Investment in 64-Bit Intel Itanium® Servers Pays Returns for Commsec
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Investment in 64-bit Intel Itanium 2 servers pays returns for CommSec Solution Overview Intel and Microsoft Customer Reference Case Study Customer Profile Business Challenge Web server logs and try to figure out the Founded in 1995 as a telephone-based reason for the problem. It was easy to investment service, Commonwealth The investment services arm of the find out basic statistics like how many Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) visitors had come to the site every day, Securities Limited (CommSec) is a Limited, Commonwealth Securities Ltd but more complicated analysis – for subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank (CommSec) maintains numerous internal example, figuring out which Web pages of Australia (CBA). Since launching its and external transactional sites including might be slowing down users because share trading Web site in 1997, Australia’s busiest financial services of misplaced buttons – was virtually CommSec has expanded rapidly to offer Web site, www.commsec.com.au. All impossible. a full range of managed investments told, CommSec-managed Web servers become Australia’s busiest financial handle over 620 million hits and 300,000 Early in 2005, CommSec implemented services Web site, with more than 500 investment transactions monthly. a new Web server logging system million hits per month from more than designed to improve the company’s 537,000 clients. Because the company’s business depends ability to collate and analyse activity so heavily on online services, it is logs. That system was built on 32-bit Intel Challenge essential for the business to monitor the Architecture servers and a Microsoft SQL performance of those services from the Server 2000 database, and went through As Australia’s largest online financial end-user’s perspective. Chronic slow or Web server logs every night to extract, services provider, CommSec needs to unreliable performance can create major dimensionalise and load data into an ensure that the internal and external problems for the business if customers OLAP cube for easy analysis. Web sites it maintains, which receive are unable to trade, for example, or find more than 27 million hits a day, are that anomalies in the site’s construction This approach worked, but the sheer providing the fastest and most effective are making navigation difficult. volume of data being processed – more user experience possible. This requires than 40 million rows per week – meant regular analysis of server performance Keeping quality of service high, and that it was taking more than 10 hours logs, but a log analysis system proved therefore ensuring that customers get for the information to be available to unable to provide results quickly enough consistent and speedy response from the managers. Data processing runs begun company’s online services, was therefore to support business decisions. at 2:00 am would finish after lunchtime, a business priority. This was particularly meaning that it was often the end of the Solution the case as a period of significant day before technical staff could revise expansion in online services had rapidly application code or take other necessary A 4-way Intel Architecture server increased usage by bank staff and remedial actions. running 1.5GHz Intel® Itanium 2 CBA customers. processors and Microsoft SQL Server Latency between the data’s creation 2005 manages the logging, processing, “The user’s perception will ultimately and its availability was hindering storage and analysis of Web user logs drive the technological strategy we use, CommSec’s goal of providing responsive relating to 40 million weekly hits served so we want to understand what the user and proactive management of its up by dozens of Web servers running experience is,” said Michael Blomfield, growing online environment. After CommSec’s many internal and external head of CommSec. “In the past, however, analysis by consultancy EasternMining. transactional sites. reporting was ad hoc; we were mainly com.au, it was suggested that the hearing about issues later, through the system’s 32-bit architecture was creating Business value user help desk. It’s an exceptionally large a bottleneck. The Web log reporting Web site, and we want information on its • Log analysis time has shrunk from system was moved to a completely new performance in real time. Knowing how environment built on servers running more than 10 hours to 1.5 hours. users are using the sites will allow us to 64-bit Intel Itanium 2 processors and the • Availability of reports first thing in the be more proactive rather than reactive.” Microsoft SQL Server 2005 morning facilitates rapid response. database platform. Although usage of its online services • Managers and technical was growing steadily, CommSec had no The improvement in processing speed administrators better understand way of monitoring the performance of was dramatic: daily Web log analysis, customer activities and its applications. In the event of a service which previously took more than 10 responsiveness issues, to keep interruption, business managers had to hours, now completes in around an long-term planning ahead of demand. work with technical staff to pore through hour and a half. This meant that the Intel and Microsoft Customer Reference Case Study monitoring database, which had more high-volume Web environment, and the Intel Itanium 2 than 820 million rows after six months’ CommSec’s online environment is no servers“ and Microsoft SQL usage and was continuing to grow at exception. With millions of customers breakneck pace, could be processed, relying on its systems to complete Server 2005 have given analysed and reported upon well before essential transactions, it was imperative us an unprecedented view managers arrived at work in that CommSec’s systems be both the morning. responsive and effective in delivering the into the performance of information those users required. our online services so we This capability, in turn, has allowed CommSec to both better understand CommSec’s Web environment is built can focus on delivering the Web and intranet usage patterns, and on a Web services environment that is services customers to more readily identify and remediate supported by dozens of servers dishing any potential performance issues. For up millions of hits per week. Each time want – with the performance example, after a recent analysis showed any of those systems are accessed, details they expect. a slight slowdown in response time are recorded within the Web server logs. due to increasing numbers of users, the Those logs contain invaluable information Michael Blomfield technical managers were able to present about user session length, time to load Head, Commonwealth Securities Limited” concrete performance information to business managers and an additional particular pages, time spent on particular eight Web servers were quickly pages, the navigation path users take purchased to keep critical systems through the site, and other details that running within acceptable are essential to ensuring that the design service parameters. of such a high-volume Web site is best suiting its user’s needs. However, this Over time, increasingly sophisticated information was previously inaccessible analysis will give CommSec managers to managers, who were at best able to use even more visibility into user trends, third-party analysis tools to get only basic The previous allowing them to better classify users usage statistics for the day before. based on their usage patterns. In turn, database“ was just In the hopes of extracting meaningful this capability will help ensure that screaming out for more development testing best reflects information from the logs, EasternMining. memory. Now, with the real-world performance. com.au consultant Richard Lees was engaged to design a business intelligence power and memory of the “Deploying Intel Itanium 2 servers system that would let CommSec get 64-bit Intel Itanium 2 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 to more meaningful information from its monitor our servers has given us an Web server logs. After spending time processors, and the unprecedented view into the manually importing and exporting the capabilities of Microsoft real-world performance of our critical log information into OLAP data cubes for SQL Server 2005, the whole online services,” said Blomfield. analysis, Lees and CommSec staff realised that an automated solution was going data transformation and “As we continue to add functionality to be necessary to keep up with steadily dimensionalisation process to our core Web sites, we can structure growing usage volumes. our business with the confidence that goes much faster. we can meet optimal service levels no “It’s critical to be able to perform fast matter how far our user based expands. ad hoc analysis of the logs to ensure Richard Lees This way, we can continue to focus on service level agreements are met,” said Principal, EasternMining.com.au ” delivering the services customers want – Lees. “This application allows the bank and the performance they expect.” to monitor the performance of the Web servers to analyse the actual experience of Technology Case the end user.” Performance monitoring is essential to In early 2005, CommSec took its first ensure the ongoing value of any step towards more effective log analysis Intel and Microsoft Customer Reference Case Study Lessons Learned by introducing a two-way 32-bit Intel compared with just nine on the old • It’s all about the user Architecture server running the Microsoft system. This means that data analysis can experience. Windows 2003 Server operating system conclude, and reports can be generated, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database. before managers arrive for work in the It doesn’t matter how effective your This system dimensionalised Web morning. Most queries on the OLAP new system is; if it’s not responsive server log information – compressing cube, which now contains nearly 1 billion and well-designed for user needs, and organising it by assigning codes to rows, are answered within one to they won’t make the most of it.