Supporting SAM: Infrastructure Development for Scalability Assessment of J2EE Systems

Abstract

The subject of this master thesis is the exploration of scalability for large enterprise systems. The Scalability Assessment Method (SAM) is used to analyse scalability properties of an Internet banking application built on J2EE architecture. The report first explains the underlying concepts of SAM. A practical case study is then presented which walks through the stages of applying the method. The focus is to discover and where possible to supply the infrastructure necessary to support SAM. The practical results include a script toolbox to automate the measurement process and some investigation of key scalability issues. A further contribution is the detailed guidance contained in the report itself on how to apply the method. Finally conclusions are drawn with respect to the feasibility of SAM in the context of the case study, and more broadly for similar applications.