Performance Metrics and Measurement Techniques: Master Computer System Evaluation

Question 1

Which of the following is **not considered** a key performance metric?

Accepted Answer

Return on investment (ROI)

Answer

Throughput

Answer

Latency

Answer

Energy consumption

Question 2

Which of the following is **not** a widely recognized measurement technique used to evaluate the performance of computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Data mining

Answer

Benchmarking

Answer

Profiling

Answer

Simulation

Question 3

When selecting a performance measurement technique, which of the following factors is **not** a key consideration?

Accepted Answer

Availability of specialized equipment

Answer

Accuracy of the technique

Answer

Cost of conducting the measurement

Answer

Time required to perform the measurement

Question 4

Which of the following is **not** a recognized type of performance counter?

Accepted Answer

Analytical performance counter

Answer

Hardware performance counter

Answer

Software performance counter

Answer

Virtual performance counter

Question 5

Which of the following factors does NOT influence the CPI of a processor?

Accepted Answer

Clock speed

Answer

Memory access patterns

Answer

Branch prediction accuracy

Answer

Cache hit rate

Question 6

What is the primary purpose of Amdahl's Law?

Accepted Answer

To estimate the maximum possible speedup achievable by parallelizing a program

Answer

To determine the actual speedup obtained after parallelizing a program

Answer

To calculate the impact of memory latency on performance

Answer

To predict the performance of a system using a given metric

Question 7

Which of the following is a valid tool for simulating computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Gem5

Answer

Performance Co-Pilot (PCP)

Answer

gprof

Answer

Valgrind

Question 8

What is the main advantage of using benchmarks for performance evaluation?

Accepted Answer

They provide a standardized and repeatable way to compare different systems

Answer

They eliminate the need for actual hardware measurements

Answer

They can accurately predict real-world performance

Answer

They are easy to implement and interpret

Question 9

What is the primary purpose of a performance model?

Accepted Answer

To capture the behavior and characteristics of a system for performance analysis

Answer

To design and implement new computer systems

Answer

To test and validate performance optimizations

Answer

To predict future system performance

Question 10

Which of the following performance metrics is NOT directly measurable during system execution?

Accepted Answer

Accuracy of results

Answer

Execution time

Answer

Memory utilization

Answer

Number of errors

Question 11

What is the primary purpose of using asymptotic notation in performance analysis?

Accepted Answer

To describe the rate of growth of an algorithm's running time

Answer

To measure the absolute time complexity in milliseconds

Answer

To optimize code for a specific processor architecture

Answer

To compare the efficiency of different algorithms

Question 12

What is the main distinction between a benchmark and a stress test?

Accepted Answer

A benchmark evaluates typical system behavior, while a stress test pushes the system to its limits.

Answer

A stress test evaluates typical system behavior, while a benchmark pushes the system to its limits.

Answer

Both benchmarks and stress tests evaluate typical system behavior.

Answer

Both benchmarks and stress tests push the system to its limits.

Question 13

How do cache size and associativity interact to influence system performance?

Accepted Answer

Cache size and associativity work together to optimize system performance.

Answer

Larger cache size and higher associativity always enhance performance.

Answer

Cache size is the primary determinant of performance, with associativity playing a lesser role.

Question 14

Consider the potential security implications that may arise from implementing performance optimization techniques.

Accepted Answer

Expanded attack surface resulting from new features or modifications.

Answer

Enhanced security due to increased efficiency and speed.

Answer

Unaffected security, as performance optimizations have no impact on security.

Answer

Reduced response time to security incidents due to overall performance improvements.

Question 15

Which performance metric measures the duration between when a system receives a request and when it starts processing it?

Accepted Answer

Latency

Answer

Throughput

Answer

Efficiency

Answer

Utilization

Question 16

What measurement technique compares a system's performance to a predetermined standard, typically using a benchmark program?

Accepted Answer

Benchmarking

Answer

Simulation

Answer

Profiling

Answer

Monitoring

Question 17

Which metric quantifies the ratio of successfully completed tasks to the total number of tasks handled by a system?

Accepted Answer

Efficiency

Answer

Latency

Answer

Utilization

Answer

Reliability

Question 18

What profiling technique provides detailed insights into the execution time of individual lines of code?

Accepted Answer

Line-by-Line Profiling

Answer

Memory Profiling

Answer

Statistical Profiling

Answer

Event Profiling

Question 19

Which performance metric reflects the average number of requests processed by a system per unit of time?

Accepted Answer

Throughput

Answer

Utilization

Answer

Latency

Answer

Efficiency

Question 20

What measurement technique involves creating a virtual environment to test and evaluate system performance under various workload conditions?

Accepted Answer

Simulation

Answer

Monitoring

Answer

Benchmarking

Answer

Profiling

Question 21

Which metric indicates the percentage of time a system's resources are actively engaged in processing tasks?

Accepted Answer

Utilization

Answer

Reliability

Answer

Latency

Answer

Throughput

Question 22

What type of monitoring tool continuously collects and displays system performance metrics in real time?

Accepted Answer

Real-Time Monitoring

Answer

Baseline Monitoring

Answer

Statistical Monitoring

Answer

Trend Monitoring

Question 23

Which performance metric measures the consistency of a system's behavior, expressed as the percentage of successful operations out of the total number of attempts?

Accepted Answer

Reliability

Answer

Efficiency

Answer

Throughput

Answer

Latency

Question 24

What measurement technique involves examining the behavior of a program at the assembly or machine code level to identify performance bottlenecks?

Accepted Answer

Code Profiling

Answer

Memory Profiling

Answer

Event Profiling

Answer

Statistical Profiling