Performance evaluation of client-server systems

A client-server system is a distributed system where a server station receives requests from its client stations, processes the requests and returns replies to the requesting stations. The authors consider client-server systems in which a set of workstations access a file server over a local area network. The systems are modelled by a class of stochastic Petri nets. The mean response time, the throughput and the parametric sensitivities are evaluated for a client-server system based on token ring network and a system based on CSMA/CD network. These models are different from the prevalent performance models of token ring or CSMA/CD network systems because of the message interdependencies introduced by the clients-server structure. An approximate analytic-numeric method rather than simulation is used to solve the models. The solution method and the accuracy of approximation are also discussed