Prof. Dr. Martin Karsten

Sustainable Software: Performance != Efficiency

For the longest time, IT professionals have not properly distinguished between performance and efficiency of computer systems and software. There are good reasons for this conflation, but it is important to critically scrutinize the underlying assumptions to ensure the sustainable delivery of computing services in the near- and long-term future.

In this presentation I will discuss recent trends that imply the need to more clearly separate efficiency from performance and to understand the detailed trade-offs between both. I will present recent work in the Linux kernel network stack introducing a new hybrid mode of operation for packet retrieval that can operate at high efficiency while only minimally affecting peak performance. In the last part of the talk, I will offer a potential road map for studying performance vs. efficiency in system- and application-level software and services.

Bio: Martin Karsten received his doctoral degree in computer science from TU Darmstadt in 2000 after a previous degree in joint business administration and computer science from the University of Mannheim. He joined the University of Waterloo (Canada) in 2002 where he is currently a Professor in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, as well as the School's Associate Director. His main research interest is the system-level software infrastructure for networked and distributed systems. In this area he is primarily interested in the intersection of efficiency, simplicity, and performance.