Activity, Throughput, and Load

Activity and throughput

The concepts of activity, throughput, and load can best be explained using the WORKLOAD OVERVIEW analysis view 

Load

If two users each performed 100 transaction steps within a given time period, they were both equally active. This does not mean, however, that they created the same load on the system. If, for example, the first user (entering financial documents) has performed 100 transaction steps with an average response time of 500 ms, this user has occupied the system for 50 seconds. If a second user (creating auditing reports) performs 100 transaction steps with of an average response time of 5 seconds, this
user has occupied the system for 500 seconds. The second user has obviously created a system load that is 10 times greater than the first user's, with the same amount of activity. As can be seen from this example, the product of the number of transaction steps and the average response time is a way of measuring the load generated. (To be more precise, subtract dispatcher wait time and roll wait time from the total response time because a request does not create system load while it waits in the dispatcher queue or while it waits for an RFC to be executed.) Similarly, you can determine the database load created by the different task types using the total database time (transaction steps multiplied by average database time). CPU load on the application server can also be measured in this way. The distribution of times (database time, CPU time, and soon) therefore reflects the distribution of load on the system better than just the number of transaction steps.

Active users

The simplest and most graphic measure of an SAP component's size is its number of users. Unfortunately, the number of users i.s also an imprecise measure because its meaning varies according to context-for example, the number of licenses, the number of user master records, and much more. For example, the number of users can mean either the number of licenses or the number of user master records, to mention just two possible definitions.

User Types

For components that are mainly characterized by background or interface load, the number of users is no longer relevant as an indication of size. To avoid confusion, this book distinguishes three types of users, as follows:

->Occasional user
On average, this type of user performs fewer than 400 transaction steps (screen changes) per week. For a 40-hour working week, this corresponds to an average of one transaction step every six minutes. This user typically uses the SAP component only now and then.
->Transactional user
On average, a transactional user performs up to 4,800 transaction steps per week. This corresponds to less than one transaction step every 30 seconds. These users use the SAP component regularly and continuously.
->Data entry, telesales, or high-volume power user
Power users perform more than 4,800 transaction steps per week. They use the SAP component continuously and at a high volume. 

the term active user refers to either the transactional user or power user category. The user profile gives informat ion about users' activities. This profile can be found under USER AND BILLING STATISTICS • USER PROFILE.