2016 Guerrilla Training Schedule 2016

After a six month hiatus working on a major consulting gig, Guerrilla training classes are back in business with the three classic courses: Guerrilla Bootcamp (GBOOT), Guerrilla Capacity Planning (GCAP) and Guerrilla Data Analysis Techniques (GDAT).

See what graduates are saying about these courses.

Some course highlights:

• There are only 3 performance metrics you need to know
• How to quantify scalability with the Universal Scalability Law
• Hadoop performance and capacity management
• Virtualization Spectrum from hyper-threads to cloud services
• How to detect bad data
• Statistical forecasting techniques
• Machine learning algorithms applied to performance data

Register online. Early-bird discounts run through the end of July.

As usual, Sheraton Four Points has bedrooms available at the Performance Dynamics discounted rate.

Tell a friend and see you in September!

Fundamental Performance Metrics

Baron Schwartz invited me to comment on his latest blog post entitled "The four fundamental performance metrics," which I did. Coincidentally, I happened to address this same topic in my presentation at CMG Atlanta last week. As the following slides shows, I claim there are really only 3 fundamental performance metrics (actually 2, if you want to get truly fundamental about it).

CMG Atlanta: Southbound for the Deep South

I will be at the CMG Greater Atlanta Spring conference on April 27, 2011. I was asked to cover something for both veterans and newcomers to capacity planning—along the lines of my Guerrilla Boot Camp classes. So, here's what I came up with.

Guerrilla CaP for Noobs and Nerds
Whether you're a newbie (noob) or a veteran (nerd) when it comes to capacity planning (CaP) and performance analysis, it never hurts to revisit the fundamentals. However, some CaP concepts that are touted as fundamental are actually myths. Here are some myths I hear all too often.

What's NOT:

1. We don't need no stinkin' CaP, just more cheap servers.
2. CPU utilization should never exceed 70% busy.
3. A well-consolidated server should have no idle cycles.
4. Throughput and latency are independent metrics that must be measured separately.
5. Optimal response time is achieved at the knee of the curve.
6. If you can measure it, you can manage it.

During my twin session I will take these myths apart to expose the facts in terms of

What's HOT^†:

1. If the app is single-threaded, a boat-load of cheap servers from China won't help.
2. A 64-way server running 70% busy is 25% underutilized.
3. A consolidated server may need to be under 10% busy to meet app SLAs.
4. Throughput and latency are inversely related ... always!
5. Response time knees are an optical illusion.
6. All performance measurements are wrong by definition.

Along the way, I'll offer some Guerrilla mantras, as seen in my Guerrilla book and generated automatically on Twitter. You can use them as weapons of mass instruction to bust any other myths held by your colleagues and managers, whether you're a noob or nerd.

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† With apologies to Paris Hilton.

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More Guerrilla Boot Camp Classes in 2009

Additional opportunities to attend the popular Guerrilla Boot Camp class have now been scheduled at the Larkspur Hotel. Book early, book often. All classes have a Certification Level 1, 2, 3. GBoot is a level-1 introductory class. There are no prerequisites at the moment but you are advised to take them in order; especially levels 2 and 3.

This year, more than ever before, is all about doing more with less. There are no shrink-wrap solutions, so your company needs you to do it for them. And for that, you need to attend this class. As Wall Street has so amply demonstrated, being penny wise but pound foolish, simply doesn't work.

Overseas attendees are welcome. Check out your exchange rate against the Yankee greenback. We hope to see you there!

Boot Camp Training - Window is Closing

Since we're now inside the 1-month window for reservations at the Larkspur Hotel, they will start releasing the discounted guest rooms previously held for the Guerrilla Boot Camp class. Seats are still available, so if you're planning to come on March 26th, you need to get on it.

All classes have a Certification Level 1, 2, 3. GBoot is a level-1 introductory class. There are no prerequisites at the moment but you are advised to take them in order; especially levels 2 and 3.

This year, more than ever before, is all about doing more with less. There are no shrink-wrap solutions, so your company needs you to do it for them. And for that, you need to attend this class. As Wall Street has so amply demonstrated, being penny wise but pound foolish, simply doesn't work.

Overseas attendees are welcome. Check out your exchange rate against the Yankee greenback. We hope to see you there!

