Best Practices For Running

Best Practices for Running TEMENOS T24 on
Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server

Guidance for fine-tuning T24 implementations on Windows Server 2008 R2 and on the
SQL Server 2008 R2 database platform

V1.0 Published: October, 2010
Produced by the Temenos Database Technology Group and contributors from Microsoft:
Lonnye Bower, Konstantin Dotchkoff, Roger Toren - writing
Peter Carlin and Kun Cheng - reviewing

Abstract
TEMENOS T24 (T24) is a complete banking solution designed to meet the challenges faced by
financial institutions in todays competitive market. T24 provides a single, real-time view of
clients across the entire enterprise, making it possible for banks to maximize returns and keep
costs down.
Microsoft SQL Server provides the ideal database platform for T24. By choosing the Microsoft
platform, T24 customers experience faster funds transfers, higher security-trade volumes, and
quicker close-of-business processes; T24 customers can also benefit from open, state-of-the-art
technologies to accelerate innovation, greatly increasing the speed and effectiveness with which
new products and services are created. Using Windows Server 2008 R2 as the operating system
makes it possible for T24 to exceed performance standards in a scalable, reliable environment
that offers ease of management.
This white paper provides best practices for configuring and running TEMENOS T24 on Windows
Server and on the SQL Server database platform. Implementing these best practices can help
you avoid or minimize common problems and optimize the performance of your TEMENOS T24
implementation.

Best Practice Guidance for Running TEMENOS T24 on Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server 2

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Table of Contents
1 OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... 5
2 BEST PRACTICES FOR THE DATABASE SERVER .................................................................................. 7
2.1 SERVER RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................... 7
2.1.1 Use the Latest Software Versions...................................................................................................... 7
2.1.2 Use a 64-Bit Server ............................................................................................................................ 7
2.1.3 Use a Dedicated Server ..................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 SIZING RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................ 8
2.3 STORAGE DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. 9
2.3.1 Use SAN and RAID 10 ........................................................................................................................ 9
2.3.2 Set the Partition Offset ................................................................................................................... 10
2.3.3 Set the File Allocation Unit Size and Stripe Size............................................................................... 10
2.3.4 Dedicate a High Percentage of SAN Cache to Writes ...................................................................... 11
2.3.5 Configure Windows Drives .............................................................................................................. 11
2.4 HARDWARE AND NETWORK GUIDANCE ................................................................................................ 11
2.4.1 Use a Private Network Segment ..................................................................................................... 11
2.4.2 Enable Receive-Side Scaling ............................................................................................................ 12
2.4.3 Consider NIC Teaming ..................................................................................................................... 12
2.4.4 Use Multiple HBAs and Set the HBA Queue Depth .......................................................................... 12
2.5 DATA, LOG, TEMPDB, AND BACKUP FILE RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................. 13
2.5.1 Configure Data Files ........................................................................................................................ 13
2.5.2 Configure the Log File ..................................................................................................................... 13
2.5.3 Configure tempdb Files ................................................................................................................... 13
2.6 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MEMORY SETTINGS ....................................................................................... 14
2.6.1 SQL Server Memory Settings ........................................................................................................... 14
2.6.2 Lock Pages in Memory .................................................................................................................... 14
2.7 GUIDANCE FOR SQL SERVER CONFIGURATION SETTINGS ......................................................................... 15
2.7.1 Consider Lower Fill Factor ............................................................................................................... 15
2.7.2 Increase the SQL Server Recovery Interval ...................................................................................... 16
2.7.3 Use Trace Flag 834 .......................................................................................................................... 16
2.7.4 Keep Default Setting for Degree of Parallelism ............................................................................... 16
2.7.5 Keep Default Setting for Number of Worker Threads ..................................................................... 16
2.7.6 Encrypt Client Communication if Required ...................................................................................... 16
3 BEST PRACTICES FOR THE APPLICATION SERVER ........................................................................... 17
3.1 SOFTWARE RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................ 17
3.1.1 Use the Latest Software Versions.................................................................................................... 17
3.2 T24 CONFIGURATION RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................... 17
3.2.1 Configure the T24 Bulk Factor Parameter ....................................................................................... 17
3.2.2 Configure the T24 Handle Cache Parameter ................................................................................... 17
3.2.3 Consider Using Hyper-Threading .................................................................................................... 18
4 BEST PRACTICES FOR PROVIDING HIGH AVAILABILITY ................................................................... 19

4.1 HIGH AVAILABILITY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DATABASE ................................................................... 19
4.2 HIGH AVAILABILITY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE STORAGE ..................................................................... 20
4.3 T24 RECOVERY................................................................................................................................ 20
4.3.1 Online Recovery .............................................................................................................................. 20
4.3.2 Close of Business (COB) ................................................................................................................... 20
5 BEST PRACTICES FOR DISASTER RECOVERY .................................................................................... 21
5.1 SAN MIRRORING ............................................................................................................................. 21
5.2 SYNCHRONOUS DATABASE MIRRORING ................................................................................................ 21
5.3 ASYNCHRONOUS REPLICATION METHODS ............................................................................................. 22
5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONNECTION BANDWIDTH ............................................................................. 22
6 BEST PRACTICES FOR REPORTING .................................................................................................. 23
7 BEST PRACTICES FOR PERFORMANCE TUNING .............................................................................. 24
7.1 GUIDANCE FOR IMPROVING QUERY PERFORMANCE ................................................................................ 24
7.1.1 Optimize Standard T24 Queries ...................................................................................................... 24
7.1.2 Optimize Customer-Specific T24 Queries ........................................................................................ 25
7.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MONITORING PERFORMANCE OF THE DATABASE TIER .......................................... 30
8 BEST PRACTICES FOR SYSTEM MAINTENANCE ............................................................................... 31
8.1 GUIDANCE FOR BACKING UP THE DATABASE ......................................................................................... 31
8.1.1 Use Backup Compression ................................................................................................................ 31
8.1.2 Implement a Backup Schedule ........................................................................................................ 31
8.1.3 Back Up System Databases ............................................................................................................. 32
8.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UPDATING STATISTICS .................................................................................... 32
8.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REORGANIZING OR REBUILDING INDEXES ........................................................... 32
8.3.1 Reorganize Indexes ......................................................................................................................... 33
8.3.2 Rebuild Indexes when Necessary .................................................................................................... 34
8.4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UPDATE MANAGEMENT ................................................................................. 34
8.4.1 Maintain Your Microsoft Software ................................................................................................. 34
9 SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 35
10 APPENDIX 1: CREATE A MAINTENANCE PLAN TO BACK UP THE TEMENOS DATABASE ................... 37
11 APPENDIX 2: CREATE A MAINTENANCE PLAN TO BACK UP THE SYSTEM DATABASES .................... 43
12 APPENDIX 3: UPDATE STATISTICS .................................................................................................. 49
13 APPENDIX 4: REORGANIZE AND REBUILD INDEXES ........................................................................ 53
14 APPENDIX 5: INSTALLATION CHECK LIST ........................................................................................ 60


1 Overview
To help financial institutions face the challenges posed by todays around-the-clock, global
marketplace, Temenos Group AG, the leading provider of integrated core banking systems,
offers TEMENOS T24 (T24). T24 pairs comprehensive and powerfully flexible business
functionality with the most advanced and scalable architecture available today.
T24 is built on an open architecture, and it uses established standards such as HTTP, XML, and
Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE). The design of T24 supports multiple application
servers and provides horizontal scalability with true non-stop resilience.
The capabilities of T24 can be enhanced by the choice of an enterprise-ready database platform.
Customers running T24 on a Windows Server operating system and Microsoft SQL Server
data management software benefit from a wide range of products and tools that can be used to
further improve the performance and extend the capabilities of the T24 banking solution.
Figure 1 shows a logical model of the interaction of the various services and components that
make up a T24 banking implementation. In this white paper, we focus on best practice guidance
for the database layer (in green).

Figure 1. Logical architecture of T24.

This white paper, intended for database administrators (DBAs), describes optimizations that you
can make to the database tier and describes the database tiers interaction with the application
tier to help ensure a successful deployment of T24 on SQL Server.
The paper first discusses best practices for configuring the database server and the application
servers and provides guidance for building scalability and high availability into the T24 banking
solution. The paper then looks at the options for disaster recovery. Best practices for reporting
are presented, and best practices for monitoring the performance of the database tier and for
system maintenance are discussed. The paper also provides appendices with step-by-step
guidance and extensive links for further information.
Implementing these best practices can help you optimize the performance of your TEMENOS
T24 implementation and can also help you avoid or minimize common problems.


