benchmark testing results: csc’s integral life insurance ... · system, sql server provides a...

Benchmark Testing Results: CSC’s Integral Life Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server i

Benchmark Testing Results: CSC’s Integral Life

Insurance Software Running on SQL Server

Running CSC’s Integral life insurance solution on Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server provides

unmatched performance and scalability

Technical White Paper Published: January 2013 Applies to: Microsoft SQL Server 2012

Abstract

In June through August of 2012, CSC and Microsoft conducted performance and scalability testing on CSC’s

Integral1 life insurance software running on Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Enterprise data management software

and the Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise operating system.

The benchmark testing was very successful, demonstrating a near-linear scalability to 1,500 concurrent users

running against a database of 1 million policies while maintaining excellent performance. These results

confirm that SQL Server is an excellent choice for CSC’s Integral licensees.

1 Integral is a trademark of CSC, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=248586

Benchmark Testing Results: CSC’s Integral Life Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server ii

©2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This document is provided “as-is.” Information and views

expressed in this document, including URL and other Internet Web site references, may change without notice.

You bear the risk of using it.

This document does not provide you with any legal rights to any intellectual property in any Microsoft product.

You may copy and use this document for your internal, reference purposes.

Benchmark Testing Results: CSC’s Integral Life Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server iii

Table of Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................................................... 1

Introducing CSC’s Integral ................................................................................................................................ 1

Microsoft and CSC Team Up for Insurance ....................................................................................................... 2

Benefits of SQL Server....................................................................................................................................... 3

Benchmark Testing Overview ..................................................................................................................... 4

Test Environment.............................................................................................................................................. 5 Application and Load Generation Servers .................................................................................................... 6 Database Server ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Storage ......................................................................................................................................................... 7

Test Scenarios ................................................................................................................................................... 7

Benchmark Testing Results......................................................................................................................... 8

Single Application Server Tests ......................................................................................................................... 8 Application Server Metric for Single Server Tests ...................................................................................... 10 Database Metrics for Single Server Tests ................................................................................................... 11

Multiple Application Server Tests ................................................................................................................... 12 Application Server Metrics for Multiple Server Tests ................................................................................ 15 Database Server Metrics for Multiple Server Tests .................................................................................... 16

Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 17

Additional Information ............................................................................................................................ 18

About CSC ....................................................................................................................................................... 18

About Microsoft ............................................................................................................................................. 18

Benchmark Testing Results: CSC’s Integral Life Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server 1

“We are thrilled to see insurance carriers increasingly deploy mission-critical applications on the Microsoft platform. CSC’s commitment to offering Integral on Windows Server and SQL Server will provide a more modern, configurable core system with the performance and stability that insurers require and a TCO that is second to none.”

Karen T. Cone General Manager

Worldwide Financial Services Microsoft Corporation

“To give insurers more choices, we have enhanced some of our most widely used software for platform portability and reuse globally. CSC remains committed to delivering the right solutions to the right markets at the right time on a choice of platforms to help our clients boost customer service, create efficiencies, and meet their growth objectives.”

Ray August President

Financial Services Group CSC

Introduction The flattening of the global market provides a world of

opportunities and challenges for insurers. Companies need

flexible, dependable technology that helps them respond

quickly to changing conditions and meet the local needs of

diverse markets.

CSC’s Integral insurance software suite helps insurance carriers

meet these challenges with a comprehensive solution that is

ideally suited for many scenarios, such as:

Multi-national firms seeking a single platform for regional or international operations.

Domestic insurance firms wanting to launch new products quickly without disrupting their

existing processing.

Insurers needing a self-contained insurance administration solution for quick start-up of

new ventures.

Multi-line insurers looking for a complete, low-maintenance processing capability for a

secondary line of business.

The underlying core of an insurance solution is the data collected;

this data is maintained in an enterprise database such as

Microsoft SQL Server. Running on the Windows Server operating

system, SQL Server provides a reliable, high performing, and

scalable foundation for CSC’s Integral software.

