A Generic Application-Oriented Performance Instrumentation for Multi-Tier Environments

In this paper, we present a design for a generic, open, application-oriented performance instrumentation of multi-tier applications. Measurements are performed through configurable instrumentation points at the middleware level and can be combined with application-level measurements for a conjoined analysis. In addition, we present a prototypical realisation of the design for two commonly used middleware components: Apache Tomcat and J Boss. Our approach may be used in a wide variety of application scenarios like providing a monitoring architecture for SLM scenarios or as a performance-debugging platform during application development. The architecture uses open standards and APIs and may therefore be seamlessly integrated into existing management environments.