Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Software Running on SQL Server

Transcription

1 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 0 Applies to: Microsoft SQL Server 0 Abstract In June through August of 0, CSC and Microsoft conducted performance and scalability testing on CSC s Integral group insurance component running on Microsoft SQL Server 0 Enterprise data management software and the Windows Server 00 R Enterprise operating system. The benchmark testing was very successful, scaling to 0 concurrent users running against a 0,000-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. Integral is a trademark of CSC, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server i

2 0 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 ii

3 Table of Contents Introduction... Introducing CSC s Integral... Microsoft and CSC Team Up for Insurance... Benefits of SQL Server... Benchmark Testing Overview... Test Environment... Application and Load Generation Servers... Database Server... Storage... Test Scenarios... Benchmark Testing Results... Single Application Server... Application Server Metric for Single Server Tests... 0 Database Metrics for Single Server Tests... Multiple Application Servers... Application Server Metrics for Multiple Server Tests... Database Server Metrics for Multiple Server Tests... Summary... Additional Information... About CSC... About Microsoft... Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server iii

4 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: 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 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. 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 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 Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

5 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 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 shows CSC s Integral on Microsoft software. Figure. CSC's Integral on Microsoft software For more information about how CSC and Microsoft are working together, visit Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

6 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 0 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 (. percent) uptime availability CSC customers can protect their mission-critical databases from downtime and data loss with six nines uptime availability., Faster to deploy On average, SQL Server database administrators (DBAs) can install and configure new database servers in. hours, while the largest competitor s DBAs can take hours. 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; 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. 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 $, in administrative costs per database, a 0 percent difference in annual cost of administration per database Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

7 Fewer security vulnerabilities Since 00, 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. 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 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 0 and Windows Server 00 R Enterprise. The benchmarking tests aimed to simulate the daily activities of agents at typical insurance firm, with up to 0 concurrent users running against a 0,000-member database with complex policy structures. The results were achieved on two application servers and a database server, all industrystandard with a total list price of less than $,000, and industry-standard storage with a list price of $0,000 0 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, virtual users are equivalent to actual concurrent users. Multiple server tests These tests looked at the horizontal scalability of the solution by testing one application server with virtual users (equivalent to concurrent users), and then testing two application servers with 0 virtual users (equivalent to 0 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 Manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) in April 0 0 Manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) in April 0 Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

8 Details of the servers used are shown in Table. Table. Servers used in benchmark testing Server Number of servers Make/model Cache Number of cores CPU RAM Database server Intel four socket MB Four Intel Xeon X0 processors (.0 GHz) GB Application servers HP ProLiant DL0 G MB Two Intel Xeon X0 processors (.0 GHz) GB Load-generation servers HP ProLiant DL0 G IBM System x0 X MB MB Two Intel Xeon X0 processors (.0 GHz) Four Intel Xeon X0 processors (. GHz) GB GB Domain controller/ Active Directory Domain Services Dell PowerEdge 0 MB Two Intel Xeon processors (.0 GHz) GB Storage X-IO Hyper ISE Two Datapacs (0 solid-state drives [SSD] and 0 serialattached SCSI [SAS] drives each), capable of 0K-0K IOPS Application and Load Generation Servers The tests used two HP ProLiant DL0 G application servers and up to load-generation servers (one IBM System x0 X and up to three HP ProLiant DL0 G 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 E family. The configuration was as follows: SQL Server 0 Enterprise Windows Server 00 R Enterprise with Service Pack (SP) Four Intel Xeon X0 processors, for a total of cores GB of random access memory (RAM) Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