This white paper begins with an introduction to CSC’s Integral

insurance software suite. Next, the paper provides an overview

of SQL Server, a proven database platform for enterprise

deployments of Integral. The many advantages SQL Server brings

to Integral software are highlighted, including manageability,

scalability, reliability, and affordability.

The white paper then presents benchmark test results that confirm that SQL Server scales to meet

the needs of even the largest deployments of CSC’s Integral life insurance software. Enterprise

customers can be confident in the choice of SQL Server and Windows Server as a foundation for

CSC’s Integral life insurance solution.

Introducing CSC’s Integral

CSC’s Integral is a comprehensive administration suite for life insurance and annuities/pensions,

property and casualty (P&C)/general insurance, and group insurance that provides end-to-end

policy/group management, product configuration, and business-analytics capabilities. Its portable


architecture lets companies implement Integral quickly and operate cost-effectively, either in-house

or through CSC’s business process services.

For more information about Integral, visit www.csc.com.

Microsoft and CSC Team Up for Insurance

Microsoft and CSC have formed an alliance to support CSC’s Integral on Microsoft software.

Because Integral interoperates seamlessly with Windows Server and SQL Server, insurance carriers

who deploy the joint CSC/Microsoft solution obtain a modern, easy-to-manage solution for

improving processes, customer service, and overall productivity. The Windows Server operating

system delivers the power and reliability that businesses require to thrive and grow, while SQL

Server provides the performance, availability, and security to manage large volumes of data

intelligently and eliminate silos of information. The result is a streamlined solution with global reach

that lets carriers operate regionally and internationally with ease.

Figure 1 shows CSC’s Integral on Microsoft software.

Figure 1. CSC's Integral on Microsoft software

For more information about how CSC and Microsoft are working together, visit

http://www.microsoft.com/enterprise/partners/csc.aspx.

http://www.csc.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/enterprise/partners/csc.aspx


Benefits of SQL Server

SQL Server is a comprehensive, integrated, and enterprise-ready data-management software

solution. It provides a reliable, cost-effective, low-maintenance database framework for CSC’s

Integral that can support the largest and most process-intensive deployments. Hundreds of

enterprises are currently running 10 terabyte and larger transactional databases on SQL Server.

Running CSC’s Integral on SQL Server provides customers with many benefits:

Scalability and performance features

SQL Server includes features that can help CSC customers scale and maintain performance

as their businesses grow.

Six nines (99.9999 percent) uptime availability

CSC customers can protect their mission-critical databases from downtime and data loss

with six nines uptime availability.2,3

Faster to deploy

On average, SQL Server database administrators (DBAs) can install and configure new

database servers in 1.5 hours, while the largest competitor’s DBAs can take 6 hours.4

Lower hardware cost

SQL Server can run on standard commodity server hardware, which can dramatically lower

the total cost of ownership (TCO) for customers.

Lower software costs

The list price of SQL Server is a third of the largest competitors;5 in addition, SQL Server

includes major database-related features, such as high availability; remote disaster

recovery; partitioning; data compression; transparent data encryption; spatial; master data

management; complex event processing; extract, transform, and load (ETL); online

analytical processing (OLAP); data mining; reporting services; and self-service business

intelligence (BI) tools. Competitors’ licensing models add costs for options and add-ins.6

Simpler systems management and lower staffing costs

SQL Server database administrators can typically manage four times as many physical

databases as a competitor’s DBAs, leading to an estimated annual savings of $5,779 in

administrative costs per database, a 460 percent difference in annual cost of administration

per database.7

2 http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/product-info/why-sql-server.aspx 3 http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2008-R2-Enterprise/Stratus-Technologies/Protect-your-mission-critical-databases-from- downtime-and-data-loss-with-six-nines-uptime-availability/4000007136 4 http://www.alinean.com/PDFs/Microsoft_SQL_Server_and_Oracle-Alinean_TCA_Study_2010.pdf 5 http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/tools/cost-savings-calclator.aspx 6 http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/product-info/competitor-compare.aspx 7 http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/product-info/why-sql-server.aspx

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=248585


Fewer security vulnerabilities

Since 2002, SQL Server has recorded the fewest reported vulnerabilities of any of the major

database platforms as compiled by the National Institute of Standards and Technology

(NIST).8

With SQL Server, CSC customers can save with reduced licensing, hardware, administration, and

support fees, which translate into substantially lower costs over the life of the system.

