful even without the product.
I trust you will find this book useful and hope you enjoy reading it. Please feel free to contact me with questions, corrections, concerns, anecdotes, or suggestions.
Gary Kaiser