Excessive hardware for your software problem!?
The first thought that crosses the minds of many when they experience performance problems, is that their machine lacks enough power for the job at hand. While this may be true in a handful of cases, the true culprit is likely to be in the application, rather than the hardware. A common initial reaction is to blame hardware for being too weak to perform its tasks. In reality, the cause of the difficulty might easily lie in problematic software that is eating more than its fair share of the pie.
Sadly, more than a few people are sucked into the idea of piling on more muscle in the form of memory, CPU upgrades and other new hardware solutions. This can be an expensive way to treat a symptom rather than cure the disease. Some IT managers are often too quick to jump to the conclusion that the system is not working hard enough, when in reality, the applications are simply asking it to do too much.
In most instances, optimization should be considered as a first line of defense against lagging performance issues. Very often, optimizing will clean up inefficiencies such as software interfaces and codes at much lower costs than equipment replacements. A single factor like an improper pre-compiled code or a loop unrolling issue might be the root cause of the troubles. The best and usually cheapest solution is to repair the real problem rather than covering it up with a stack of new devices.
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