For more information about SQL Server, visit www.microsoft.com/sql.

Benchmark Testing Overview As part of their strategic alliance, CSC and Microsoft ran real-world benchmarking tests at the

Microsoft Platform Adoption Center (PAC) in Redmond, Washington, to evaluate and optimize the

performance and scalability of CSC’s Integral life insurance component running on SQL Server 2012

and Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise.

The benchmarking tests aimed to simulate the typical daily activities of agents at a large insurer,

with up to 1,500 concurrent users running against a database of 1 million policies. This was

achieved on five application servers and a database server, all industry-standard with a total list

price of less than $64,000,9 and industry-standard storage with a list price of $140,00010—a

compelling scenario for customers.

A variety of tests were performed, including:

Single server tests

These tests investigated the performance of Integral on a single application server with

various numbers of virtual users. Note that based on the test methodology, 125 virtual

users are equivalent to 165 actual concurrent users.

Multiple server tests

These tests looked at the horizontal scalability of the solution by starting with one

application server with 200 concurrent users, and adding application servers, each with 200

concurrent users, up to five application servers with 1,000 concurrent users. A test was then

run with five application servers and 1,500 concurrent users, representing a very large

insurance company.

8 http://itic-corp.com/blog/2010/09/sql-server-most-secure-database-oracle-least-secure-database-since-2002 9 Manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) in April 2012 10 Manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) in April 2012

http://www.microsoft.com/sql


Test Environment

The test infrastructure included five major components:

Database server

Application servers

Load-generation servers

Domain controller/Active Directory Domain Services

Storage

Details of the servers used are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Servers used in benchmark testing

Server Number

of servers Make/model Cache

Number of cores

CPU RAM

Database server 1 Intel four socket 24 MB 32

Four Intel Xeon

X7550 processors

(2.0 GHz)

128 GB

Application servers 5 HP ProLiant

DL380 G7 12 MB 12

Two Intel Xeon

X5650 processors

(2.80 GHz)

64 GB

Load-generation servers

3 HP ProLiant

DL380 G7 12 MB 12

Two Intel Xeon

X5650 processors

(2.80 GHz)

64 GB

1 IBM System

x3850 X5 24 MB 32

Four Intel Xeon

X7560 processors

(2.26 GHz)

256 GB

Domain controller/ Active Directory Domain Services

1 Dell PowerEdge

1850 2 MB 2

Two Intel Xeon

processors

(3.40 GHz)

4 GB

Storage X-IO Hyper ISE

Two Datapacs (10 solid-state drives [SSD] and 10 serial-

attached SCSI [SAS] drives each), capable of 30K-60K

IOPS

Figure 2 shows a schematic of the infrastructure used in the benchmark testing.


HPProLiant

DL380 G6

FANS

PROC

1

PROC

2

POWER

SUPPLY

2POWER

SUPPLY

1OVERTEMP

POWERCAP

1 2 3 4

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ONLINESPARE

MIRROR

UID

2

1

4

3

6

5

8

76 5 4 3 2 1

HP ProLiant DL380G712 x 2.80 GHz—64 GB RAM

Back-End Tier(Database)

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with SP1

ISE

Front-End Tier(Application/Load Generation)