2 Best Practices for the Database Server
Following are some best practices you should use to configure your database server.
2.1 Server Recommendations
2.1.1 Use the Latest Software Versions
For best performance, you should use the latest software versions. Currently, you should use:
T24 Version R10 SP5.
T24 version R10 SP5 contains key performance and scalability improvements for running T24 on
Windows Server and SQL Server.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2.
SQL Server 2008 R2 contains performance and scalability improvements for running on
computes with many cores, such as those commonly used in banking implementations.
Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system.
Windows Server 2008 R2 provides many benefits, including:
A more efficient TCP/IP stack than in previous versions of Windows Server. In addition
to reducing latency of transaction processing, this benefits the disaster recovery (DR)
options described in detail in section Best Practices for Disaster Recovery.
Receive-side scaling (RSS), which makes it possible for network packet processing to be
distributed across more CPUs. For more information, see Receive-Side Scaling.
Support for up to 256 logical processors (cores). On previous versions of Windows
Server, only up to 64 cores were supported.
Optimizations for 64-bit processors.
Improved failover clustering capabilities.
Optimized partition offsets when disks are formatted, reducing complexity in I/O
system configuration.
For more detailed information, see Windows Server 2008 R2.
Note: On a database server running Windows Server 2008 R2, you should apply Windows
hotfix KB976700 to avoid excessive kernel time when an application performs many large I/O
operations. The excessive kernel time occurs if the total I/O bandwidth of the computer is not
large enough, decreasing application performance. For more information, see Microsoft Support
Article 976700.
2.1.2 Use a 64-Bit Server
64-bit servers provide efficient access to the memory and the number of cores required by T24.

2.1.3 Use a Dedicated Server
If you are mixing workloads on one physical computer, you should use virtual machines or
Windows/SQL Server mechanisms to control and monitor resource usage. Diagnosing
performance problems requires more effort and precision on a system with mixed workloads.
2.2 Sizing Recommendations
You can use Table 1 for guidance on hardware resources and time required to complete the
daily close-of-business (COB) workload of a T24 Retail Model Bank system.
The table contains resource utilization results for several installation sizes based on the number
of customer accounts, i.e., 1 million (1M), 5 million (5M), 10 million (10M), and 25 million (25M)
accounts.
Size 1M 5M 10M 25M
Workload
Transactions Accruals Accruals Accruals
Accruals &
Capitalizations
COB Total Time 0hr 52min 2hr 17min 1hr 56min 3hr 17min
IC.COB Time 0hr 13min 0hr 59min 0hr 54min 1hr 20min

Application
Tier
#TAFC Agents 64 120 128 320
#Cores
32 Xeon
5435
48 Xeon 5435
32 Xeon 5435
+
32 AMD 2384
188 (X6550,
E5540, E5650,
X7560)
CPU utilization 28% 42% 50% 73%
Cores used if
CPU at 100%
9 17 32 137
Database
Tier
#Cores
24 Xeon
7460
24 Xeon 7460 32 Xeon 7560 64 Xeon 7560
CPU utilization 19% 29% 34% 70%
Cores used if
CPU at 100%
5 7 11 45
Memory 64GB 64GB 128GB 1TB
Memory used 48GB 60GB 80GB 600GB
Network
NIC bandwidth 1Gbps 1Gbps 10Gbps 10Gbps
#NICs in DB 1 1 1 1

I/O
System
IOPS avg 660 970 2,000 7,000
IOPS peak 3,000 2,800 53,000 62,000
Data IOPS avg 260 510 1,500 6,000
Log IOPS avg 400 440 610 1,000
Data IOPS peak 1,340 2,100 52,000 60,000
Log IOPS peak 2,680 2,800 4,930 1,500
Table 1. T24 COB resource utilization.
These results are based on lab testing with a standardized workload; every application has
different functionality and different close-of-business processes. You should work with the
Temenos Performance and Sizing Team to properly size your system based on the expected
workload. Temenos also provides a Universal Performance Measurement (UPM) tool that can
be used to verify a hardware configuration before T24 is installed. In some cases, tests that
model your business processes as closely as possible may be necessary to confirm the server
sizes required to support your business scenario.
2.3 Storage Design Recommendations
Processing large volumes of banking transactions and providing high availability and disaster
recovery (HADR), as well as reporting and extracting to data warehouse (DW) systems, requires
substantial I/O system resources.
Following are best practices you should use when designing storage for your T24
implementation.
2.3.1 Use SAN and RAID 10
You should use RAID 10 if possible for all logical unit numbers (LUNs). RAID 10 offers better
performance and availability than RAID 5 and offers better support for write-heavy
environments. For optimum and predictable performance, the LUNs must be made up of
physical drives that are not used by other applications.
It is generally better to have a larger number of small drives than a smaller number of large
drives. If your storage area network (SAN) has multiple buses (sometimes called shelves), create
each LUN using drives from each bus to improve the internal bandwidth. Table 2 shows how to
choose drives from multiple buses to make up one LUN.


LUN 1 LUN 2 LUN 4
Bus 1 1 4 7 10 13 46
Bus 2 2 5 8 11 14 47
Bus 3 3 6 9 12 15 48
Table 2. Choosing drives from multiple buses to create a LUN.
You should refer to the article Predeployment I/O Best Practices for procedures to test your I/O
subsystem performance.
Note: For an online transaction processing (OLTP) system the ideal latency values on a well-
tuned I/O subsystem are:
< 5 milliseconds (ms) for log (ideally 1 ms on arrays with cache)
< 20 ms for data on OLTP systems (ideally 10 ms or less)
2.3.2 Set the Partition Offset
If you are using the Windows Server 2003 operating system, you should use the Diskpart.exe
tool to create the disk partition. Use Diskpart.exe to specify a starting offset of 1 megabyte (MB)
to avoid split writes and reads, as these can seriously degrade performance. If the offset is not
optimal, a single logical I/O becomes multiple physical I/Os. Some storage manufacturers claim
to handle this within their architecture, but there usually is some degradation that can be easily
avoided by setting the appropriate offset.
For more information about DiskPart.exe, see the article DiskPart.
In Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, the partition offset is set appropriately
by default for new storage. (Note that the offset of existing storage is not changed when
upgrading from Windows Server 2003.)
2.3.3 Set the File Allocation Unit Size and Stripe Size
When formatting the partition that will be used for SQL Server data files, you should use a 64-
kilobyte (KB) allocation unit size for data, logs, and the tempdb database.
The stripe size is also important to reach an optimal configuration. This is set in the SAN
management software, not through Windows Server. The following two equations can be used
to determine if you have an optimal configuration. Each should result in an integer value:
Partition_Offset Stripe_Unit_Size
Stripe_Unit_Size File_Allocation_Unit_Size
For details on managing disk partition sector alignment, see Disk Partition Alignment Best
Practices for SQL Server.

2.3.4 Dedicate a High Percentage of SAN Cache to Writes
Most SANs have a large cache that can be split between a read cache and a write cache. SQL
Server provides read-ahead and read caching, and SQL Server does not benefit much from a SAN
read cache. If you have the option (within the constraints of SAN usage by applications), you
should dedicate 90% of the SAN cache to writes to improve write performance (a cache ratio of
10/90 read/write).
Note that virtually all SANs sold today have battery-backed cache. If this is not the case with
your SAN, you must disable write caching or risk losing committed data in the event of a power
outage.
2.3.5 Configure Windows Drives
Once you have configured LUNs on your SAN, you need to assign the LUNs to drives in Windows,
using disk management to create the drives. Table 3 shows a sample Windows Server storage
configuration for use by SQL Server.
Physical Drive LUN Drive Usage
112 1 E data
1324 2 F data
2536 3 G tempdb
3748 4 H log
Table 3. Sample storage configuration for SQL Server.
You can also present storage to SQL Server through mount points, disk volumes that are
mounted as folders on other physical disks, without incurring a performance penalty.
For further information about storage design for SQL Server, see Storage Top 10 Best Practices.
2.4 Hardware and Network Guidance
The following are some important best practices for the hardware and networking of your T24
database implementation.
2.4.1 Use a Private Network Segment
The traffic between T24 application servers and SQL Server and the traffic between SQL Server
and the storage system is quite high. You should use a private network segment for T24SQL
Server communication. This should be at least a 1-Gigabit Ethernet network, and a 10-Gigabit
Ethernet network for installations with more than 5 million accounts. This can be in addition to a
standard 100-Mb Ethernet connection to SQL Server for administration purposes.

