We created Response Probe so we could place pure, synthetic workloads on Windows NT to verify its algorithms and its fundamental performance characteristics. It has also proven useful for calibrating maximum throughputs for various workloads. We included Response Probe on the floppy disk provided with this book so that you can quickly assess the performance of various components of your own computer equipment.
Testing components with Response Probe reveals what we call the multidimensional response surface, which characterizes the performance of every computer. Each hardware component represents a separate dimension.
In this appendix we describe the structure of Response Probe and how you alter its parameters to create a wide variety of synthetic workloads to suit your needs.