CTFL-PT practice question 3 of 10
You have been asked to test the performance of a software and system update to a North American mobile trivia quiz game application. The quiz app is…
Full set: 40 questionsSystem throughput is defined as the number of transactions a system can process per unit of time. The problem states that 5 million concurrent users will submit a response within a 4-second window. The responses are sent evenly across this time period. The calculation for the average system throughput is: Throughput = Total Transactions / Time Period Throughput = 5,000,000 transactions / 4 seconds = 1,250,000 transactions/second. This calculated value is 1.25 million transactions/second. Of the options provided, 1 million transactions/second (Option B) is the closest approximate value. Assumption 4 implies system throughput must match the user load.
A. This value would require the 5 million transactions to occur in 3 seconds (5M / 1.667M ≈ 3s), which contradicts the given 4-second window.
C. The unit "transactions/millisecond" is incorrect and represents an implausibly high rate (equivalent to 1 billion transactions/second) for this application.
D. This throughput is significantly lower than the calculated arrival rate of 1.25 million transactions/second, underestimating the required system capacity. ---
1. ISTQB® Certified Tester Foundation Level Performance Testing Syllabus Version 1.0 (2018). Section 2.2.1, "Performance Test Types and an Associated Non-functional Requirement," defines Throughput: "The number of transactions or requests per unit of time that a system can process." The calculation performed directly applies this definition.
2. Jain, R. (1991). The Art of Computer Systems Performance Analysis: Techniques for Experimental Design, Measurement, Simulation, and Modeling. Wiley. Chapter 3, "Commonly Used Performance Metrics," defines throughput (or capacity) as the rate at which requests can be serviced by the system. The question requires calculating this rate based on user load.
3. Smith, C. U., & Williams, L. G. (2002). Performance Solutions: A Practical Guide to Creating Responsive, Scalable Software. Addison-Wesley. Chapter 2, "Fundamentals of Performance," discusses key performance metrics, including throughput, which is calculated as the number of completed tasks over a time interval, aligning with the provided explanation.
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