# Query throughput

Not to be confused with Query rate.

In computer science, Query Throughput (QthD) is a measurement used to determine the performance of a database system. The throughput metric is a classical throughput measure characterizing the ability of the system to support a multi-user workload in a balanced way.

## Background

A number of query users (S) is chosen, each of which execute the full set of 17 queries in a different order[citation needed]. In the background there is an update stream that runs a series of insert/delete operations (one pair for each query user). The choice of the number of users is at the discretion of the test sponsor.

The throughput metric is computed as the total amount of work (S×17), converted to hours from seconds (3600 seconds per hour), scaled by the database volume (SF) and divided by the total elapsed time (Ts) required between the first query starting and the last query or update function completing.

Therefore, the complete formulation is:

${\displaystyle {\mathit {QthD}}={\frac {S\times 17\times 3600}{T_{s}}}\times {\mathit {SF}}}$

Note that if the test sponsor chooses S=1 for the throughput test, for ease of benchmarking it is permissible to omit the throughput test and compute the throughput metric using timings obtained during the power test. Similarly, it is permissible to schedule the insert/delete activity for the throughput test after all the queries complete.[citation needed]