Microbenchmarks in Big Data
M Microbenchmark Overview Microbenchmarks constitute the first line of per- Nicolas Poggi formance testing. Through them, we can ensure Databricks Inc., Amsterdam, NL, BarcelonaTech the proper and timely functioning of the different (UPC), Barcelona, Spain individual components that make up our system. The term micro, of course, depends on the prob- lem size. In BigData we broaden the concept Synonyms to cover the testing of large-scale distributed systems and computing frameworks. This chap- Component benchmark; Functional benchmark; ter presents the historical background, evolution, Test central ideas, and current key applications of the field concerning BigData. Definition Historical Background A microbenchmark is either a program or routine to measure and test the performance of a single Origins and CPU-Oriented Benchmarks component or task. Microbenchmarks are used to Microbenchmarks are closer to both hardware measure simple and well-defined quantities such and software testing than to competitive bench- as elapsed time, rate of operations, bandwidth, marking, opposed to application-level – macro or latency. Typically, microbenchmarks were as- – benchmarking. For this reason, we can trace sociated with the testing of individual software microbenchmarking influence to the hardware subroutines or lower-level hardware components testing discipline as can be found in Sumne such as the CPU and for a short period of time. (1974). Furthermore, we can also find influence However, in the BigData scope, the term mi- in the origins of software testing methodology crobenchmarking is broadened to include the during the 1970s, including works such cluster – group of networked computers – acting as Chow (1978). One of the first examples of as a single system, as well as the testing of a microbenchmark clearly distinguishable from frameworks, algorithms, logical and distributed software testing is the Whetstone benchmark components, for a longer period and larger data developed during the late 1960s and published sizes.
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