This book provides a comprehensive view of the methods and approaches for performance evaluation of computer networks. It offers a clear and logical introduction to the topic, covering both fundamental concepts and practical aspects. It enables the reader to answer a series of questions regarding performance evaluation in modern computer networking scenarios, such as ‘What, where, and when to measure?’, ‘Which time scale is more appropriate for a particular measurement and analysis?’, 'Experimentation, simulation or emulation? Why?’, and ‘How do I best design a sound performance evaluation plan?’. The book includes concrete examples and applications in the important aspects of experimentation, simulation and emulation, and analytical modeling, with strong support from the scientific literature. It enables the identification of common shortcomings and highlights where students, researchers, and engineers should focus to conduct sound performance evaluation. This book is a useful guide to advanced undergraduates and graduate students, network engineers, and researchers who plan and design proper performance evaluation of computer networks and services. Previous knowledge of computer networks concepts, mechanisms, and protocols is assumed. Although the book provides a quick review on applied statistics in computer networking, familiarity with basic statistics is an asset. It is suitable for advanced courses on computer networking as well as for more specific courses as a secondary textbook.
Contains thirteen essays in which attendees at the American Society for Information Science's May 1999 mid-year meeting present a number of perspectives on evaluating networked information services and resources.
Explore the ARL’s initiatives for identifying, formulating, and testing new criteria for evaluating academic libraries in the digital age! The proliferation of electronic information resources in the past decade has changed the ways in which research libraries evaluate their service and holdings. This collection of articles (thirteen of which previously appeared in ARL’s bimonthly newsletter/report on research issues and actions) examines new measures for library evaluation that are being developed by the Association of Research Libraries. It presents an overview of how the Association of Research Libraries’ “new measures” initiative developed, plus insightful reports on the details of the SERVQUAL, LibQUAL+, and E-metrics projects. Handy flow charts and tables make the information easily accessible and understandable. From the editor: “The profound changes in library management and collection development brought about by digital technology in the closing decade of the twentieth century have changed the way we think about libraries. If we were to ask librarians who have been in the profession for more than a decade how they evaluated a library, we probably would hear statistics about the number of volumes held and added annually, the number of serial subscriptions, how much money a library has to spend, and how many professionals are on staff. These are the traditional criteria by which libraries have been judged throughout much of the twentieth century. Newer librarians, however, especially those who entered the profession in the late 1980s and 1990s, use a different yardstick and frequently recite different statistics that include terms such as user satisfaction, spending on electronic resources and services, document delivery services, numbers of databases and electronic journals available, and services provided to distance learners.” In Evaluating the Twenty-First Century Library, you’ll find valuable information on: current performance measures for academic libraries the continuing search for accurate new performance measures the uses of learning outcomes assessment SERVQUAL, LibQUAL+, and the ARL LibQUAL+ Pilot Project the results of the 2000 Symposium on Measuring Library Service Quality the uses of E-metrics in assessing the academic networked environment and accurately measuring use, users, services, resources, and other factors an insightful discussion of the rise in spending on electronic information by research libraries
Measuring the performance of a library's services is one of the most crucial parts of providing a good service. This important book is the first to provide an accessible account of current thinking on the evaluation of library services, both traditional and - importantly - electronic library services. Illustrated throughout with a range of international examples across different types of libraries, this book will become the standard work on performance measurement. The book is structured to focus first of all on the intended user of the services (outcome and impact perspectives), then to look at the management of the service (output and process issues), then at evaluating the building blocks of services (input issues) and finally to draw together these strands by examining some of the broader frameworks for evaluation which have emerged. The book ends with an extensive Appendix with a description of key methodologies and suitable references. Each chapter includes suggestions for further reading as well as key references. The key areas addressed include: user satisfaction impact on users economic impact inputs evaluating processes counting the outputs acquiring content staff evaluating infrastructure benchmarking and balanced scorecard standards based approaches. Readership: The emphasis on principles and techniques in the book means that it is perfect reading for busy practitioners but it is also eminently suitable for students and researchers trying to get to grips with this tricky area.
