Traffic Metrics

Measurements of incoming work and active demand placed on a service.

Motivation

Measurements of incoming work and active demand placed on a service.

Where it fits

This concept provides a shared vocabulary for designing, documenting, measuring, or operating software systems.

Mental model

Treat it as a structured tool: define the question being answered, use consistent terminology, and connect the result to decisions and follow-up work.

Subconcepts

RPS

The number of requests received per second, usually tracked as average and peak.

QPS

The number of queries processed per second, commonly for databases or search systems.

TPS

The number of completed business or database transactions per second.

Active Sessions

The number of sessions currently active during a defined window.

Concurrent Users

The number of users interacting with the system at the same time.

Practical use

Always record both typical and peak demand and define exactly what counts as one request, query, transaction, session, or user.

Common mistakes

Using ambiguous definitions or units.
Collecting or documenting information without connecting it to a decision.
Failing to keep the artifact or measurement current as the system changes.

See the linked concepts in the knowledge graph for prerequisites and adjacent practices.