9 UID PowerEdge 0 0 HP ProLiant DL0 G 0 OVER TEMP POWER POWER SUPPLY SUPPLY POWER CAP OVER TEMP POWER POWER SUPPLY SUPPLY POWER CAP FANS FANS PROC System x0 PROC ONLINE SPARE MIRROR ONLINE SPARE MIRROR PROC PROC OVER TEMP POWER POWER SUPPLY SUPPLY POWER CAP OVER TEMP POWER POWER SUPPLY SUPPLY POWER CAP FANS PROC ONLINE SPARE MIRROR PROC OVER TEMP POWER POWER SUPPLY SUPPLY POWER CAP FANS FANS PROC PROC ONLINE SPARE MIRROR ONLINE SPARE MIRROR PROC PROC UID UID UID UID UID HP ProLiant DL0 G HP ProLiant DL0 G HP ProLiant DL0 G HP ProLiant DL0 G HP ProLiant DL0 G ESD Application servers Load-generation servers Storage X-IO Hyper ISE storage modules provided. terabytes of storage for the database tables and indices. However, less than terabyte of the total capacity of the storage was used for the tests. Figure shows a schematic of the infrastructure used in the benchmark testing. Back-End Tier (Database) Windows Server 00 R Enterprise with SP Front-End Tier (Application/Load Generation) Windows Server 00 R Enterprise with SP SQL Server 0 Enterprise Intel Xeon -socket x.0 GHz GB RAM X-IO storage Hyper ISE HP ProLiant DL0G x.0 GHz GB RAM Pool 0 x 0K SAS 0 x SSD SQL DB Drive E 00 GB SQL TempDB Drive F 00 GB SQL Logs Drive G 00 GB ISE Pool 0 x 0K SAS 0 x SSD SQL DB Drive E 00 GB SQL TempDB Drive F 00 GB SQL Logs Drive G 00 GB Dlink DSX-0SR Gbps Ethernet HP ProLiant DL0G x.0 GHz GB RAM HP ProLiant DL0G x.0 GHz GB RAM SQL Scratch Drive S TB SQL Scratch Drive S TB HP ProLiant DL0G x.0 GHz GB RAM Active Directory Domain Services/ Domain Name System Windows Server 00 R Enterprise HP ProLiant DL0G x.0 GHz GB RAM Dell PowerEdge 0 x.0 GHz GB RAM IBM System x0 X x. GHz GB RAM Figure. Benchmark testing equipment Test Scenarios The benchmark testing used automated test scenarios that represent more than 0 percent of the transaction types that are performed daily at a typical insurance firm, including inquiries, modifications, and additions. Each test scenario involved between and user steps, with a think time of 0 seconds between steps. Completion times varied between test scenarios. The tests scenarios and the number of steps in each are listed in Table. Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

10 Table. Test scenarios Test number Test scenarios Number of steps Test Create personal client Test Modify personal client Test Modify bank branch Test Direct credit bank account inquiry Test Branch inquiry Test High-level client inquiry Test Chart structure inquiry Test Help lines inquiry Test Create account Test 0 Payment inquiry Test Table inquiry Test Policy inquiry Test Client roles inquiry Test Claim maintenance 0 Test Claim inquiry Test Major alteration, add member Test Work with bank guarantee Test New business group term life Test New business group health cover For the benchmarking tests, the average throughput of a mix of the test scenarios was measured. As an example, Table lists the steps in three typical test scenarios: Claim maintenance (test ), Major alteration, add member (test ), and Table inquiry (test ). Note that some steps are performed more than once. Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

11 Table. Examples of steps in test scenarios Claim maintenance. Claims sub-menu Major alterations add member. Major alterations sub-menu Table inquiry. Tables and codes maintenance submenu. Claim header. Work with members. Table item scroll inquiry. Claim payable screen non-medical. Group member entry. Table item maintenance. Unrealized check. Client scroll. Policy type parameters. Claim payable screen non-medical. Client maintain personal. Table item scroll inquiry. Claims exit screen. Group member entry. Tables and codes maintenance submenu. Claim payee details. Work with members. Claims exit screen. Major alterations sub-menu. Claims exit screen 0. 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 entrylevel application server. These tests were performed on one application server (HP ProLiant DL0 G with cores and GB RAM) and one database server (Intel Xeon four-socket), using the IBM System x0 X server to generate the test workload. For these single application server tests, the team added virtual users up to a maximum of 00 virtual users, which is equivalent to concurrent users. The team ran each scenario several times, and calculated an average of these test runs. Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

12 Table lists the response times, or average time to complete each test scenario, for the various numbers of concurrent users on a single server. Table. Results of single application server tests with various numbers of concurrent users Test scenarios Response time (seconds) users users 00 users 0 users users 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 alteration, add member Work with bank guarantee New business group term life New business group health cover Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

13 Transaction processing time (in seconds) Figure visualizes the transaction processing times for the test scenarios for a single server with varying numbers of concurrent users Number of concurrent users Figure. Single server user test results, transaction processing time per test scenario Test scenarios 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 Application Server Metric for Single Server Tests Table shows total throughput and the average and maximum application server memory and CPU utilizations in the single server tests. Table. Application server metrics for single server tests Application server metrics users users 00 users 0 users users Average application server memory utilization.%.%.% 0.% 0.% Maximum application server memory utilization.%.% 0.0%.%.0% Average application server CPU utilization.%.% 0.%.% 0.% Maximum application server CPU utilization.% 0.%.0%.0%.0% Total throughput (business transactions per minute) 0 0 Figure 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 percent, which is considered acceptable. Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server 0

