Definition

workload

In computing, the workload is the amount of processing that the computer has been given to do at a given time. The workload consists of some amount of application programming running in the computer and usually some number of users connected to and interacting with the computer's applications.

A defined workload can be specified as a benchmark when evaluating a computer system in terms of performance (how easily the computer handles the workload), which in turn is generally divided into response time (the time between a user request and a response to the request from the system) and throughput (how much work is accomplished over a period of time).

Related glossary terms: Rexx, sysplex and Parallel Sysplex, field-replaceable unit (FRU), zAware, supervisor call (SVC)

This was last updated in January 2006

Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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