2.4.2 Enable Receive-Side Scaling
You should enable Receive-Side Scaling (RSS) on the SQL Server network interface card (NIC)
that is serving the application servers. This setting is found on the Advanced Property tab of the
network card. Also, be sure that offloading options are enabled. See the Microsoft Developer
Network (MSDN) articles Introduction to Receive-Side Scaling and Receive-Side Scaling
Enhancements in Windows Server 2008 for more information. If your NIC does not support
these options, consider replacing it with one that does.
You should configure the maximum number of RSS processors by setting the MaxNumRssCpus
registry key value to 8 on a computer system with 32 or more CPU cores. For computer systems
with less than 32 cores, use the default setting.
The RSS base CPU number (RssBaseCpu) is the CPU number of the first CPU that RSS can use.
RSS cannot use the CPUs that are numbered below the base CPU number. You should set
RssBaseCpu carefully so it does not overlap with the starting CPU.
Lab testing has shown good results with setting both registry key values to 8 (on a computer
system with more than 32 cores); this means that 8 RSS processors are used starting with core
number 8 to process network traffic.
Note: You should use the Windows RSS registry keys to configure these values instead of NIC
settings because NIC settings can be overridden by the Windows registry keys.
2.4.3 Consider NIC Teaming
If you have three or more application servers, NIC teaming on the SQL Server side of the
network segment may help, but often this type of NIC teaming disables RSS and other offloading
options. Check with your vendor to select a NIC teaming option that can support RSS or provide
equivalent features. You should be sure to test this configuration against your original
performance to be sure that any benefit of NIC teaming is not offset by the disabling of any of
the RSS and offloading options.
2.4.4 Use Multiple HBAs and Set the HBA Queue Depth
You should use at least two host bus adapters (HBAs) to provide redundancy and to increase
bandwidth between the SAN and SQL Server. The HBA cards should be set as load balanced and
configured to provide high availability among them. Connections between the SAN and server
are ideally 8 gigabyte (GB)/sec (but not less than 2 GB/sec).
The HBA queue depth may need to be increased if you have a small number of LUNs. A queue
depth value between 128 (if there are few LUNs) and 32 (if there are many LUNs) should be
considered. Note that this is a new recommendation; queues now default to per LUN rather
than per target. When the queue depth is set too low, you may get increasing latency and
less-than-expected throughput given the bandwidth between host/storage and the number of
disks in a particular configuration.

2.5 Data, Log, tempdb, and Backup File Recommendations
The location of SQL Server files affects performance. You should use multiple files for each
filegroup supporting your databases, and use distinct LUNs for each of the data, tempdb, log,
and backup files. Using separate LUNs also helps you monitor the disks based on the type of use.
You should avoid using very large LUNs (several hundred GB or more) so that chkdsk does not
run for an excessive length of time if it is invoked by the operating system on startup.
2.5.1 Configure Data Files
The filegroup used for the T24 data should be composed of multiple files. Best practice is to use
one file for every two CPU cores on computer systems with 32 or more cores. On computer
systems with less than 32 cores, use the same number of files as the number of CPU cores (the
ratio should be 1:1). The data files should be equal in size. Note that the out-of-the-box
configuration uses only one file in the primary filegroup, so you need to add additional files for
optimal configuration.
You should pre-allocate enough space in the data files based on the initial size of the computer
system. You should monitor the database free space and if necessary extend each file
simultaneously so that all of the files have the same amount of free space. SQL Server optimizes
writes by spreading its write operations across the files based on the ratio of free space among
the files, so extending all files at once maintains this optimization.
You can leave the autogrowth setting on as an insurance policy so that SQL Server does not
stop when it runs out of space; however, do not rely on autogrowth to extend the database files
as a standard way of operating. While you should not allocate space for the data files in small
units, if you allocate in very large units during autogrowth, the application must wait (possibly
several minutes) while the space is allocated. Since you cannot control when autogrowth
engages, allocate only by the space needed for a few days of operations.
2.5.2 Configure the Log File
The transaction log file, generally a sequentially written file, must be written as quickly as
possibleeven before the data is written to the data files (the data portion can be rebuilt from
the log if necessary). While there is no performance benefit from using more than one file,
multiple files can be beneficial for maintenance purposes (for example, if you are running out of
space on the log drive). Adding physical devices to support the LUN can benefit performance.
To avoid autogrowth operations on the transaction log file, monitor its size on a regular basis
and adjust it as necessary. As a starting point, you can use the 80-GB transaction log size for T24
installations with 10 million accounts.
2.5.3 Configure tempdb Files
SQL Server tempdb files are used for the storage of temporary data structures. The tempdb files
are responsible for managing temporary objects, row versioning, and online index rebuilds. T24

uses a read-committed snapshot isolation level as its default isolation level, which uses row
versioning. For more information, see Isolation Levels in the Database Engine.
To ensure efficient tempdb operation:
Create one tempdb file per physical CPU core.
This reduces page free space (PFS) contention.
Pre-size the tempdb files, and make the files equal in size.
As a starting point, you can use a 64-GB total size for T24 installations with 10 million
accounts.
Do not rely on autogrow (see previous section).
Use startup trace flag 1118.
When this trace flag is set, SQL Server allocates full extents for tempdb objects (instead
of using mixed extent allocations).
For more information about this SQL Server trace flag, see the article Concurrency
Enhancements for the tempdb Database.
For information on how to set startup settings for SQL Server, see the article Configure Server
Startup Options (SQL Server Configuration Manager.
For further information, see the MSDN article Optimizing tempdb Performance.
2.6 Recommendations for Memory Settings
Following are recommendations for the memory settings for SQL Server.
2.6.1 SQL Server Memory Settings
See section Sizing Recommendations (and Table 1) for appropriate memory sizing for the
database system.
You should then configure the SQL Server max server memory (MB) setting by taking the
amount of memory allocated to the database system and subtracting one GB for every four
cores (round up). This leaves the operating system with enough memory to work efficiently
without having to grab memory back from SQL Server. For example, if the server has 64 GB of
RAM and 24 cores, set the maximum memory to 58 GB (64 GB minus 6 [24 cores divided by 4]).
2.6.2 Lock Pages in Memory
To reduce SQL Server paging, you can grant the SQL Server service account Lock Pages in
Memory privilege through the Windows Group Policy editor. Enable this privilege for both 32-
bit and 64-bit servers.
For detailed instructions, see How to reduce paging of buffer pool memory in the 64-bit version
of SQL Server on the Microsoft Support site.

2.7 Guidance for SQL Server Configuration Settings
Following is guidance for SQL Server configuration settings.
2.7.1 Consider Lower Fill Factor
In high-volume deployments (installations with 10 million accounts and more), you should
consider a lower fill factor with PAD_INDEX on for indexes on hot tables with high latch
contention. Consider a lower fill factor only if there is need to improve the performance and if
excessive latch contention has been observed. Lab testing has shown good results using a fill
factor of 10% for small tables (less than 1 GB) and 50% for bigger tables.
Page latch contention can be identified by examining the SQL Server: Wait Statistics Page
Latch waits performance counter and querying the dynamic management view
sys.dm_os_wait_stats using this query:
SELECT * FROM sys.dm_os_wait_stats
WHERE wait_type LIKE 'PAGELATCH%'
To identify which tables and which pages experience latch contention, you can use the following
queries:
SELECT *
FROM sys.dm_db_index_operational_stats (DB_ID('T24'), NULL,
NULL, NULL)
ORDER BY [page_latch_wait_in_ms] DESC,
tree_page_latch_wait_in_ms DESC
and
SELECT * FROM sys.dm_os_waiting_tasks
WHERE wait_type LIKE 'PAGELATCH%'
Table 4 shows tables that have been identified as likely candidates for a lower fill factor setting
during lab testing:

Table 4. Table candidates for lower fill factor.
Table Fill factor Pad_index
FBNK_PL_C002 10% On
F_LOCKING 10% On
FBNK_EB_C004 50% On
FBNK_ACCT_ACTIVITY 50% On
FBNK_ACCOUNT 50% On

Note: This testing has been done with a standardized workload. Every application has different
functionality, and if high latch contention is observed, you must identify these candidates for
the application-specific workload profile.
For more information on the fill-factor option for indexes, see the article Fill Factor.
2.7.2 Increase the SQL Server Recovery Interval
Increasing the recovery interval server configuration option causes the checkpoint process to
occur less often. This can reduce the I/O load driven by checkpoints and improve the overall
performance. During lab testing, a recovery interval of 510 minutes has been determined to be
the best setting for T24.
Before changing the recovery interval, you should consider its implication on the mean time to
recovery and recovery point objectives. Note that when using failover clustering, a longer
recovery interval also influences the failover time of the database instance.
For more information about the recovery interval option, see the article Recovery Interval
Option.
2.7.3 Use Trace Flag 834
On computer systems with 64 or more CPU cores, use startup trace flag 834. When this trace
flag is set, SQL Server uses Windows large-page memory allocations for the buffer pool.
Allocating buffer pages is expensive, and turning on trace flag 834 boosts performance.
For more information about this SQL Server trace flag, see Microsoft Support Article 920093
2.7.4 Keep Default Setting for Degree of Parallelism
Leave the default setting of max degree of parallelism option unchanged.
2.7.5 Keep Default Setting for Number of Worker Threads
Leave the default setting of max worker threads option unchanged.
2.7.6 Encrypt Client Communication if Required
If required, you can enable encrypting client connection communication to SQL Server. SQL
Server supports Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt the data transmitted between a client and
the database server. SQL Server can be configured to require encrypted connections, in which
case it rejects connections from clients who are not able to support encryption. Clients can also
request encryption when connecting to SQL Server.
For more Information, see Encrypting Connections to SQL Server and How to: Enable Encrypted
Connections to the Database Engine (SQL Server Configuration Manager).