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with SP1

PowerEdge 1950

0

1

2

3

Dell PowerEdge 18502 x 3.40 GHz—4 GB RAM

Active Directory Domain Services/Domain Name System

Windows Server 2008 R2 EnterpriseESD

0

3

1

4

2

5

System x3850

IBM System x3850 X532 x 2.26 GHz—256 GB RAM

X-IO storageHyper ISE

Pool 2 10 x 10K SAS

10 x SSDHP

ProLiantDL380 G6

FANS

PROC

1

PROC

2

POWER

SUPPLY

2POWER

SUPPLY

1OVERTEMP

POWERCAP

1 2 3 4

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ONLINESPARE

MIRROR

UID

2

1

4

3

6

5

8

76 5 4 3 2 1

Intel Xeon 4-socket32 x 2.0 GHz—128 GB RAM

SQL Server 2012 Enterprise


HPProLiant

DL380 G6

FANS

PROC

1

PROC

2

POWER

SUPPLY

2POWER

SUPPLY

1OVERTEMP

POWERCAP

1 2 3 4

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ONLINESPARE

MIRROR

UID

2

1

4

3

6

5

8

76 5 4 3 2 1



HPProLiant

DL380 G6

FANS

PROC

1

PROC

2

POWER

SUPPLY

2POWER

SUPPLY

1OVERTEMP

POWERCAP

1 2 3 4

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ONLINESPARE

MIRROR

UID

2

1

4

3

6

5

8

76 5 4 3 2 1

HPProLiant

DL380 G6

FANS

PROC

1

PROC

2

POWER

SUPPLY

2POWER

SUPPLY

1OVERTEMP

POWERCAP

1 2 3 4

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ONLINESPARE

MIRROR

UID

2

1

4

3

6

5

8

76 5 4 3 2 1


HPProLiant

DL380 G6

FANS

PROC

1

PROC

2

POWER

SUPPLY

2POWER

SUPPLY

1OVERTEMP

POWERCAP

1 2 3 4

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ONLINESPARE

MIRROR

UID

2

1

4

3

6

5

8

76 5 4 3 2 1


HPProLiant

DL380 G6

FANS

PROC

1

PROC

2

POWER

SUPPLY

2POWER

SUPPLY

1OVERTEMP

POWERCAP

1 2 3 4

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ONLINESPARE

MIRROR

UID

2

1

4

3

6

5

8

76 5 4 3 2 1


SQL2 DBDrive E600 GB

8765432187654321

UID21

G 5

HPProLiantDL580

Ap

plicatio

n servers

Load

-generatio

n servers

HPProLiant

DL380 G6

FANS

PROC

1

PROC

2

POWER

SUPPLY

2POWER

SUPPLY

1OVERTEMP

POWERCAP

1 2 3 4

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ONLINESPARE

MIRROR

UID

2

1

4

3

6

5

8

76 5 4 3 2 1


SQL1 TempDBDrive F500 GB

SQL1 LogsDrive G400 GB

SQL2 ScratchDrive S

1 TB

Pool 1 10 x 10K SAS

10 x SSD

SQL1 DBDrive E600 GB

SQL2 TempDBDrive F500 GB

SQL2 LogsDrive G400 GB

SQL1 ScratchDrive S

1 TBD

link D

SX

-33

50S

R 1

Gb

ps E

the

rne

t

Figure 2. Benchmark testing equipment

Application and Load Generation Servers

The tests used up to five Hewlett-Packard (HP) ProLiant DL380 G7 application servers, and one IBM

System x3850 X5 and up to three HP ProLiant DL380 G7 load-generation servers. This ensured that

the tests were carried out at full throttle, and that the tests provided an accurate measurement of

the scalability of the system.

Database Server

A single Intel four-socket database server was used, taking advantage of the latest generation of the

Intel Xeon processor E7 family.

The configuration was as follows:

SQL Server 2012 Enterprise

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Four Intel Xeon X7550 processors, for a total of 32 cores

128 GB of random access memory (RAM)


Storage

X-IO Hyper ISE storage modules provided 19.5 terabytes of storage for the database tables and

indices. However, less than 1 terabyte of the total capacity of the storage was used for the tests.

Test Scenarios

The benchmark testing used 16 automated test scenarios that represent more than 90 percent of

the transaction types that are performed daily at a typical insurance firm, including inquiries,

modifications, and additions. Each test scenario involved between three and ten user steps, with a

“think time” of 10 seconds between steps. Completion times varied between test scenarios.

The 16 tests scenarios and the number of steps in each are listed in Table 2.

