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PeopleSoft Ping Overview

A High Level Guide to the PeopleSoft Ping Utility

PeopleSoft Technology Whitepaper November 2002

2002 by PeopleSoft, Inc.

All rights reserved. Printed on recycled paper. Restricted Rights Printed in the United States of America. The information contained in this document is proprietary and confidential to PeopleSoft, Inc. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express written permission of PeopleSoft, Inc. This document is subject to change without notice, and PeopleSoft does not warrant that the material contained in this document is error-free. If you find any problems with this document, please report them to PeopleSoft in writing. This document contains or may contain statements of future direction concerning possible functionality for PeopleSofts software products and technology. All functionality and software products will be available for license and shipment from PeopleSoft only if and when generally commercially available. PeopleSoft disclaims any express or implied commitment to deliver functionality or software unless or until actual shipment of the functionality or software occurs. The statements of possible future direction are for information purposes only and PeopleSoft makes no express or implied commitments or representations concerning the timing and content of any future functionality or releases.

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PeopleSoft Ping Overview

Overview
PeopleSoft Ping (PSPing) is a utility within PeopleTools that provides information about performance status of the various tiers/layers and the network infrastructure quality of a PeopleSoft Internet Architecture (PIA) environment. PSPing is similar to the UNIX ping utility. A specific PIA page, PSPing Page, traverses from browser to the app-server/database. At each tier, both arrival time-stamp and departure time-stamp are deposited within the page. PSPing is a superb way to collect the elapsed server time and the network time at each tier. The PSPing Page is built using standard components of PIA. PSPing Page traverses with other PIA traffic. PSPing is part of PeopleTools, starting with PeopleTools 8.19 and PeopleTools 8.42. Document Purpose and Scope This document describes the PeopleSoft Ping utility. It is intended for both technical and non technical readers and contains the following sections: Overview ...................................................................................................... 3 Details of the PeopleSoft Ping Architecture ................................................. 4 Methodology................................................................................................. 6 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 8 Known Issues................................................................................................ 9 PeopleTools 8.19 Version............................................................................. 9

PSPing provides timing information at each tier, from Browser to Web Server to AppServer to the Database and back.

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Details of the PeopleSoft Ping Architecture


PeopleSoft Ping is an innovative way of determining the elapsed server time at each tier of a PIA installation. A specific page, PSPing Page, traverses the various PIA tiers i.e. from Browser to Web Server to App-Server to the Database and back. Arrival time-stamps are generated and deposited within the PSPing Page as soon as the page arrives at a tier. Similarly, departure timestamps are deposited just before the PSPing Page leaves a tier. Using a combination of Java-Script at the Web Browser, Java servlet at the Web Server and C++ at the application server, time-stamps are generated and deposited on the page. The timestamps are local time of each tier. The clocks of various tiers do not need to be synchronized. Two tables with a fixed set of data are provided with the PSPing page. The data is fictitious and is intended to be the data source for the simulated workload. The PSPing Page performs a fixed set of tasks when it is run. The fixed set of task includes the following: 1. 2. PeopleCode: String manipulation, Rowset operations, Timestamp functions, Looping, Creating Arrays etc. Database Activities: Rowset fill with indexes and without index, Rowset select etc.

PSPing timestamps are local to each tier. The clocks of various tiers do not need to be synchronized.

The page automatically repeats the task after the interval specified by the user on the PSPing Page. An animated GIF clock and a counter on the page provide a visual clue that the page is running.

Arrival and departure timers at each PIA tier. Information provided by the PeopleSoft Ping Page 1. Total time spent for a round trip of the PSPing Page.

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2. 3. 4. 5.

Web Browser time including network time between the browser and the web server. Web Server time including network time between the web server and the application server. Application server time. Database time.