An essential book on the applications of AI and digital twin technology in the smart manufacturing sector. In the rapidly evolving landscape of modern manufacturing, the integration of cutting-edge technologies has become imperative for businesses to remain competitive and adaptive. Among these technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as a transformative force, revolutionizing traditional manufacturing processes and making the way for the era of smart manufacturing. At the heart of this technological revolution lies the concept of the Digital Twin—an innovative approach that bridges the physical and digital realms of manufacturing. By creating a virtual representation of physical assets, processes, and systems, organizations can gain unprecedented insights, optimize operations, and enhance decision-making capabilities. This timely book explores the convergence of AI and Digital Twin technologies to empower smart manufacturing initiatives. Through a comprehensive examination of principles, methodologies, and practical applications, it explains the transformative potential of AI-enabled Digital Twins across various facets of the manufacturing lifecycle. From design and prototyping to production and maintenance, AI-enabled Digital Twins offer multifaceted advantages that redefine traditional paradigms. By leveraging AI algorithms for data analysis, predictive modeling, and autonomous optimization, manufacturers can achieve unparalleled levels of efficiency, quality, and agility. This book explains how AI enhances the capabilities of Digital Twins by creating a powerful tool that can optimize production processes, improve product quality, and streamline operations. Note that the Digital Twin in this context is a virtual representation of a physical manufacturing system, including machines, processes, and products. It continuously collects real-time data from sensors and other sources, allowing it to mirror the physical system’s behavior and performance. What sets this Digital Twin apart is the incorporation of AI algorithms and machine learning techniques that enable it to analyze and predict outcomes, recommend improvements, and autonomously make adjustments to enhance manufacturing efficiency. This book outlines essential elements, like real-time monitoring of machines, predictive analytics of machines and data, optimization of the resources, quality control of the product, resource management, decision support (timely or quickly accurate decisions). Moreover, this book elucidates the symbiotic relationship between AI and Digital Twins, highlighting how AI augments the capabilities of Digital Twins by infusing them with intelligence, adaptability, and autonomy. Hence, this book promises to enhance competitiveness, reduce operational costs, and facilitate innovation in the manufacturing industry. By harnessing AI’s capabilities in conjunction with Digital Twins, manufacturers can achieve a more agile and responsive production environment, ultimately driving the evolution of smart factories and Industry 4.0/5.0. Audience This book has a wide audience in computer science, artificial intelligence, and manufacturing engineering, as well as engineers in a variety of industrial manufacturing industries. It will also appeal to economists and policymakers working on the circular economy, clean tech investors, industrial decision-makers, and environmental professionals.
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th IFIP WG 5.5 Working Conference on Virtual Enterprises, PRO-VE 2014, held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in October 2014. The 73 revised papers were carefully selected from 190 submissions. They provide a comprehensive overview of identified challenges and recent advances in various collaborative network (CN) domains and their applications, with a particular focus on the following areas in support of smart networked environments: behavior and coordination; product-service systems; service orientation in collaborative networks; engineering and implementation of collaborative networks; cyber-physical systems; business strategies alignment; innovation networks; sustainability and trust; reference and conceptual models; collaboration platforms; virtual reality and simulation; interoperability and integration; performance management frameworks; performance management systems; risk analysis; optimization in collaborative networks; knowledge management in networks; health and care networks; and mobility and logistics.