Table 2. Test scenarios

Test number Test scenarios Number of steps

Test 1 Add personal client 3

Test 2 Modify bank/branch 3

Test 3 Group member inquiry 5

Test 4 Agent appointment 3

Test 5 New contract/universal variable life 10

Test 6 New contract/hospital cash plan 8

Test 7 New contract/flexible premium 8

Test 8 Medical provider inquiry 5

Test 9 Policy load inquiry 3

Test 10 Modify allocation rules 3

Test 11 Table inquiry 6

Test 12 Help lines inquiry 3

Test 13 Policy notes inquiry 3

Test 14 Reassurer inquiry 5

Test 15 Modify client bank account 3

Test 16 Life Insurance Association records inquiry 5

For the benchmarking tests, the average throughput of a mix of the 16 test scenarios was

measured.


As an example, Table 3 lists the steps in three typical test scenarios: New contract (NC)—universal

variable life (test 5), New contract—hospital cash plan (test 6), and Table inquiry (test 11). Note that

some steps are performed more than once.

Table 3. Examples of steps in test scenarios

New contract—universal

variable life

New contract—hospital cash

plan Table inquiry

1. New contract proposal sub-

menu

1. New contract proposal sub-

menu

1. Tables and codes

maintenance submenu

2. Universal variable life 2. Hospital cash plan 2. Table item scroll inquiry

3. Lives assured 3. Lives assured 3. Table item maintenance

4. Underwriting questionnaire 4. Underwriting questionnaire 4. Alter/cancel from inception

subroutine

5. Lives assured 5. Lives assured 5. Table item scroll inquiry

6. Select cover required 6. Select cover required 6. Tables and codes

maintenance submenu

7. Universal variable life 7. Work with proposal

8. Premium direction 8. New contract proposal

submenu

9. Work with proposal

10. New contract proposal

submenu

Benchmark Testing Results The following sections provide detailed results of the benchmark tests.

Single Application Server Tests

The team from CSC and Microsoft performed a series of single application server benchmarking

tests with the goal of identifying the optimal number of users that can be served by a single entry-

level application server.

These tests were performed on one application server (HP ProLiant DL380 G7 with 12 cores and 64

GB RAM) and one database server (Intel Xeon four-socket), using the IBM System x3850 X5 server

to generate the test workload.


For these single application server tests, the team added virtual users up to a maximum of 250

virtual users, which is equivalent to 330 concurrent users. The team ran each scenario several

times, and calculated an average of these test runs.

Table 4 lists the response times, or average time to complete each test scenario, for the various

numbers of virtual users on a single server.

Table 4. Results of single application server tests with various numbers of concurrent users

Test scenarios Response time (seconds)

165 users 200 users 230 users 266 users 330 users

Add personal client 1.31 1.39 1.47 1.5 1.67

Modify bank/branch 0.98 1.01 1.10 1.18 1.38

Group member inquiry 2.17 2.02 2.59 2.42 2.7

Agent appointment 1.01 1.09 1.18 1.23 1.3

NC/universal variable life 3.65 3.61 4.07 4.22 4.85

NC/hospital cash plan 2.6 2.65 3.00 3.05 3.46

NC/flexible premium 2.49 2.65 2.81 2.92 3.44

Medical provider inquiry 1.28 1.32 1.51 1.58 1.74

Policy load inquiry 0.78 0.76 0.87 0.9 1.04

Modify allocation rules 0.78 0.82 0.91 0.89 1.08

Table inquiry 1.18 1.25 1.34 1.38 1.62

Help lines inquiry 0.83 0.83 0.99 0.96 1.19

Policy notes inquiry 1.00 0.99 1.14 1.12 1.33

Reassurer inquiry 1.07 1.11 1.16 1.22 1.39

Modify client bank

account 0.83 0.90 0.95 0.97 1.09

Life Insurance

Association records

inquiry

0.99 1.01 1.15 1.17 1.48


Figure 3 visualizes the transaction processing times for the test scenarios for a single server with

varying numbers of virtual users.

