•Nav Kankani, Nate Cloud-Rouzan, Derrick Tseng, Rajat. Sharma•11 min read•intermediate•
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•View OriginalOverview
Ceilometer is Uber's adaptive benchmarking framework designed to enhance the performance and reliability of their infrastructure by automating benchmarking processes and providing actionable insights. It addresses historical challenges in benchmarking by standardizing configurations, consolidating testing processes, and ensuring comprehensive coverage across various technologies.
What You'll Learn
1
How to implement Ceilometer for adaptive benchmarking in cloud environments
2
Why standardized configurations improve benchmarking consistency
3
When to use synthetic benchmarks for performance testing
4
How to leverage containerized testing for benchmarking across environments
Prerequisites & Requirements
- Understanding of benchmarking concepts and performance metrics
- Familiarity with cloud infrastructure and microservices architecture(optional)
Key Questions Answered
What challenges did Uber face before implementing Ceilometer?
Before Ceilometer, Uber's performance engineers struggled with inconsistent tests, disparate testing systems, and a lack of standardized benchmarking processes. This led to inefficiencies, increased risks, and difficulties in making informed decisions regarding infrastructure changes.
How does Ceilometer ensure reliable benchmarking results?
Ceilometer ensures reliable benchmarking results by automating the testing process, providing standardized configurations, and consolidating various benchmarking implementations into one extensible platform. This approach allows for reproducible results and better comparisons across different tests.
What are the key architectural components of Ceilometer?
Ceilometer's architecture includes benchmark orchestration across dedicated machines, blob storage for result persistence, result ingestion for data normalization, and a centralized data warehouse for cross-platform analysis. This design supports scalable and efficient benchmarking.
What specific use cases does Ceilometer support at Uber?
Ceilometer supports use cases such as shape qualification for new server types and change validation for infrastructure changes. These applications help Uber make informed decisions regarding server selection and optimize performance across their services.
Technologies & Tools
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Key Actionable Insights
1Implementing standardized configurations in benchmarking can significantly enhance the reliability of performance testing.By using standardized configurations, teams can ensure that benchmarking results are consistent and comparable, which is crucial for making informed decisions about infrastructure changes.
2Leveraging containerized testing harnesses allows for flexible benchmarking across various environments.This flexibility enables external vendors to run standardized benchmarks in their environments, ensuring that performance data remains consistent and reliable across different setups.
3Utilizing automated benchmarking tools can reduce operational overhead and speed up the testing process.Automation minimizes manual intervention, allowing engineers to focus on analysis and optimization rather than setup, which can lead to faster deployment of new technologies.
Common Pitfalls
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Relying on manual benchmarking processes can lead to inconsistencies and inefficiencies.
Manual processes often result in fragmented approaches that make it difficult to compare results across teams, leading to delays and increased risks in technology adoption.
Related Concepts
Benchmarking Frameworks
Performance Testing
Cloud Infrastructure Optimization
Microservices Architecture