14 Percent utilization Total throughput (business transactions/minute) Average CPU Maximum CPU Average memory Maximum memory Total throughput (business transactions/minute) Number of concurrent users 0.00 Figure. Single server total number of transactions and CPU and memory utilizations Figure and Figure show that there is a sweet spot at virtual users, or 0 concurrent users, in terms of throughput, execution time, and CPU utilization. Database Metrics for Single Server Tests Table 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 percent. The average number of batch requests per second processed by SQL Server was, with 0 concurrent users, with a maximum of, batch requests per second. Table. Database server metrics for single server tests Database server metrics users users 00 users 0 users users Average database server CPU utilization 0.%.%.%.%.% Maximum database server CPU utilization.0%.%.%.%.% Average number of batch requests per second Maximum number of batch requests per second,0,,,0,,,,0,, Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

15 Percent utilization Number of batch requests/second Figure visualizes the database server metrics for the single server tests Average CPU Maximum CPU Average number of batch requests/sec Maximum number of batch requests/sec Number of concurrent users 0 Figure. 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 concurrent users (equivalent to virtual users) and two application servers with 0 concurrent users (equivalent to 0 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. Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

16 Table 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. Results of multiple application server tests with various numbers of simulated concurrent users Test scenarios One app server ( users) Response time (seconds) Two app servers (0 users) Create personal client..0 Modify personal client.. Modify bank branch..0 Direct credit bank account inquiry.. Branch inquiry.. High-level client inquiry..0 Chart structure inquiry.. Help lines inquiry.. Create account..0 Payment inquiry..0 Table inquiry.0.0 Policy inquiry.. Client roles inquiry.. Claim maintenance.. Claim inquiry.. Major alteration, add member.. Work with bank guarantee.. New business group term life.0.0 New business group health cover.. Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

17 Throughput (transactions/server/minute) Transaction processing time (seconds) Figure visualizes the response times for the two test scenarios. 0 0 server, users servers, 0 users Test scenarios 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 add member Work with bank guarantee NB-GTL NB-GHC Figure. Multiple server test results, transaction processing time per test scenario Figure shows that the average number of transactions per server stays nearly constant with the addition of a second application server server, users servers, 0 users Figure. 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. Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

18 Percent utilization Total throughput(business transactions/minute) Application Server Metrics for Multiple Server Tests Table shows total throughput and the average and maximum application server memory and CPU utilizations in the multiple server tests. Table. Application server metrics for multiple server tests Application server metrics One app server ( users) Two app servers (0 users) Average application server memory utilization.%.% Maximum application server memory utilization. % 0.0% Average application server CPU utilization.%.% Maximum application server CPU utilization.0%.0% Average number of transactions per server, per minute Total throughput (business transactions per minute) Figure visualizes the application server CPU and memory utilization and the total number of transactions. Note that the average application server CPU utilization remained below 0 percent, which is considered acceptable Average CPU Maximum CPU Average memory Maximum memory Total throughout (business transactions/minute) server, users servers, 0 users 0 Figure. Multiple application server total number of transactions and CPU and memory utilizations Database Server Metrics for Multiple Server Tests Table 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 percent. The average number of batch requests per second processed by SQL Server was,00 for the two application servers, with a maximum of,0 batch requests per second. Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

19 Percent utilization Number of batch requests/second Table. Database metrics for multiple server tests Database server metrics One application server ( users) Two application servers (0 users) Average database server CPU utilization.0%.% Maximum database server CPU utilization.%.% Average number of batch requests per second,,00 Maximum number of batch requests per second,,0 Figure visualizes the database server metrics Average CPU Maximum CPU Average number of batch requests/sec Maximum number of batch requests/sec app server, users app servers, 0 users 0 Figure. CPU utilization by SQL Server and the number of batch requests per second processed by SQL Server Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

20 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 concurrent users, the measured throughput was 0 business transactions per minute. For two application servers with 0 concurrent users, the total throughput was, business transactions per minute. SQL Server 0 Enterprise performed remarkably well in the tests; for the two application servers test with 0 concurrent users, SQL Server processed an average,00 batch request per second (and a maximum of,0 batch request per second), with an average of less than 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 0 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. Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server

21 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 0 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,000 employees and reported revenue of $. billion for the months ended March 0, 0. The company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CSC. For more information about CSC, visit About Microsoft Founded in, 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 Benchmark Testing Results: CSC s Integral Group Insurance Solution and Microsoft SQL Server