Figure 3. Single server user test results, transaction processing time per test scenario

Application Server Metric for Single Server Tests

Table 5 shows total throughput and the average and maximum application server memory and CPU

utilizations in the single server tests.

Table 5. Application server metrics for single server tests

Application server metrics 165

users 200

users 230

users 266

users 330

users

Average application server memory utilization 7.3% 8.0% 8.5% 9.4% 10.8%

Maximum application server memory

utilization 8.0% 8.7% 9.0% 10.3% 11.7%

Average application server CPU utilization 21.1% 25.6% 32.8% 37.6% 45.5%

Maximum application server CPU utilization 40.7% 39.0% 58.0% 69.0% 77.0%

Total throughput (business transactions per

minute) 489 565 638 707 811

Figure 4 visualizes the application server CPU and memory utilization and the total number of

transactions. Note that the average application server CPU utilization remained below 50 percent,

which is considered acceptable.

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

4.50

5.00

Tran

sact

ion

pro

cess

ing

tim

e (s

eco

nd

s)

Add personal client

Modify bank/branch

Group member inquiry

Agent appointment

NC-universal variable life

NC-hospital cash plan

NC-flexible premium

Medical provider inquiry

Policy loan inquiry

Modify allocation rules

Table inquire

Help lines inquiry

Policy notes inquiry

Reassurer inquiry

Modify client bank account

LIA records inquiry165 200 230 266 330 Number of concurrent users

Test scenarios


Figure 4. Single server total number of transactions and CPU and memory utilizations

Figure 3 and Figure 4 show that there is a “sweet spot” between 200 and 230 concurrent users in

terms of throughput, execution time, and CPU utilization.

Database Metrics for Single Server Tests

Table 6 shows the CPU utilization by SQL Server and the number of batch requests per second

processed by SQL Server in the single server tests. Note that the average database server CPU

utilization remained below 1 percent. The average number of batch requests per second processed

by SQL Server was 2,136 with 330 concurrent users.

Table 6. Database server metrics for single server tests

Database server metrics 165

users 200

users 230

users 266

users 330

users

Average database server CPU utilization 0.5% 0.6% 0.8% 0.8% 0.9%

Maximum database server CPU utilization 0.7% 0.7% 0.9% 1.0% 1.1%

Average number of batch requests per

second 1,102 1,319 1,524 1,735 2,136

Maximum number of batch requests per

second 1,269 1,583 1,680 1,923 2,309

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90 Average CPUutilization (%)

Maximum CPUutilization (%)

Average memoryutilization (%)

Maximum memoryutilization (%)

Total throughput(businesstransactions/minute)

165 200 230 266 330

Number of concurrent users

Per

cen

t u

tiliz

atio

n

Tota

l th

rou

ghp

ut

(bu

sin

ess

tran

sact

ion

s/m

inu

te)


Figure 5 visualizes the database server metrics for the single server tests.

Figure 5. CPU utilization by SQL Server and the number of batch requests per second processed by SQL Server in the single users tests

Multiple Application Server Tests

To confirm the scalability of the solution, the CSC and Microsoft team performed benchmark tests

using multiple application servers in a scale-out configuration. These tests simulated 200 concurrent

users (150 virtual users) per application server and added application servers up to a total of five

with 1,000 concurrent users. A final test was run with five application servers and 1,500 concurrent

users. The team ran each scenario several times and calculated an average of these test runs.

The test results showed that as the number of servers increased from one to five―and as the

corresponding number of concurrent users increased from 200 to 1,000―the throughput increased

nearly linearly.

At the same time, the average number of transactions per server remained constant when adding

application servers up to five application serves and 1,000 users; however, the average number of

transactions per server increased for the final test that used five applications servers and 1,500

concurrent users. These results show the effectiveness of using a scale-out deployment to increase

the overall throughput.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2Average CPUutilization (%)


Average number ofbatch requests/sec

Maximum numberof batchrequests/sec

165 200 230 266 330

Nu

mb

er o

f b

atch

req

ues

ts/s

eco

nd

Per

cen

t u

tiliz

atio

n

Number of concurrent users


Table 7 lists the response times, or average time to complete each test scenario, for the various

numbers of servers and users in the multiple user tests.