3 Best Practices for the Application Server
Following are some best practices you should use for configuring your T24 application server.
3.1 Software Recommendations
3.1.1 Use the Latest Software Versions
For best performance, you should use the latest software versions. Currently, you should use:
Use TAFC Version R10 SP5.
TAFC version R10 SP5 contains key performance and scalability improvements for running T24
on Windows Server and SQL Server.
3.2 T24 Configuration Recommendations
Following are recommendations for some T24 parameters.
3.2.1 Configure the T24 Bulk Factor Parameter
The T24 Bulk Factor parameter (in PGM.FILE, Record IC.COB, Attribute 14) defines how many
Data Manipulation Language (DML) statements are included within each database transaction.
There is a trade-off for increasing this parameter value: increasing the bulk factor value
improves throughput by processing more statements within each transaction but also increases
the possibility of longer transactions and blocking.
You should leave the default value for the bulk factor parameter (currently 5), unless you have a
large installation with 10 million accounts or more. For such high-volume installations,
increasing the bulk factor may improve performance. Lab testing has demonstrated good results
using a bulk factor of 20 for deployments with more than 10 million accounts deployment and a
bulk factor of 40 for a deployment with 25 million accounts.
3.2.2 Configure the T24 Handle Cache Parameter
T24 provides a caching mechanism for OLEDB statement handles. This improves performance by
caching and reusing the handles of frequently used statements, instead of releasing and
preparing them each time.
Each T24 table can have a maximum of 5 different handles (i.e., for the following T24
operations: READ, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and SELECT). Each handle consumes a fixed amount
of memory (64 KB) and consumes additional memory needed for data cache.

The T24 Handle Cache parameter (JEDI_XMLDRIVER_HANDLE_LIMIT) specifies the maximum
number of statement handles that can be cached. The default value (currently 500) should be
adjusted based on the available application server memory as shown in Table 4.
App Server Memory Handle Cache Parameter
< 8 GB 500 (default)
>= 8 GB and < 32 GB 5000
>= 32 GB and < 64 GB 12000
>= 64 GB 15000
Table 5. Handle cache parameter scale based on application server memory.
3.2.3 Consider Using Hyper-Threading
Hyper-Threading should be off by default for T24 application servers. Lab testing has shown
performance gain on application servers with the latest chipsets (e.g., Intel Nehalem-EX+); you
should consider turning hyper-threading on when using the newer chipsets and observe the
influence on performance.


4 Best Practices for Providing High
Availability
Failover clusteringa high-availability (HA) solutioncan keep applications running in the event
of the failure of hardware components. Failover clustering is therefore recommended to provide
database-tier HA for SQL Server in a T24 deployment.
4.1 High Availability Recommendations for the Database
In a T24 implementation, SQL Server is typically installed in a two-node failover cluster to
provide an alternate server for the database. This protects the system from the failure of server
components such as the network adapters, the processors, or the SAN connectivity.
Typically, the data resides on a SAN with disks configured as RAID 10 (recommended) or RAID 5,
providing redundancy for the LUNs used by SQL Server. The SAN is connected to the servers via
two or more HBAs. The time to detect a fault and switch to the alternate node is typically less
than one minute. (Note that the time is dependent on the current transactional load and on the
configuration, such as the number of drives or other resources in the resource group.)
The cluster can also be used for planned maintenance. With SQL Server 2008, you can apply
service packs to inactive nodes, and then you can fail the active SQL Server group over to the
patched nodes. (Note that this results in a brief usage outage.) For more information on
applying service packs to a failover cluster instance, see SQL Server 2008 Failover Cluster Rolling
Patch and Service Pack Process.
T24 uses a lock arbiter called jDLS to maintain locks in a multi-application server setup. When
an application lock needs to be taken, a request is sent to the jDLS socket server. jDLS can be
installed:
In a resilient mode on two application servers.
On the database server if enough resources are available. (Note that approximately 20%
more CPU utilization on the database server is expected in this case.)
On a separate application server.
In a cluster configuration with jDLS installed on the database server, you can configure jDLS in
resilient mode and place jDLS on both database server nodes, with the primary jDLS being on
the active cluster node.
For general overview on the high-availability features of SQL Server, see High Availability
Always On Technologies and High Availability with SQL Server 2008 R2.


4.2 High Availability Recommendations for the Storage
As described in section Storage Design Recommendations, your storage solution should be a
fault-tolerant SAN solution made up of a redundant disk configuration such as RAID 10. The SAN
is still a single point of failure, but the majority of its components are redundant.
You should be sure to consider the disaster recovery options described in the section Best
Practices for Disaster Recovery to mitigate the effect of a total SAN failure.
4.3 T24 Recovery
When an error or connection failure occurs (e.g., a database failover event) during the
processing of transactions either online or as a COB agent, the controlling T24 process
terminates. Because the exact transaction state cannot be ascertained between connection
failures and reconnects, the current transaction is completely rolled back and restarted on
another process.
4.3.1 Online Recovery
For the T24 online processes (Web services, Browser, and MQ batch), an agent listener process
is started on each application server.
The listener process spawns and monitors child processes, which process the transaction
requests. Should a child agent fail, the aborted transaction is resubmitted by the application and
is started on a new agent process. This in turn connects to the secondary database node that is
active after the failover, and the transaction is then processed as normal.
4.3.2 Close of Business (COB)
Under normal operation, the T24 COB processes (agents or tSAs) are started and monitored by a
manager process (tSM) on each application server.
If an agent (tSA) fails or aborts because of an error or failover, then the tSM initiates a new
agent to replace the failed agent. The new agent resubmits the request, and this causes a
connection to be established to the secondary database node which lets the COB jobs restart
and continue.
If the error or failover occurs while the tSM is accessing tables in the database (e.g., JOB.LIST)
and is connected to the database server, the tSM also terminates, leaving no monitoring
process to automatically restart the tSAs. The tSM needs to be manually restarted, which then
restarts the tSAs letting the COB processes continue from where they left off. You cannot
automatically restart the tSM by design, because an assessment of the failure is required to
ensure that its a real disconnection rather than a temporary network interruption.

5 Best Practices for Disaster Recovery
Disaster recovery (DR) provides alternate services in the event of a catastrophic physical
disruption of the infrastructure at the primary site. For protection from natural disasters such as
earthquakes, the DR site is frequently located far from the primary site. SQL Server provides
various technologies for transferring data changes from the primary database to a disaster
recovery site.
One of the main decisions that you need to make is whether or not you are willing to tolerate
potential data loss in the event of complete destruction of the primary site. Loss-less DR
methods require the use of synchronous replication to the DR site. This means that all writes to
the storage systems must complete at both sites before the transaction is committed, which can
increase the time to perform the transaction significantly, depending on the line speed.
The two primary methods of synchronous replication are SAN mirroring and database mirroring
in high-safety mode. SAN mirroring requires additional features provided by the SAN vendor.
Database mirroring is a feature included with SQL Server.
5.1 SAN Mirroring
SAN mirroring synchronizes the contents of one SAN with another and requires very high
bandwidth between the two SANsusually dark fiber is recommended. A benefit of SAN
mirroring is that it mirrors all of the storage, not just the database. SAN mirroring is provided by
the storage vendor (it is not part of the Windows Server operating system).
Note: Asynchronous SAN mirroring is not recommended because it is not possible to determine
if the mirror is synchronized after a disaster, and you cannot easily discover any differences.
5.2 Synchronous Database Mirroring
Also known as high-safety mode, synchronous database mirroring guarantees that the mirror
and the primary databases are synchronized on all committed transactions. It is important to
note that only the one database being mirrored is synchronizedno other databases or files are
synchronized in the same operation.
Database mirroring can use any form of TCP connectivity between the two servers, but as with
SAN mirroring, a large bandwidth is important in providing responsive, low-latency service. One
option to mitigate the cost of the network between the primary site and the DR site is to use
two levels of DR sites:
One site is geographically close to the primary site (under 100 kilometers [km]) and uses
mirroring to maintain an exact mirror of the primary site.
A second site is geographically remote from the primary site and is synchronized using
one of the asynchronous methods that can use a lower, less-expensive bandwidth.

For more information, see Synchronous Database Mirroring (High-Safety Mode).
5.3 Asynchronous Replication Methods
If a small potential for loss of recently committed transactions is acceptable, synchronization
performance can be improved by using asynchronous protocols between primary and secondary
database servers. Using asynchronous protocols means that there is no dependency between
the database servers when committing a transaction. A transaction may be committed on one
server, but not on the other until much later.
The primary methods of asynchronous replication are asynchronous database mirroring, log
shipping, or transactional replication (server-to-server transactional replication or peer-to-peer
replication). With these methods, there is a window of a few seconds to a few minutes where
the transactions committed on the primary site are not yet committed on the DR site.
Note that when using asynchronous database mirroring or log shipping, the log from the
primary site cannot be applied to the DR site once the DR site has been used to store new
transactions in its new role as the primary database. Transactions that were not shipped to the
DR site before switching to the secondary database server are lost.
For more information, see Log Shipping Overview, Database Mirroring Overview, and
Transactional Replication Overview.
5.4 Recommendations for Connection Bandwidth
An important consideration is the connection bandwidth between the primary and DR sites. Lab
testing with 10 million accounts showed peak log usage of 34 MBytes/sec during COB, with
values above approximately 15 MBytes/sec for more than an hour during IC processing. COB is
the most intensive workload, and can generate large numbers of log records. With an estimated
log compression ratio of 1:4, you should plan at least a 40-Mbit/sec (or 5 MByte/sec) link to the
DR site for configurations with 10 million accounts.

