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

Benchmark Testing Results: CSC’s Integral Group

Insurance Software Running on SQL Server

Running CSC’s Integral group 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 group insurance component 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, scaling to 330 concurrent users running against a 50,000-member

database with a complex policy structure 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 Group 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 Group 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.............................................................................................................................................. 4 Application and Load Generation Servers .................................................................................................... 5 Database Server ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Storage ......................................................................................................................................................... 6

Test Scenarios ................................................................................................................................................... 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Benchmark Testing Results: CSC’s Integral Group 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 group insurance software. Enterprise

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

CSC’s Integral group 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.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 group insurance component running on SQL Server

2012 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise.

The benchmarking tests aimed to simulate the daily activities of agents at typical insurance firm,

with up to 330 concurrent users running against a 50,000-member database with complex policy

structures. The results were achieved on two application servers and a database server, all industry-

standard with a total list price of less than $28,000,9 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 testing one application

server with 125 virtual users (equivalent to 165 concurrent users), and then testing two

application servers with 250 virtual users (equivalent to 330 concurrent users).

Test Environment

The test infrastructure included five major components:

Database server

Application servers

Load-generation servers

Domain controller/Active Directory Domain Services

Storage

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


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 2 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

Application and Load Generation Servers

The tests used two HP ProLiant DL380 G7 application servers and up to load-generation servers

(one IBM System x3850 X5 and up to three HP ProLiant DL380 G7 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

The tests used a single Intel four-socket database server, 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.

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

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 SSD

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

HP ProLiant DL380G712 x 2.80 GHz—64 GB RAM

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

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1 1

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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

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1 1

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8

9

ONLINESPARE

MIRROR

UID

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1

4

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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

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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

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3

4

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8

9

ONLINESPARE

MIRROR

UID

2

1

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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 TB

Dlin

k D

SX

-33

50S

R 1

Gb

ps E

the

rne

t

Figure 2. Benchmark testing equipment

Test Scenarios

The benchmark testing used 19 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 3 and 28 user steps, with a “think

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

The 19 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 Create personal client 3

Test 2 Modify personal client 3

Test 3 Modify bank branch 3

Test 4 Direct credit bank account inquiry 3

Test 5 Branch inquiry 5

Test 6 High-level client inquiry 3

Test 7 Chart structure inquiry 3

Test 8 Help lines inquiry 3

Test 9 Create account 3

Test 10 Payment inquiry 3

Test 11 Table inquiry 6

Test 12 Policy inquiry 15

Test 13 Client roles inquiry 3

Test 14 Claim maintenance 10

Test 15 Claim inquiry 5

Test 16 Major alteration, add member 8

Test 17 Work with bank guarantee 5

Test 18 New business group term life 24

Test 19 New business group health cover 28

For the benchmarking tests, the average throughput of a mix of the 19 test scenarios was

measured.

As an example, Table 3 lists the steps in three typical test scenarios: Claim maintenance (test 14),

Major alteration, add member (test 16), and Table inquiry (test 11). Note that some steps are

performed more than once.


Table 3. Examples of steps in test scenarios

Claim maintenance Major alterations 1―add

member Table inquiry

1. Claims sub-menu 1. Major alterations

sub-menu

1. Tables and codes

maintenance submenu

2. Claim header 2. Work with members 2. Table item scroll inquiry

3. Claim payable screen―

non-medical 3. Group member entry 3. Table item maintenance

4. Unrealized check 4. Client scroll 4. Policy type parameters

5. Claim payable screen―

non-medical 5. Client maintain―personal 5. Table item scroll inquiry

6. Claims exit screen 6. Group member entry 6. Tables and codes

maintenance submenu

7. Claim payee details 7. Work with members

8. Claims exit screen 8. Major alterations sub-menu

9. Claims exit screen

10. Claims sub-menu

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

Single Application Server

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 200

virtual users, which is equivalent to 266 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 concurrent users on a single server.