Progress in collaborative networks continues showing a growing number of manifestations and has led to the acceptance of Collaborative Networks (CN) as a new scientific discipline. Contributions to CN coming from multiple reference disciplines has been extensively investigated. In fact developments in CN have benefited from contributions of multiple areas, namely computer science, computer engineering, communications and networking, management, economy, social sciences, law and ethics, etc. Furthermore, some theories and paradigms defined elsewhere have been suggested by several research groups as promising tools to help define and characterize emerging collaborative organizational forms. Although still at the beginning of a long way to go, there is a growing awareness in the research and academic world, for the need to establish a stronger theoretical foundation for this new discipline and a number of recent works are contributing to this goal. From a utilitarian perspective, agility has been pointed out as one of the most appealing characteristics of collaborative networks to face the challenges of a fast changing socio-economic context. However, during the last years it became more evident that finding the right partners and establishing the necessary preconditions for starting an effective collaboration process are both costly and time consuming activities, and therefore an inhibitor of the aimed agility. Among others, obstacles include lack of information (e.g. non-availability of catalogs with normalized profiles of organizations) and lack of preparedness of organizations to join the collaborative process. Overcoming the mismatches resulting from the heterogeneity of potential partners (e.g. differences in infrastructures, corporate culture, methods of work, and business practices) requires considerable investment. Building trust, a pre-requisite for any effective collaboration, is not straight forward and requires time. Therefore the effective creation of truly dynamic collaborative networks requires a proper context in which potential members are prepared to rapidly get engaged in collaborative processes. The concept of breeding environment has thus emerged as an important facilitator for wider dissemination of collaborative networks and their practical materialization. The PRO-VE'05 held in Valencia, Spain, continues the 6th event in a series of successful working conferences on virtual enterprises. This book includes selected papers from that conference and should become a valuable tool to all of those interested in the advances and challenges of collaborative networks.
As organizations drive to transform and virtualize their IT infrastructures to reduce costs, and manage risk, networking is pivotal to success. Optimizing network performance, availability, adaptability, security, and cost is essential to achieving the maximum benefit from your infrastructure. In this IBM® Redbooks® publication, we address these requirements: Expertise to plan and design networks with holistic consideration of servers, storage, application performance, and manageability Networking solutions that enable investment protection with performance and cost options that match your environment Technology and expertise to design and implement and manage network security and resiliency Robust network management software for integrated, simplified management that lowers operating costs of complex networks IBM and Brocade have entered into an agreement to provide expanded network technology choices with the new IBM b-type Ethernet Switches and Routers, to provide an integrated end-to-end resiliency and security framework. Combined with the IBM vast data center design experience and the Brocade networking expertise, this portfolio represents the ideal convergence of strength and intelligence. For organizations striving to transform and virtualize their IT infrastructure, such a combination can help you reduce costs, manage risks, and prepare for the future. This book is meant to be used along with "IBM b-type Data Center Networking: Product Introduction and Initial Setup," SG24-7785.
Focusing on fundamental principles, Hydro-Environmental Analysis: Freshwater Environments presents in-depth information about freshwater environments and how they are influenced by regulation. It provides a holistic approach, exploring the factors that impact water quality and quantity, and the regulations, policy and management methods that are necessary to maintain this vital resource. It offers a historical viewpoint as well as an overview and foundation of the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics affecting the management of freshwater environments. The book concentrates on broad and general concepts, providing an interdisciplinary foundation. The author covers the methods of measurement and classification; chemical, physical, and biological characteristics; indicators of ecological health; and management and restoration. He also considers common indicators of environmental health; characteristics and operations of regulatory control structures; applicable laws and regulations; and restoration methods. The text delves into rivers and streams in the first half and lakes and reservoirs in the second half. Each section centers on the characteristics of those systems and methods of classification, and then moves on to discuss the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of each. In the section on lakes and reservoirs, it examines the characteristics and operations of regulatory structures, and presents the methods commonly used to assess the environmental health or integrity of these water bodies. It also introduces considerations for restoration, and presents two unique aquatic environments: wetlands and reservoir tailwaters. Written from an engineering perspective, the book is an ideal introduction to the aquatic and limnological sciences for students of environmental science, as well as students of environmental engineering. It also serves as a reference for engineers and scientists involved in the management, regulation, or restoration of freshwater environments.