6 Best Practices for Reporting
In the default implementation of T24, reports are generated from the same database as online
services. If you find that this has an unacceptable impact on online performance, you can shift
the reporting workload to another database server.
Transactional replication is recommended for maintaining a near real-time copy of the database
for reporting purposes. For reducing the data volume of the reporting database and network
utilization between the servers, it is also possible to replicate only a subset of the T24 tables that
are relevant for reporting. T24 system tables can be omitted from replication as they do not
contain business data. Temenos provides a list of system tables that do not need to be
replicated.
The reporting database may be configured for simple database recovery because it is not
updated by client transactions; this lets you skip the backup process, but it means that if the
database becomes corrupted, you need to re-initialize the subscription from the primary
backup.
There are alternatives that can be considered, including snapshots, log shipping, and database
mirroring, but these are generally not as effective as replication.
Snapshots give only point-in-time data (typically once per day). When you update the
snapshot, all connections to the previous snapshot are broken, providing a poor user
experience. Snapshots can be generated by the SAN or you can use database snapshots.
Log shipping or database mirroring keeps the target database in recovery mode, and it
cannot be accessed for reading except through a database snapshot. This again means
that it is only point-in-time data, and when updating, all previous connections are
broken.
Database mirroring can only mirror to one other server. You cannot mirror a database
to both the DR site and to a reporting site.


7 Best Practices for Performance Tuning
Following is guidance for performance tuning for a T24/SQL Server implementation.
7.1 Guidance for Improving Query Performance
A typical T24 application consists of T24 core functionality, a number of T24 modules for specific
banking industry areas, and a custom application code that reflects the particular business
requirements. The following sections describe the various performance considerations for the
standard T24 core components and for customer-specific queries.
7.1.1 Optimize Standard T24 Queries
Temenos provides a post-installation script for creating indexes on the fields that the standard
T24 application code uses most often. You should run this script after installation on all your T24
environments to ensure proper performance of the standard T24 queries.
As every application has different functionality, close-of-business processes, and a specific
transaction mix profile, you should monitor the usage of the standard indexes and consider
dropping indexes that are rarely used.
You can use the following query to identify indexes that have not been used since the last time
SQL Server was started:
SELECT
object_name(i.object_id) AS object_name,
i.name AS index_name
FROM sys.indexes i JOIN sys.objects o ON i.object_id =
o.object_id
WHERE o.type = 'U'
AND i.index_id NOT IN
(SELECT s.index_id
FROM sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats s
WHERE s.index_id = i.index_id
AND s.object_id = i.object_id
AND s.database_id = db_id())
ORDER BY object_name(i.object_id) ASC

The sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats dynamic management view provides statistics about
the index usage from the last time SQL Server was started.


You can use the following query to monitor the index usage on a regular basis:
SELECT
object_name(i.object_id) AS object_name,
i.name AS index_name, s.index_id,
user_seeks + user_scans + user_lookups AS user_reads,
system_seeks + system_scans + system_lookups AS
system_reads,
user_updates,
system_updates
FROM sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats s JOIN sys.indexes i
ON s.index_id = i.index_id AND s.object_id = i.object_id
WHERE s.database_id = db_id()
AND i.type <> 0
ORDER BY user_reads DESC
7.1.2 Optimize Customer-Specific T24 Queries
For queries used by customer-specific code, you should go through the following steps in order
to identify performance issues, consider optimizations, and verify the benefit of the
optimizations.
1. Identify slow-running queries.
To improve query performance, start by identifying slow-running queries.
COB queries:
The close-of-business (COB) calculations are generally the most processing-intensive tasks in
T24. The optimization of COB queries is critical for reducing the total duration of the COB.
To identify slow-running queries (or just queries which can be optimized to help shorten the
COB time), you can use the sys.dm_exec_query_stats dynamic management view.
The following query selects the top 50 SQL Server statements ordered by the total CPU time
(i.e., total amount of CPU time, in microseconds, for all executions of each statement):
SELECT TOP 50
SUM(query_stats.total_worker_time) AS "total CPU time",
SUM(query_stats.total_worker_time)/SUM(query_stats.executio
n_count) AS "avg CPU Time",
SUM(query_stats.execution_count) AS "executes",
SUM(query_stats.total_logical_reads) AS "total logical
reads",
SUM(query_stats.total_logical_reads)/SUM(query_stats.execut
ion_count) AS "avg logical reads",
SUM(query_Stats.total_logical_writes) AS "total logical
writes",
SUM(query_Stats.total_logical_writes)/SUM(query_stats.execu
tion_count) AS "avg logical writes",
MIN(query_stats.statement_text) AS "statement text"
FROM
(SELECT QS.*,

SUBSTRING(ST.text, (QS.statement_start_offset/2) + 1,
((CASE statement_end_offset
WHEN -1 THEN DATALENGTH(ST.text)
ELSE QS.statement_end_offset END
- QS.statement_start_offset)/2) + 1) AS
statement_text
FROM sys.dm_exec_query_stats AS QS
CROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_sql_text(QS.sql_handle) as ST) AS
query_stats
GROUP BY query_stats.query_hash
ORDER BY 1 DESC
After completion of the COB, you should look at F_JOB_TIMES for long COB job times. When
you have identified the long-running jobs, search the content of the T24 log file &COMO& to
match the jQL queries corresponding to the long-running jobs. Compare these jQL queries to
the previously identified SQL Server statements to select queries that are good candidates
for optimization.
Online Processing:
For online processing, identify slow-running operations in the user interface (UI) based on
user feedback and try to reproduce them (on a test database system). Use the SQL Server
Profiler to capture the corresponding SQL Server queries. After identifying the SQL
statements, you should test them and measure the CPU time and I/Os. This can be done
using the sys.dm_exec_query_stats dynamic management view and the query
described in the previous section.
If you identify multiple long-running queries involved in the online operations, sort the
queries based on the average CPU time, and consider the number of executions of each
query. Optimizing a query which is executed very often is more important than optimizing
queries executed only few times.
2. Consider optimizations.
After identifying slow-running queries that are good candidates for optimization, consider
the following:
If there are queries on tables STMT_ENTRY, CATEG_ENTRY, or RE_CONSOLSPEC_ENTRY
using a where clause that is different from RECID = <value>, then these are most likely
jQL SELECT queries in a custom-developed code.
There should generally be no queries on these tables with a search condition using any
fields (other than the RECID). These are the biggest T24 tables, containing huge number
of records, and there is usually heavy activity on these tables.
The application logic and the jQL SELECT queries on these tables should be reconsidered
and, if possible, rewritten. For example, instead of using STMT_ENTRY, you can use the
table ACCT_ENT_TODAY in many cases. ACCT_ENT_TODAY is much smaller in size; the

key is the account number, and the rows in the table contain the key of the entries that
have been made into that account during the current business day.
If a query has a search condition on a single-value field, then consider scalar promotion
(see step 3).
An example of this type of query is:
SELECT t.RECID,t.XMLRECORD FROM F_HOLD_CONTROL t
WHERE
t.XMLRECORD.exist(N'/row/c2[.="NEW.LOAN.REPORT"]') = 1
If a query has a search condition on a specific multi-valued field (specific local reference
field), then consider scalar promotion (see step 3).
For example, the following query uses specifically the eighth value of a multi-value field
in the search condition:
SELECT t.RECID,t.XMLRECORD FROM FBNK_CARD_ISSUE t
WHERE t.XMLRECORD.exist(N'/row/c14[@m="8"][.=12345]')
= 1
Consider the number of promoted columns and indexes per table. Indexes improve the
performance of select queries, but also increase the time that is required to perform
modifications (i.e., inserts, updates, deletes) to the underlying table. Too many indexes
may degrade the overall performance. As a general rule, you should avoid creating more
than seven indexes on a table.
Do not create XML indexes on T24 XMLRECORD fields. The impact on transaction
latency is too high, and the benefit in query performance is usually not significant.
3. Use scalar promotion.
A single-value field (or even a specific value of a multi-valued field) that is part of the
XMLRECORD can be promoted as computed column of the table and be used in relational
search conditions. Further, a relational index can be created on the computed column to
improve the query performance. The minimum required T24 version for scalar promotion is
R10 SP5.
The detailed steps to promote a single-value XML field are as follows:
1.) Create a persisted computed column for the specific field.
Create a user-defined function that evaluates the value of the field. The return value
of the function should be a single scalar value. Using this function, the computed
column should be added to the table and persisted.


