Recommended testing procedure

We strongly recommend that you perform this performance testing before you deploy a new appliance into production.

1. Design the lab tests as follows:

   • Set up all of the workflows that you expect to run on the appliance.

   • Obtain input that is a good example of the most complex source that you expect to handle. A complex source is one that has video that includes the following:

     • A lot of movement and change of scene.

     • Possibly a ticker tape or other strip of text.

     • Broad areas of the same color, like a grassy area, because high video quality of these areas is difficult to obtain.

   • Set up the events with the most complex outputs that you expect to run on the appliance. Include any high-demand features that you plan to implement. See Features that affect performance.

   • Run the events for several days.

2. Monitor the events as described in this section:

   • Frequently measure the CPU usage, RAM usage, I/O bandwidth, and system bandwidth. See Assessing performance by measuring.

   • Continually monitor the logs that Elemental Live produces. See Assessing performance with logging messages.

3. Revise the workflows in terms of density and video quality, and continue testing. You should revise the workflows incrementally.