Patent ID: 7231442

Claim:
A method of analyzing the performance of a distributed application across a network using measurement related to a plurality of different content sources, the method comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining performance data related to the distributed application, the performance data including measurements related to different content sources; (b) defining a metric for a specific type of network structure related to the distributed application, the metric quantifying a relative performance of the distributed application with respect to the specific type of network structure, said metric comprising a ratio of performance data, such that a numerator of the ratio comprises a measurement related to one of the different content sources, and a denominator of the ratio comprises a measurement related to another of the different content sources; (c) for different network structures of the same type as said specific type of network structure, using the defined metric and the performance data to obtain a numerical result corresponding to the relative performance of the distributed application; and (d) comparing the numerical result for each different network structure, to determine a relative performance of the distributed application with respect to the specific type of network structure.