Following are two examples of scalar promotion:
-- example 1
-- scalar promotion of single valued field
CREATE FUNCTION udf_HOLD_CONTROL_C2(@xmlrecord XML)
RETURNS nvarchar(35)
WITH SCHEMABINDING
BEGIN
RETURN @xmlrecord.value('(/row/c2/text())[1]',
'nvarchar(35)')
END

ALTER TABLE F_HOLD_CONTROL
ADD C2 AS dbo.udf_HOLD_CONTROL_C2(XMLRECORD) PERSISTED
-- example 2
-- scalar promotion of specific multi-valued field
CREATE FUNCTION udf_CARD_ISSUE_CUSTOMER(@xmlrecord XML)
RETURNS integer
WITH SCHEMABINDING
BEGIN
RETURN
@xmlrecord.value('(/row/c14[@m="8"]/text())[1]',
'integer')
END

ALTER TABLE FBNK_CARD_ISSUE
ADD C14_8 AS dbo.udf_CARD_ISSUE_CUSTOMER(XMLRECORD)
PERSISTED
2.) Create non-clustered index on the computed column.
After creating the persisted computed column, create an index for this column:
-- example 1
CREATE INDEX ix_HOLD_CONTROL_C2 ON F_HOLD_CONTROL(C2)

-- example 2
CREATE INDEX ix_CARD_ISSUE_CUSTOMER ON
FBNK_CARD_ISSUE(C14_8)
Once there is a promoted column for a specific field in the table, T24 automatically
translates the queries to use that column relational in the where clause if there is
a search condition on that field.
4. Verify optimizations.
Verify that the changes are successful and measure the impact of the optimizations.
For scalar promotion (promoted and indexed fields):

Verify the query translation.
Without scalar promotion, T24 uses a query syntax such as:
SELECT t.RECID,t.XMLRECORD
FROM FBNK_CARD_ISSUE t
WHERE t.XMLRECORD.exist(N'/row/c14[@m="8"][.=12345]')
= 1
The execution of this query usually uses a table scan to retrieve the results.
After promoting the field c2, T24 should translate the query as:
SELECT t.RECID,t.XMLRECORD
FROM FBNK_CARD_ISSUE t
WHERE c14_8 = 12345
In this case, index lookup on ix_CARD_ISSUE_CUSTOMER is used.
Prove that the index is used by reproducing the query and verifying the actual
execution plan. You can run the query in SQL Server Management Studio and
activate the icon Include Actual Execution Plan on the SQL Editor toolbar.
Alternatively, you can use the SET STATISTICS PROFILE ON statement to
display execution plan information.
Verify the performance of the query has improved.
After using the application for a period of time (e.g., couple of hours or days) or
after running COB, use the sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats dynamic
management view to verify the index usage. Consider the ratio between index reads
and index writes, keeping in mind that an index usually improves the performance
for read operations but slows down modifications (i.e., inserts, updates, deletes) at
the same time.
You can use the queries described in section Standard T24 Queries for this purpose.
You should monitor the index usage statistics on a regular basis.
For jQL queries changed in the application:
Execute the jQL query on the jsh> interface, and verify the performance.
Additionally, you should measure the CPU time and I/O operations on the SQL
Server. You can use the query described in the Close-of-Business section of the
document for this purpose.
5. Use T24 logical optimization.
If you are not able to achieve sufficient performance improvement to specific queries or
COB jobs by applying steps 14 above, then consider using concat files, tables used for

application-specific purposes in the application layer. In some cases, concat files can also be
used as a logical index in T24.
7.2 Recommendations for Monitoring Performance of the
Database Tier
You should perform system monitoring during development of your system and periodically
during production. Before going live, look for bottlenecks and gauge your ability to scale to
your expected long-term workload.
Once in production, you should create a performance baseline and monitor trends in resource
consumption against the performance baseline so that you can predict future bottlenecks and
determine when resource limitations might begin to impact performance as your customer base
grows. You should not worry about seeing short spikes in utilization or high consumption during
processes that are operating at an acceptable performance level.
Note that SQL Server 2008 R2 introduces application and multi-server management, which can
help you manage the T24 database environment more efficiently at scale, with visibility into
resource utilization for consolidation and improved efficiencies across the application lifecycle.
For more information, see SQL Server 2008 R2 - Application and Multi-Server Management.
Table 5 shows metrics that your monitoring plan should include.
Metric Predicts
Database File Sizes (including
tempdb)
Need for expansion of files or storage.
Log File Sizes Need to backup transaction log more often.
Processor/% Processor Time: All
Instances
Additional processors.
Average Disk Queue Length Storage configuration too slow.
Average Disk sec/transfer
May indicate a large amount of disk fragmentation, slow
disks, or disk failures. (Should be 10 ms or less.)
Disk Bytes/sec for each LUN
Need to spread data across more LUNs.
Paging in Pages/sec
Need for additional memory.
Network Interface Bytes
Received/sec and Network
Interface Bytes Sent/sec
Need for increased network capacity or segmentation.
Table 5. Monitoring plan.

8 Best Practices for System Maintenance
You should perform regular maintenance tasks to keep SQL Server running optimally. Your
maintenance schedule should include implementing a backup strategy, updating database
statistics, rebuilding and reorganizing indexes, and identifying and correcting excessive
fragmentation.
For more information about creating maintenance plans, see Appendix 1: Create a Maintenance
Plan to Back Up the Temenos Application Database and Appendix 2: Create a Maintenance Plan
to Back Up the System Databases.
8.1 Guidance for Backing Up the Database
You should back up the T24 database regularly to protect your data. You should also back up the
transaction log frequently to protect your data and to keep the transaction log file from growing
too large.
8.1.1 Use Backup Compression
Backing up a large database can require a significant amount of time and a large amount of disk
space for the backup file(s). With SQL Server 2008 backup compression, the backup file is
compressed as it is written; this requires less storage, less disk I/O, and less time but incurs
more CPU cycles as overhead.
The compression is achieved by specifying the WITH COMPRESSION clause in the BACKUP
command or by selecting compression the Options page in the Back Up Database dialog box.
There is also a global setting to compress all backups taken on a server instance by default. (This
setting is accessed by using the Database Settings tab in the Server Properties dialog box or by
running sp_configure with backup compression default set to 1.) The RESTORE command
automatically detects that a backup is compressed and decompresses the backup during the
restore operation.
For more information, see the article Tuning the Performance of Backup Compression in SQL
Server 2008 on SQLCAT.com.
8.1.2 Implement a Backup Schedule
A suggested schedule is a weekly full backup, a daily differential backup, and a log backup every
hour. Frequent log backups can keep the size of the log file smaller and can also minimize data
loss when implementing log shipping for disaster recovery. Frequent full backups can improve
the speed of recovery since it is not necessary to restore as many log files. Your organization
may have specific requirements for recovery times, and you should discuss these with a
qualified database administrator to determine a backup profile that meets these requirements.

It is recommended to schedule the full backup to run after the COB processing and after any
index maintenance tasks (e.g., index reorganize or index rebuild).
If you implement peer-to-peer replication, you must also implement a backup schedule for the
target database(s). The distributor database operates in simple recovery mode, so it does not
need to be backed up.
8.1.3 Back Up System Databases
SQL Server maintains a set of system-level databases (called system databases) that are
essential for the operation of a server instance. Several of the system databases must be backed
up after every significant update: msdb, master, and model. If any database uses replication on
the server instance, there is a distribution system database that must also backed up. Backups
of these system databases let you restore and recover the SQL Server system in the event of
system failure, such as the loss of a hard disk.
For more information, see the article Considerations for Backing Up and Restoring System
Databases.
8.2 Recommendations for Updating Statistics
SQL Server collects statistics about individual columns (single-column statistics) or sets of
columns (multi-column statistics). Statistics are used by the query optimizer to estimate the
selectivity of expressions and thus the size of intermediate and final query results. Reliable
statistics let the optimizer accurately assess the cost of different query plans and then choose a
high-quality plan.
For a typical T24 installation, it is recommended to keep the AUTO_CREATE_STATISTICS and
AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS database options on (which is the default setting).
For more information, see the article Statistics Used by the Query Optimizer in Microsoft SQL
Server 2008. For step-by-step guidance for manually updating statistics using a maintenance job,
see Appendix 3: Update Statistics.
8.3 Recommendations for Reorganizing or Rebuilding Indexes
The SQL Server Database Engine automatically maintains indexes whenever insert, update, or
delete operations are applied to the underlying data. Over time, these modifications can cause
the information in the index to become scattered or fragmented in the database. Fragmentation
exists when indexes have pages in which the logical ordering, based on the key value, does not
match the physical ordering inside the data file. Heavily fragmented indexes can degrade query
performance and cause your application to respond slowly.
You can defragment indexes by either reorganizing or rebuilding. For partitioned indexes built
on a partition scheme, you can rebuild or reorganize a complete index or a single partition of an
index.

