Abstract: A facility for playing back live workload data in a N-tiered computing system executing a group of application programs is described. The facility retrieves live workload data identifying a set of recorded requests and their arguments that have been received during an earlier recording period in a particular order by a specified application program among the group of application programs. The facility presents each request identified by the retrieved live workload data to the specified application with its arguments to play back the requests identified by the retrieved live workload. The played-back requests are presented in the same order as the recorded requests were received during the recording period and with the same arguments with which the recorded requests were received during the recording period. Such presentation preserves the semantic correctness of the application and preserves the performance accuracy of the N-tiered system in which the identified requests were received.

Abstract: A system for recording workload data is described. The system includes an N-tiered computing system running on one or more computer systems. Instrumentation is installed on one or more tiers of the N-tiered computing system that captures live workload data, including both requests and responses, during a recording period. The system further includes one or more non-volatile storage devices that collectively store the live workload data captured by the instrumentation in enough fidelity to be used in a replay process that reproduces performance characteristics of the original workload.