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

Test scenarios Response time (seconds)

133 users 166 users 200 users 230 users 266 users

Create personal client 1.33 1.43 1.40 1.40 1.46

Modify personal client 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.33 1.46

Modify bank branch 1.15 1.14 1.21 1.29 1.30

Direct credit bank

account inquiry 1.17 1.11 1.20 1.18 1.26

Branch inquiry 1.47 1.50 1.56 1.63 1.68

High-level client inquiry 1.12 1.11 1.13 1.18 1.18

Chart structure inquiry 1.25 1.24 1.27 1.29 1.36

Help lines inquiry 1.20 1.20 1.24 1.32 1.34

Create account 1.45 1.42 1.52 1.52 1.63

Payment inquiry 1.47 1.52 1.59 1.53 1.71

Table inquiry 1.81 1.97 1.91 1.99 2.15

Policy inquiry 5.60 5.79 5.77 5.92 6.45

Client roles inquiry 1.34 1.42 1.43 1.43 1.50

Claim maintenance 3.95 4.14 4.11 4.28 4.55

Claim inquiry 1.90 1.90 1.99 2.05 2.22

Major alteration, add

member 5.42 5.47 5.64 5.75 5.90

Work with bank

guarantee 1.79 1.79 1.87 1.90 2.03

New business group

term life 10.69 11.15 11.18 11.66 12.21

New business group

health cover 15.07 15.38 15.65 16.16 16.96


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

varying numbers of concurrent 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 133

users 166

users 200

users 230

users 266

users

Average application server memory utilization 7.8% 8.7% 9.2% 10.2% 10.9%

Maximum application server memory

utilization 8.7% 9.3% 10.0% 11.3% 12.0%

Average application server CPU utilization 21.8% 25.4% 30.5% 36.8% 40.6%

Maximum application server CPU utilization 42.3% 40.3% 51.0% 53.0% 73.0%

Total throughput (business transactions per minute)

355 426 483 550 605

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

transactions processed per minute for the various numbers of virtual users. Note that the average

application server CPU utilization remained below 41 percent, which is considered acceptable.

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

18.00

133 166 200 230 266

Tra

nsa

ctio

n p

roce

ssin

g ti

me

(in

sec

on

ds)

Create personal client

Modify personal client

Modify bank branch

Direct credit bank acct inquiry

Branch inquiry

High-level client inquiry

Chart structure inquiry

Help lines inquiry

Create account

Payment inquiry

Table inquiry

Policy inquiry

Client roles inquiry

Claim maintenance

Claim inquiry

Major alteration, add member

Work with bank guarantee

New business group term life

New business group health cover

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” at 175 virtual users, or 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 2 percent. The average number of batch requests per second processed

by SQL Server was 2,426 with 260 concurrent users, with a maximum of 2,712 batch requests per

second.

Table 6. Database server metrics for single server tests

Database server metrics 133

users 166

users 200

users 230

users 266

users

Average database server CPU utilization 0.86% 1.12% 1.32% 1.58% 1.62%

Maximum database server CPU utilization 1.07% 1.36% 1.54% 1.82% 1.87%

Average number of batch requests per second

1,203 1,522 1,839 2,120 2,426

Maximum number of batch requests per second

1,375 1,712 2,077 2,387 2,712

0.00

100.00

200.00

300.00

400.00

500.00

600.00

700.00

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10.00

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erce

nt

uti

lizat

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Average CPUutilization (%)

Maximum CPUutilization (%)

Average memoryutilization (%)

Maximum memoryutilization (%)

Total throughput(businesstransactions/minute)

133 266 230 166 200

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 server tests

Multiple Application Servers

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 used one application

server with 165 concurrent users (equivalent to 125 virtual users) and two application servers with

330 concurrent users (equivalent to 250 virtual users).