To decide which defragmentation method to use, analyze the index to determine the degree of
fragmentation. By using the DMF sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats, you can detect
fragmentation in a specific index, all indexes on a table or indexed view, all indexes in a
database, or all indexes in all databases. Using this function, you have access to the
fragmentation levels available in defined columns at any given time.
Table 6 shows some of the information returned by the
sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats

function.
Column Description
avg_fragmentation_in_percent
The percent of logical fragmentation (out-of-order pages
in the index).
fragment_count
The number of fragments (physically consecutive leaf
pages) in the index.
avg_fragment_size_in_pages Average number of pages in one fragment in an index.
page_count The total number of index or data pages.
Table 6. Columns returned from sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats.
You can then use Table 7 as a guide to determine the best method to correct the fragmentation.
avg_fragmentation_in_percent Corrective statement
> 10 percent and < = 80 percent ALTER INDEX REORGANIZE
> 80 percent ALTER INDEX REBUILD
Table 7. Corrective defragmentation method to use.
Note that very low levels of fragmentation (less than 10%) should not be addressed by either of
these commands because the benefit from removing such a small amount of fragmentation is
almost always vastly outweighed by the cost of reorganizing or rebuilding the index. The white
paper Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Index Defragmentation Best Practices can provide additional
guidance.
8.3.1 Reorganize Indexes
Reorganize an index when the index is not heavily fragmented. Use the ALTER INDEX statement
with the REORGANIZE clause (replaces the DBCC INDEXDEFRAG statement in Microsoft SQL
Server 2000). To reorganize a single partition of a partitioned index, use the PARTITION clause
of ALTER INDEX.

The reorganize process uses minimal system resources. Also, reorganizing is automatically
performed online. The process does not hold long-term blocking locks; therefore, it does not
block running queries or updates.
8.3.2 Rebuild Indexes when Necessary
Rebuilding an index drops the index and creates a new one. In doing this, fragmentation is
removed, disk space is reclaimed by compacting the pages using the specified or existing fill-
factor setting, and the index rows are reordered in contiguous pages (allocating new pages as
needed). This can improve disk performance by reducing the number of page reads required to
obtain the requested data.
The following methods can be used to rebuild clustered and non-clustered indexes:
ALTER INDEX with the REBUILD clause. This statement replaces the DBCC DBREINDEX
statement.
CREATE INDEX with the DROP_EXISTING clause.
Each method performs the same function, but there are advantages and disadvantages to
consider. See Reorganizing and Rebuilding Indexes for more information. Note, that the
clustered index cannot be rebuilt online if the underlying table contains XML data type.
Appendix 4: Reorganize and Rebuild Indexes provides step-by-step guidance on creating
maintenance plans for these operations.
8.4 Recommendations for Update Management
Following is guidance for updating management.
8.4.1 Maintain Your Microsoft Software
It is recommended to keep your Microsoft software up to date with the most recent software
updates. Software Updates (e.g., hotfixes, Cumulative Updates, service packs, etc.) can help
prevent or fix problems, enhance the security of your computers, and improve how the
computers work. Consider testing and applying software updates on a regular basis.
For more information on applying updates, see Update Management TechCenter and SQL
Server 2008 failover cluster rolling patch and service pack process.


9 Summary
TEMENOS T24, coupled with Microsoft SQL Server database software, provides financial
institutions with a complete banking solution. Using the best practices described in this white
paper can help optimize the performance of the database tier. The links in the section that
follows provide even more information.
For benchmarking results from a SQL Server/TEMENOS T24 implementation at the North Shore
Credit Union in British Columbia, Canada, see:
TEMENOS T24 Core Banking Optimized on Microsoft SQL Server Database Platform.
Following is a list of technical articles that can help you learn more about specific Windows and
SQL Server topics:
Windows Configuration:
Receive-Side Scaling
Introduction to Receive-Side Scaling
Receive-Side Scaling Enhancements in Windows Server 2008
Desktop Heap Overview
Desktop Heap, part 2
Storage Configuration:
Predeployment I/O Best Practices
Storage Top 10 Best Practices
DiskPart
Disk Partition Alignment Best Practices for SQL Server
SQL Server Configuration:
Isolation Levels in the Database Engine
Optimizing tempdb Performance
Configure Server Startup Options
Recovery Interval Option
Fill Factor
How to reduce paging of buffer pool memory in the 64-bit version of SQL Server
High Availability and Disaster Recovery:
High Availability with SQL Server 2008
Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2008 R2
SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering
Database Mirroring Overview
Synchronous Database Mirroring (High-Safety Mode)
Database Mirroring Best Practices and Performance Considerations

Log Shipping Overview
Transactional Replication Overview
Best Practices for Replication Administration
Replication Security Best Practices
Peer-to-Peer Transactional Replication
Database Maintenance
Considerations for Backing Up and Restoring System Databases
Tuning the Performance of Backup Compression in SQL Server 2008
Best Practices for Recovering a Database to a Specific Recovery Point
Statistics Used by the Query Optimizer in Microsoft SQL Server 2008
Reorganizing and Rebuilding Indexes
SQL Server 2008 R2 - Application and Multi-Server Management
SQL Server 2008 failover cluster rolling patch and service pack process
Update Management TechCenter
Troubleshooting Performance Problems in SQL Server 2008
See the SQL Server Best Practices portal for technical white papers, the SQL Server Best
Practices Toolbox, Top 10 Lists, and other resources.


10 Appendix 1: Create a Maintenance Plan to
Back Up the Temenos Database
It is important to create a maintenance plan to back up the Temenos database. The following
step-by-step instructions guide you through the process.
1. Open SQL Server Management Studio, expand the Management node, and then
expand the Management Plans node.
2. Right-click Maintenance Plans, click Maintenance Plan Wizard, and then type an
appropriate name for this Temenos application database backup plan.

Figure 2. Click Maintenance Plan Wizard.
3. Click Separate schedules for each task, because you will later select both full and
transaction log backups. Click Next.

Figure 3. Select the plan properties.

4. On the Select Maintenance Tasks dialog box, select Clean Up History, Back Up
Database (Full), Back Up Database (Transaction Log), and Maintenance Cleanup Task.
Click Next twice.

Figure 4. Select maintenance tasks.
5. As you complete the Maintenance Plan Wizard, you should select options based on the
needs of your organization. The following figures show examples of options you may
want to select.
a. On the Define History Cleanup Task dialog box, select the historical data you
want to delete and the schedule. Click Next.

Figure 5. Options to define the history cleanup task.

b. On the Define Back Up Database (Full) Task dialog box, click on These
databases, and select the T24 user database in the Database(s) box. Click OK.

Figure 6. Options to configure the backup database task.


c. On the Job Schedule Properties dialog box, select the frequency and duration of
full backups. It is recommended to schedule the full backup to be executed,
after the COB processing. Click OK.

Figure 7. Options to select for the job schedule properties.
d. On the Define Back Up Database (Full) Task dialog box, specify information
about the full backup. Click Next.

Figure 8. Options to set the backup parameters.

e. On the Job Schedule Properties dialog box, select the frequency and duration of
transaction log backups. Click OK.

Figure 9. Options to set the frequency and duration of transaction log backups.
f. On the Define Back Up Database (Transaction Log) Task dialog box, configure
the transaction log backup. Click Next.

Figure 10. Options to configure the transaction log backups.

g. On the Define Maintenance Cleanup Task dialog box, configure the cleanup
tasks. Click Next.

Figure 11. Options to define the maintenance cleanup tasks.
h. On the Select Report Options dialog box, select whether to write the report to
text file or send the report through email. Click Next.
6. Review your selections, and then click Finish.


11 Appendix 2: Create a Maintenance Plan to
Back Up the System Databases
You should create a maintenance plan to back up the system databases. The following step-by-
step instructions guide you through the process.
2. Right-click Maintenance Plans, click Maintenance Plan Wizard, and then type an
appropriate name for this Temenos system database backup plan.

3. On the Select Plan Properties dialog box, click Single schedule for the entire plan or no
schedule, and click Change to select the frequency and duration of transaction log
backups. Click Next.


4. On the Select Maintenance Tasks dialog box, select Clean Up History, Back Up
Database (Full), and Maintenance Cleanup Task. Click Next.

Figure 14. Select the maintenance tasks.
5. On the Select Maintenance Task Order dialog box, make sure that the tasks appear in
the order shown in Figure 15. Click Next.

Figure 15. Verify the order of the maintenance tasks.

6. As you complete the Maintenance Plan Wizard, you should select options based on the
needs of your organization. The following figures show examples of options you may
want to select.
a. On the Define Back Up Database (Full) Task dialog box, select System
databases. Click OK.

Figure 16. Select the system databases.

b. Define the full backup task by selecting from the various options. Click Next.