Guerrilla Boot Camp Training

Registration for my local Guerrilla Boot Camp classes is still open. The first checkpoint is coming up on Feb 26th. That's when we need to notify the hotel whether or not we're going ahead. So if you're thinking of coming, be sure to enroll soon and don't leave it until the last minute.

Overseas attendees are welcome. Check out your exchange rate against the Yankee greenback.

In a related item: Survey says, "Online Instruction is Less Effective Than Classroom Learning."

BRisk Management

In my upcoming Guerrilla Boot Camp class, I have a whole bit on Risk Management vs. Risk Perception. The point being that if you, as the performance analyst/capacity planner in your organization, don't appreciate the perspective of your manager, you are going to find yourself very frustrated when certain of your recommendations seem to fall on deaf ears.

Most managers are employed to look after one thing: schedules. If a manager perceives that your performance recommendation could inflate the schedule, it ain't gonna happen (no matter how sane or realistic it might be). I reinforce this perspective by saying:

Managers will let a project fail. As long as it fails on time!

This may sound a bit melodramatic but here is a statement of precisely that type:

"I can understand people being worked up about safety and quality with the welds," said Steve Heminger, executive director ... "But we're concerned about being on schedule because we are racing against the next earthquake."

This is a quote from an executive manager for the new Bay Bridge currently being constructed between Oakland and San Francisco. A section of the upper deck collapsed on this bridge during the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989.

He's not an IT manager, but he is watching the clock and saying, let's increase the risk that the new bridge will fail (by being brisk about welding inspections), in order to beat the much lower risk that the old bridge might fail again in a quake. Substitute your favorite project, product or application, for the word "bridge" and you get my drift.

Updateof May 2013

The original high-risk Caltrans decision has prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to threaten delaying the scheduled Labor Day opening of the new Bay Bridge span. Erm... so, how did this brisk management decision save time (and money)?

Update of August 16, 2013

The on again, off again, new Bay Bridge opening is on again. As you can probably tell from this KALW piece, there is some skepticism regarding the rationale. [emphasis mine]

"the cracked bolts in the new bridge are apparently better than the totally unsafe old bridge, which wouldn't survive a minor earthquake. ... Experts say the old bridge is extremely unsafe, and won't hold through even a moderate earthquake."

Rubbish! Nothing has really changed significantly on the old bridge structure. This is all about saving political face (and possibly the $20 million contractor bonus). Would I drive the new span? Possibly. But more likely, I'd take BART (via the trans-Bay tube). :)

CMG 2008 Boot Camp Sessions

Those of you who attended my Capacity Planning Boot Camp sessions at CMG 2008, may have noticed that something got lost in the translation between my original notes and what landed on your CMG CD. The corrected slides, including updated hyperlinks, are now available as PDFs from my CMG Materials page.

If you didn't attend CMG 2008, but you'd like to know more about capacity management techniques, consider coming to my 2-day Guerrilla Boot Camp class in 2009.

First Guerrilla Boot Camp Rookies Survive

The first "Guerrilla" class for the year and the first Level I Boot Camp ever, seems to have gone swimmingly. Here is some example feedback:

Tim McCluskey wrote on 4/30/08 12:29 PM:

The class was great! I'm glad that I didn't listen to the 2 people that gave me the impression that it or you were going to be over my head.

Vladimir Begun wrote on 4/30/08 20:33:36 -0700:

... it was great! A clear and horizon-expanding presentation of an actual experience in the capacity planning. About right for the jump-start! Eager to attend the level II class.

More people enrolled than we had hoped for in the shortened time-frame that was available to advertise it, and they all reported liking the hotel, sleeping rooms, seminar room, food, and especially the free wifi everywhere. They were also grateful for being able to use the ensuite bathroom across the hall instead of having to walk to the other end of the hotel corridor. :-)

We'll do it all again, in a couple of weeks but at Level II, this time.

Guerrilla Manual Updated

The section of the Guerrilla Manifesto that outlines my
Universal Scalability law, has been updated with the following diagrams,

which show the explicit components of the model (equation 1). Such effects are now being recognized more widely, so I'll be explaining more about this in my Guerrilla Boot Camp class, next week.javascript:void(0)