While OProfile can be used by developers to analyze application performance, it can also be used by system administrators to perform system analysis. For example:
Determine which applications and services are used the most on a system — op_time can be used to determine how much processor time an application or service uses. If the system is used for multiple services but is under performing, the services consuming the most processor time can be moved to dedicated systems.
Determine processor usage — The CPU_CLK_UNHALTED event can be monitored to determine the processor load over a given period of time. This data can then be used to determine if additional processors or a faster processor might improve system performance.