Crystal Reports Server Performance Test

A healthy Crystal Reports Processing Server is one that processes all the page requests it receives without fail and in minimum time, so that EPF pages are quickly generated and returned to clients. If requests to a Crystal Reports, Processing Server fail often or take too long to be processed, EPF page generation will be considerably delayed. As a result, the server’s promise of instant, page-on-demand access to users will stand broken, killing user confidence in its abilities. Moreover, any slowdown in request processing will also result in long pending request queues, which if allowed to grow may choke the server. In short, processing bottlenecks with the Crystal Reports Processing Server can prove to be detrimental to the health of the server and will also damage user experience with the server. This is why, it is imperative that administrators identify a probable slowdown or outage of the server at its nascent stages itself, so that they can avert such fatalities well before they occur. The Crystal Reports Server Performance test helps administrators with this.

This test closely tracks page requests to the server, continuously observes the rate at which the server processes page requests, rapidly isolates probable failures/slowdowns, and promptly alerts administrators to them. This way, the test provides administrators with a heads-up on potentially serious processing bottlenecks, so that administrators can work towards preventing them.

Target of the test : A SAP BOBI Node

Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the Crystal Reports Processing server running in the node monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

Host name of the server for which the test is to be configured.

Port

Enter the port to which the specified host listens. This should be the port at which the web application server hosting SAP BOBI listens.

JMX Remote Port

Specify the RMI port number of the BOBI monitoring application.To know the RMI port number of the monitoring application, refer to Enabling the Monitoring Application of the SAP BOBI Platform.

JNDI Name

Specify the lookup name for connecting to the JMX connector of the BOBI monitoring application. To know the JNDI name, refer to Enabling the Monitoring Application of the SAP BOBI Platform.

JMX User and JMX Password

Enter the credentials of an enterprise authenticated BOBI user belonging to the default monitoring users group.

Confirm Password

Confirm the password by retyping it here.

Node Name

Specify the name of the BOBI node being monitored.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Processing rate

Indicates the rate at which the server processes the page requests it receives.

Requests/Sec

A consistent drop in the value of this measure could indicate a probable processing slowdown.

Number of open jobs

Indicates the number of jobs that the server and its child processes are currently processing.

Number

This is a good indicator of the current workload of the server.

Average processing time

Indicates the average time taken by the server to process a request (taken over the last 500 requests).

Millisecs

Ideally, the value of this measure should be low. A high value or a consistent rise in this value is a cause for concern, as it indicates a slowdown in request processing.

Number of queued requests

Indicates the number of requests waiting to be processed or are being processed.

Number

A steady rise in the value of this measure is a sign of a request queue that is growing. This means that the server is unable to process page requests as quickly as it receives them. You may want to check the value of the Busy server threads measure of the Crystal Reports Processing Server Status test to know if the lack of free threads in the thread pool is the reason for the slowness.

Number of open connections

Indicates the number of connections open between the server and its clients.

Number

 

Percentage requests failed

Indicates what percentage of the last 500 requests have failed.

Percent

Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0. A non-zero value is a sign of trouble. A value close to 100 could hint at a critical problem condition that warrants an immediate and thorough investigation.

Data transfer rate

Indicates the rate at which data is transferred from the server to its clients in the last measure period.

KB/Sec