Table 7. Results of multiple application server tests with various numbers of simulated concurrent users

Test scenarios

Response time (seconds)

One app server (200

users)

Two app servers

(400 users)

Three app servers

(600 users)

Four app servers

(800 users)

Five app servers (1,000 users)


Add personal client 1.31 1.34 1.28 1.31 1.28 1.24

Modify bank/branch 1.08 1.12 1.02 1.02 1.01 1.05

Group member inquiry 2.06 2.28 2.19 2.17 2.03 2.07

Agent appointment 1.06 1.07 1.03 1.01 1.03 1.09

NC/universal variable life 3.76 3.71 3.63 3.95 3.70 4.09

NC/hospital cash plan 2.74 2.68 2.64 2.65 2.68 2.91

NC/flexible premium 2.66 2.61 2.56 2.58 2.57 2.83

Medical provider inquiry 1.36 1.38 1.28 1.28 1.30 1.39

Policy load inquiry 0.85 0.82 0.79 0.78 0.77 0.81

Modify allocation rules 0.87 0.82 0.74 0.75 0.76 0.77

Table inquiry 1.29 1.21 1.18 1.20 1.20 1.26

Help lines inquiry 0.58 0.86 0.82 0.83 0.81 0.87

Policy notes inquiry 1.04 1.06 1.02 0.99 0.96 1.02

Reassurer inquiry 1.10 1.09 1.02 1.01 1.04 1.09

Modify client bank account 0.90 0.86 0.83 0.81 0.81 0.88

Life Insurance Association

records inquiry 1.13 1.06 1.02 1.03 1.00 1.07


Figure 6 visualizes the response times for the various test scenarios.

Figure 6. Multiple server test results, transaction processing time per test scenario

Table 8 shows total throughput and the average and maximum application server memory and CPU

utilizations in the multiple server tests.

Table 8. Application server metrics for multiple server tests

Application server metrics

One app

server (200

users)

Two app servers

(400 users)

Three app

servers (600

users)

Four app servers

(800 users)



Average application server

memory utilization 6.8% 6.6% 6.47% 6.6% 6.5% 7.0%

Maximum application server

memory utilization 7.3% 7.5% 7.2% 7.3% 7.2% 7.9%

Average application server CPU

utilization 27.7% 29.9% 26.8% 26.6% 27.8% 38.8%

Maximum application server

CPU utilization 43.0% 47.3% 43.0% 41.0% 43.8% 62.9%

Average number of transactions

per server, per minute 670 680 680 677 680 890

Total throughput (business

transactions per minute) 670 1,306 2,040 2,708 3,400 4,450

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

1 server,200 users

2 servers,400 users

3 servers,600 users

4 servers,800 users

5 servers,1,000 users


Tran

sact

ion

pro

cess

ing

tim

e (s

eco

nd

s)

Add personal client

Modify bank/branch

Group member inquiry

Agent appointment

NC-universal variable life

NC-hospital cash pPlan

NC-flexible premium

Medical provider inquiry

Policy loan inquiry

Modify allocation rules

Table inquire

Help lines inquiry

Policy notes inquiry

Reassurer inquiry

Modify client bank account

LIA record details inquiry

Test scenarios


Figure 7 shows that the average number of transactions per server stays nearly constant as the

number of servers, and the number of concurrent users, increases. The test with five application

servers and 1,500 users showed even higher average number of transactions.

Figure 7. Average number of transactions per server as the number of servers, and the number of concurrent users, increases

These results demonstrate that the solution provides excellent linear scalability: the response

times, as well as the average number of transactions per server, remain constant when adding

application servers up to five servers.