Figure 17. Options to define the full backup.

c. Define the maintenance cleanup task by selecting from the various options.
Click Next.

Figure 18. Options to define the maintenance cleanup tasks.
d. Define the history cleanup task by selecting from the various options. Click Next.

Figure 19. Options to define the history cleanup tasks.

e. Select the report options you want. Click Next.

Figure 20. Options for reporting.
7. Review your selections, and click Finish.


12 Appendix 3: Update Statistics
You should create a maintenance plan to update statistics. The following step-by-step
instructions guide you through the process.
2. Right-click Maintenance Plans, and click Maintenance Plan Wizard.

3. On the Select Plan Properties dialog box, type an appropriate name for this statistics
update plan, and click Single schedule for the entire plan or no schedule. Click Change
to select the frequency and duration of statistics updates.


4. Based on your organizations needs, select the frequency and duration of the statistics
updates on the Job Schedule Properties Update Temenos Statistics (FullScan) dialog
box. Click OK, and then click Next.

Figure 23. Select the frequency and duration of updates.
5. On the Select Maintenance Tasks dialog box, select only Update Statistics. Click Next.

Figure 24. Select the update statistics task.

6. On the Select Maintenance Task Order dialog box, make no changes. Click Next.

Figure 25. Make no changes on the task order dialog box.
7. On the Define Update Statistics Task dialog box, click on These databases, and select
the T24 user database in the Database(s) box. Click OK.

Figure 26. Select the Temenos user database.

8. On the Define Update Statistics Task dialog box, select Tables and views in the Object
box. Under Scan type, click Full scan. Click Next.

Figure 27. Define parameters for the update statistics task.
9. On the Select Report Options dialog box, select report options based on your
organizations needs. Click Next.

Figure 28. Select report options.
10. Review your selections, and then click Finish.


13 Appendix 4: Reorganize and Rebuild
Indexes
The following script samples automatically reorganize or rebuild all partitions in a database. The
first one reorganizes all indexes that have an average fragmentation between 10% and 80%. The
second script rebuilds all indexes with an average fragmentation greater than 80 percent.
Executing these scripts requires the VIEW DATABASE STATE permission. These examples use
DB_ID() instead of specifying particular database name.
Note that an error is generated if the current database has a compatibility level of 80 or less. To
resolve the error, replace DB_ID() with a valid database name. For more information about
database compatibility levels, see sp_dbcmptlevel (Transact-SQL).
For more information, see the article sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats (Transact-SQL).
-- Reorganize indexes
-- Ensure that a USE <databasename> statement has been executed
first.
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE @objectid int;
DECLARE @indexid int;
DECLARE @partitioncount bigint;
DECLARE @schemaname nvarchar(130);
DECLARE @objectname nvarchar(130);
DECLARE @indexname nvarchar(130);
DECLARE @partitionnum bigint;
DECLARE @partitions bigint;
DECLARE @frag float;
DECLARE @command nvarchar(4000);

-- Conditionally select tables and indexes from the
sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats function
-- and convert object and index IDs to names.
SELECT
object_id AS objectid,
index_id AS indexid,
partition_number AS partitionnum,
avg_fragmentation_in_percent AS frag
INTO #work_to_do
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats (DB_ID(), NULL, NULL , NULL,
'LIMITED')
WHERE avg_fragmentation_in_percent > 10.0
AND avg_fragmentation_in_percent <= 80.0
AND index_id > 0;

-- Declare the cursor for the list of partitions to be processed.

DECLARE partitions CURSOR FOR SELECT * FROM #work_to_do;

-- Open the cursor.
OPEN partitions;

-- Loop through the partitions.
WHILE (1=1)
BEGIN;
FETCH NEXT
FROM partitions
INTO @objectid, @indexid, @partitionnum, @frag;
IF @@FETCH_STATUS < 0 BREAK;
SELECT @objectname = QUOTENAME(o.name), @schemaname =
QUOTENAME(s.name)
FROM sys.objects AS o
JOIN sys.schemas as s ON s.schema_id = o.schema_id
WHERE o.object_id = @objectid;
SELECT @indexname = QUOTENAME(name)
FROM sys.indexes
WHERE object_id = @objectid AND index_id = @indexid;
SELECT @partitioncount = count (*)
FROM sys.partitions

SET @command = N'ALTER INDEX ' + @indexname + N' ON ' +
@schemaname + N'.' + @objectname + N' REORGANIZE';

IF @partitioncount > 1
SET @command = @command + N' PARTITION=' +
CAST(@partitionnum AS nvarchar(10));
EXEC (@command);
PRINT N'Executed: ' + @command;
END;

-- Close and deallocate the cursor.
CLOSE partitions;
DEALLOCATE partitions;

-- Drop the temporary table.
DROP TABLE #work_to_do;
GO

-- rebuild indexes
-- Ensure that a USE <databasename> statement has been executed
first.
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE @objectid int;
DECLARE @indexid int;
DECLARE @partitioncount bigint;

DECLARE @schemaname nvarchar(130);
DECLARE @objectname nvarchar(130);
DECLARE @indexname nvarchar(130);
DECLARE @partitionnum bigint;
DECLARE @partitions bigint;
DECLARE @frag float;
DECLARE @command nvarchar(4000);

-- Conditionally select tables and indexes from the
sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats function
-- and convert object and index IDs to names.
SELECT
object_id AS objectid,
index_id AS indexid,
partition_number AS partitionnum,
avg_fragmentation_in_percent AS frag
INTO #work_to_do
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats (DB_ID(), NULL, NULL , NULL,
'LIMITED')
WHERE avg_fragmentation_in_percent > 80.0 AND index_id > 0;

-- Declare the cursor for the list of partitions to be processed.
DECLARE partitions CURSOR FOR SELECT * FROM #work_to_do;

-- Open the cursor.
OPEN partitions;

-- Loop through the partitions.
WHILE (1=1)
BEGIN;
FETCH NEXT
FROM partitions
INTO @objectid, @indexid, @partitionnum, @frag;
IF @@FETCH_STATUS < 0 BREAK;
SELECT @objectname = QUOTENAME(o.name), @schemaname =
QUOTENAME(s.name)
FROM sys.objects AS o
JOIN sys.schemas as s ON s.schema_id = o.schema_id
WHERE o.object_id = @objectid;
SELECT @indexname = QUOTENAME(name)
FROM sys.indexes
SELECT @partitioncount = count (*)
FROM sys.partitions

SET @command = N'ALTER INDEX ' + @indexname + N' ON ' +
@schemaname + N'.' + @objectname + N' REBUILD';
IF @partitioncount > 1

SET @command = @command + N' PARTITION=' +
CAST(@partitionnum AS nvarchar(10));
EXEC (@command);
PRINT N'Executed: ' + @command;
END;

-- Close and deallocate the cursor.
CLOSE partitions;
DEALLOCATE partitions;

-- Drop the temporary table.
DROP TABLE #work_to_do;
GO

You should generally create a nightly job for index reorganization (using the 1 sample script) and
a weekly job for index rebuild (based on the 2 sample script). Ideally, the index maintenance
tasks (reorganization or rebuild) should be performed after COB processing and before a full
backup is executed.
To create a nightly or weekly job to perform the reorganizing or rebuilding, perform the
following steps:
1. Right-click Jobs, and click New Job.

Figure 29. Click New Job.


2. Name the job so it can be easily identified as the reorganization or rebuilding index.

Figure 30. Name the maintenance job.
3. Click Steps, and then click New.
Enter the step name (e.g., Reorg or Rebuild), select the type Transact-SQL script (T-SQL),
specify the T24 database name, and copy the script sample into the Command field. To
make sure that there are no errors in the T-SQL script, click Parse. Click OK.

Figure 31. Copy the script sample, and parse it.


4. Select the Advanced page, change the On Success action to Quit the job reporting
success, and click OK.

Figure 32. Configure job step advanced options.
5. On the New Job Schedule dialog box, schedule the job to run nightly or weekly,
depending on the needs of your organization. Click OK.

Figure 33. Options for scheduling jobs.


6. On the Job Properties Temenos Index Reorg/Rebuild dialog box, configure the
notifications for the job based on your organizations needs. (Note that database email
must be configured correctly for the notifications to work.) Click OK.

Figure 34. Configure job notifications.


14 Appendix 5: Installation Check List
To assure successful T24 installation, the following items should be fulfilled:
Windows Server version:
64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
SQL Server version:
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Service Pack 2 (SP2), or Microsoft SQL Server
2008 R2 Enterprise, or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
T24 / TAFC Version:
R10 SP5 or higher
Configuration settings:
Windows Hotfix KB976700
Lock pages in memory privilege granted to SQL service account
SQL Server configuration:
Trace flag 1118 added to SQL Server startup parameters
Database log and data files are properly sized
AUTO_CREATE_STATISTICS and AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS options for T24
database are turned on (default setting)
SQL Server maintenance jobs created and active
T24 indexes on standard fields created (post-installation script)

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