In addition to the above information more information can be deduced if the clocks of various machines are synchronized. Usage PSPing is part of PeopleTools. It is independent of the PeopleSoft applications. It is an excellent utility to check performance of various components of a PIA installation. If any tier is performing poorly then the PSPing Page will identify it. It can be used to continuously monitor the health of a PIA installation. If a user complains of slow response time then the user can find out which tier is performing poorly by running the PSPing Page. The PSPing Page will likely traverse the same route as the users other transaction requests. The information provided by the PSPing Page would pinpoint where the delay is occurring. This information will shorten the time to resolve any performance-related problems. In PeopleTools 8.42 and above, another utility, PSPing Chart, is provided to chart the information collected by the PSPing Page. PSPing Chart generates a graph using PeopleTools charting APIs. The charts can be viewed using a standard browser just like any PIA page. PSPing Chart provides a way to zoomin for a particular time interval. It can be used to export the data in Comma Separated Values (csv) formatted file for further analysis and charting purposes. The exported file is named psping.csv. It is exported into the application server directory. This required charting functionality is not available in the PeopleTools 8.1x releases. In 8.1x you can use Query Manager to retrieve the information from the PSPing Page. Please see section on PeopleTools 8.19 Version for more details. Old data can be deleted using the PeopleSoft Ping Delete page. The PSPing Delete page lists the test case identifiers with a checkbox next to the test case identifiers. To delete a test case data user needs to check the box next to the desired test case identifier and press DELETE button.
Limitations:

PSPing cannot get timing information for any other transaction specific page. It works only for the PSPing Page. Routing information cannot be attached to a request. PSPing time interval should be less than or equal to the session time out setting for the user. Start and Stop of the page is not automated. Delete Page deletes all the data associated with the selected test case identifiers. Delete Page does not provide a range for the selected test case identifiers.
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Methodology
1. In order not to create unnecessary traffic and overhead to the PeopleSoft system, the Repeat Time interval should be set to a high value such as 10 30 minutes (i.e. 600 1800 seconds) during normal operations to monitor the health of the system. To allow for a high Repeat interval time, you will need to increase the Session Timeout value accordingly. The Timeout value can be specified a particular role. Create a user say PSPING. Assign PeopleSoft Ping Page access to PSPING user. If a user reports problems then ask the user to login as PSPING and run the PeopleSoft Ping Page. This will avoid unnecessary runs by casual users with very short time interval specifications. A baseline run should be done under normal load. When a user reports a problem the baseline numbers should be used for comparison to identify the source of the problem.

2.

3.

4.

Where to find the PeopleSoft Ping Page PeopleTools Utilities PeopleSoft Ping

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The PeopleSoft Ping Page

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The PeopleSoft Ping Chart Page

The PeopleSoft Ping Delete Page

Conclusion
The PeopleSoft Ping page is a simple and elegant utility to pinpoint performance problems within a PIA environment. PSPing adds very minimal overhead to a PIA environment. Once started, PSPing automatically fires the PSPing Page. It is independent of the PeopleSoft applications. Data collected can be analyzed instantaneously using the PSPing Chart if you are on PeopleTools 8.42 or higher releases. If you are on PeopleTools 8.19 (or the maintenance releases above 8.19) you can use Query Manager to collect PSPing data for analysis. A user can use PSPing Page without any training.

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Known Issues
The PeopleSoft Ping Page cannot currently be displayed properly when using the Netscape Navigator browser.

PeopleTools 8.19 Version


Most of the functionality of the 8.42 version of the PeopleSoft Ping Page is also available in PeopleTools 8.19 upwards. However there are some differences and they are outlined in this section. Because the charting feature is specific to PeopleTools 8.42, the information must be presented to the user in a different format on PeopleTools 8.19 and beyond. To view the data collected by the PeopleSoft Ping Page in 8.19 and beyond use Query Manager. Use the following steps to view the PeopleSoft Ping Page results in PeopleTools 8.19 and beyond: 1. Navigate to

2. 3. 4.

Search for the query PING_PAGE_RESULTS Click on the Run link to run the query The user must enter the Test Case Identifier at the top of the page e.g. NEW YORK CALL CENTER, and then click on the OK button.

The results of the PeopleSoft Ping Page will be displayed in an HTML table in the browser as follows:

This data can be exported to Excel or a CSV file using the links above, where graphs can be constructed to better illustrate the data. Also, this Query can be edited by the administrator to modify the information to be displayed.

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