Application Server Metrics for Multiple Server Tests

Figure 8 visualizes the application server CPU and memory utilization and the total number of

transactions. Note that the average application server CPU utilization remained below 40 percent,

which is considered acceptable.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1 server,

200 users

2 servers,

400 users

3 servers,

600 users

4 servers,

800 users

5 servers,

1,000 users

5 servers,

1,500 users

Thro

ugh

pu

t (t

ran

sact

ion

s/se

rver

/min

ute

)


Figure 8. Multiple application server total number of transactions and CPU and memory utilizations

Database Server Metrics for Multiple Server Tests

Table 9 shows the CPU utilization by SQL Server and the number of batch requests per second

processed by SQL Server. The results show that the average database server CPU utilization

remained below 4.5 percent, with a maximum of only 4.71 percent for five application servers with

1,500 concurrent users. The average number of batch requests per second processed by SQL Server

was 9,786 for the five application servers with 1,500 users, with a maximum of 10,338 batch

requests per second.

Table 9. Database server metrics for multiple server tests

Database server metrics One app

server (200 users)

Two app servers

(400 users)

Three app servers

(600 users)

Four app servers

(800 users)



Average database server

CPU utilization 0.7% 1.3% 2.0% 2.7% 3.2% 4.3%

Maximum database

server CPU utilization 0.8% 1.4% 2.2% 3.0% 3.5% 4.7%

Average number of

batch requests/ second 1,521 2,960 4,442 5,940 7,377 9,786

Maximum number of

batch requests/ second 1,600 3,067 4,499 6,176 7,726 10,338

Figure 9 visualizes the database server metrics for the multiple server tests.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1 server,200 users

2 servers,400 users

3 servers,600 users

4 servers,800 users



Average CPUutilization (%)


Average memoryutilization (%)

Maximum memoryutilization (%)

Per

cen

t u

tiliz

atio

n

Tota

l th

rou

ghp

ut

(bu

sin

ess

tran

sact

ion

s/m

inu

te)


Figure 9. CPU utilization by SQL Server and the number of batch requests per second processed by SQL Server in the multiple server tests

Summary Scalability, stability, and performance are important to CSC insurance customers. These customers

want assurances that as their organizations grow and the number of policies increases, their

database software can maintain the performance they rely on. CSC has worked with Microsoft to

develop insurance solutions that combine CSC software with Microsoft products and technologies.

Benchmark testing and product optimizations are part of this joint effort.

The CSC and Microsoft benchmark tests were designed to simulate the real-world usage patterns of

large insurance customers. The test results were impressive. In the single application server test

with 330 concurrent users, the measured throughput was 811 business transactions per minute. For

the five application servers with 1,500 concurrent users test, the total throughput was 4,450

business transactions per minute.

SQL Server 2012 Enterprise performed remarkably well in the tests; for the five application servers

with 1,500 concurrent users, SQL Server processed an average 9,786 batch request per second (and

a maximum of 10,338 batch request per second), with an average of less than 5 percent CPU

utilization.

These results clearly confirm that CSC’s Integral running on SQL Server and Windows Server can

easily support at least 1,500 concurrent users. The results also show that the system is highly

scalable, with near-linear scalability as the number of application servers and the number of

concurrent users increase. CSC customers can select SQL Server as the database platform for large

and complex deployments of CSC’s Integral life insurance component with confidence.

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

1 app server,200 users

2 app servers,400 users



5 app servers,1,000 users

5 app servers,1,500 users

Average CPUutilization (%)


Average number ofbatch requests persecond

Maximum numberof batch requestsper second

Nu

mb

er o

f b

atch

req

ues

ts/s

eco

nd

Per

cen

t u

tiliz

atio

n


Additional Information The following references provide more information about CSC and Microsoft.

About CSC

CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled business solutions and services. For more

than 50 years, clients in industries and governments worldwide have trusted CSC with their

business process and information systems outsourcing, systems integration and consulting needs.

CSC has approximately 98,000 employees and reported revenue of $15.9 billion for the 12 months

ended March 30, 2012. The company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol

“CSC.”

For more information about CSC, visit www.csc.com.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, and

solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

For more information about Microsoft products and services, visit www.microsoft.com.

http://www.csc.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/

benchmark testing results: csc’s integral life insurance ... · system, sql server provides a...

Documents