In: Balbo, G.; Serazzi, G.: Computer Performance Evaluation, Modelling Techniques and Tools, pages 335-349. Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland), 1992.
Abstract: We propose the use of a hierarchy of stochastic reward nets - stochastic Petri nets augmented with rewards - for composite performance and availability analysis. The probability that the response time of a transaction exceeds a threshold is used as a performance index. The ability to generate and carry out transient analysis of large Markov reward models allows us to compute response time distributions of moderate-sized queueing systems. This is useful in validating constraints such as 95 percent of transactions completing within 1 second. As an example, an online transaction processing system is analyzed for its availability and performance