Multitasking Workload Considerations

One way to think about multitasking performance is in terms of types of users, and what kinds of things they want to do simultaneously. Also, it’s important to consider the metric of interest. Is it: foreground task performance alone, background task completion time, or some combination of the two? Another way to approach it is as a “basket of tasks.” You have a set of things you want to get done, so the test is completed when all the tasks in the basket are completed.

To kick off the workload, start the background task first and then immediately start the foreground task. Allow all tasks to run, and stop your timer when the last task has completed. Whether it’s the foreground or background task that completes first will depend on the mix of tasks in flight.