The test results showed that as you add an application server, the throughput increases and the

average number of transactions per server remains nearly constant, demonstrating the

effectiveness of using a scale-out deployment to increase the overall throughput.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2 Average CPUutilization (%)


Average number ofbatch requests/sec

Maximum number ofbatch requests/sec

133 166 200 230 266

Nu

mb

er o

f b

atch

req

ues

ts/s

eco

nd

Per

cen

t u

tiliz

atio

n



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

numbers of servers and concurrent 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 (165 users)

Two app servers (330 users)

Create personal client 1.38 1.40

Modify personal client 1.35 1.31

Modify bank branch 1.16 1.20

Direct credit bank account inquiry 1.17 1.17

Branch inquiry 1.54 1.51

High-level client inquiry 1.13 1.10

Chart structure inquiry 1.24 1.27

Help lines inquiry 1.24 1.28

Create account 1.49 1.50

Payment inquiry 1.94 2.06

Table inquiry 1.90 1.90

Policy inquiry 5.73 5.71

Client roles inquiry 1.43 1.38

Claim maintenance 4.16 4.17

Claim inquiry 1.94 1.94

Major alteration, add member 5.69 5.59

Work with bank guarantee 1.88 1.87

New business group term life 11.20 11.02

New business group health cover 15.77 15.55


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

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

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

addition of a second application server.

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

These test results demonstrate that adding an application server increases the throughput while keeping the transaction processing times constant.

0

2

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12

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18

1 server, 165 users 2 servers, 330 users

Tran

sact

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pro

cess

ing

tim

e (s

eco

nd

s)

Create personal client

Modify personal client

Modify bank branch

Direct credit bank account inquiry

Branch inquiry

High-level client inquiry

Chart structure inquiry

Help lines inquiry

Create account

Payment inquiry

Table inquiry

Policy inquiry

Client roles inquiry

Claim maintenance

Claim inquiry

Major alterations 1―add member

Work with bank guarantee

NB-GTL

NB-GHC

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800


Thro

ugh

pu

t (t

ran

sact

ion

s/se

rver

/min

ute

) Test scenarios


Application Server Metrics for Multiple Server Tests

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

(165 users)

Two app servers

(330 users)

Average application server memory utilization 8.6% 8.7%

Maximum application server memory utilization 21. 7% 10.0%

Average application server CPU utilization 32.1% 36.5%

Maximum application server CPU utilization 52.0% 52.0%

Average number of transactions per server, per minute 677 659

Total throughput (business transactions per minute) 677 1318

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.

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 of SQL Server and the number of batch requests per second

processed by SQL Server in the multiple server tests. The results show that the average database

server CPU utilization remained below 3 percent. The average number of batch requests per second

processed by SQL Server was 3,900 for the two application servers, with a maximum of 4,307 batch

requests per second.

0

200

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1200

1400

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30

40

50

60




Average memoryutilization (%)

Maximum memoryutilization (%)

Total throughout(businesstransactions/minute)P

erce

nt

uti

lizat

ion

Tota

l th

rou

ghp

ut(

bu

sin

ess

tran

sact

ion

s/m

inu

te)


Table 9. Database metrics for multiple server tests

Database server metrics One application server

(165 users)

Two application servers

(330 users)

Average database server CPU utilization 1.40% 2.87%

Maximum database server CPU utilization 1.87% 3.23%

Average number of batch requests per second 1,979 3,900

Maximum number of batch requests per second 2,215 4,307

Figure 9 visualizes the database server metrics.

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

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

1 app server, 165 users 2 app servers, 330 users



Average number ofbatch requests/sec

Maximum number ofbatch requests/sec

Nu

mb

er o

f b

atch

req

ues

ts/s

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Per

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tiliz

atio

n


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 266 concurrent users, the measured throughput was 605 business transactions per minute. For

two application servers with 330 concurrent users, the total throughput was 1,318 business

transactions per minute.

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

test with 330 concurrent users, SQL Server processed an average 3,900 batch request per second

(and a maximum of 4,307 batch request per second), with an average of less than 3 percent CPU

utilization.

These results clearly confirm that Integral’s group insurance component running on SQL Server and

Windows Server can easily support at least 330 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 group insurance component with confidence.


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 group insurance ...€¦ · software and the windows...

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