This is a tutorial presented in ICPE 2016 (https://icpe2016.spec.org/). In this tutorial, we present the problem of estimating parameters of performance models from measurements of real systems and discuss algorithms that can support researchers and practitioners in this task. The focus lies on performance models based on queueing systems, where the estimation of request arrival rates and service demands is a required input to the model. In the tutorial, we review existing estimation methods for service demands and present models to characterize time-varying arrival processes. The tutorial also demonstrates the use of relevant tools that automate demand estimation, such as LibRede, FG and M3A.