Network and Connectivity Factors that Affect Performance

Server Data Transfer Bandwidth

In our standard package, we provide a bandwidth that supports 25 simultaneous users for one account and charge accordingly. The price is exponentially high if 50 or 100 simultaneous users have to be allowed. So instead of paying high cost for an accentuated workload which is rarely required, even clients prefer a minimum balanced price and adjust the workload by time sharing. 25 logins is standard because based on data usage pattern over the years we observed that this is the most commonly exploited limit and very rarely it exceeds this concurrency needs.

User Internet Connection Bandwidth

Server Data transfer bandwidth and User Internet bandwidth again are 2 different things....the lowest one forms the bottle neck. If there are different users connected to the same server giving the same Online Exam, but having internet connections of different bandwidth, then their experience will be different. The user whose bandwidth will be low, his response time will be more. Server receives requests, sends data, but if student bandwidth is low, he will take time to see.

Suppose even if we provide a very high end server with high bandwidth, still the final experience will be as of limiting bandwidth at user level.

Consistent Connectivity

Besides the speed, quality of connectivity is important. A high band and fast internet connection, which a user claims he is able to surf websites properly, might not be suitable for Online Exam or Online Application. Because most websites involve download of static data in packets so in between connectivity for a fraction of a second does not affect. But in case of Online Exam, in order to save the answers given by user, the software contacts the data server in every few seconds. If the internet connectivity is intermittent at this instant, it might lead to malfunction or even logouts. So the type and quality of internet connection is also important not just the MBPS label from the service provider. A 1 MBPS connection with consistent connectivity may perform better than a 2 MBPS connection with intermittent connectivity in rainy season.

Type of User

Type of User	Minimum Internet Requirement	Optimal Internet Requirement
Single User on Browser	Normal dial-up is sufficient to work but, screen loading time will be slow, might be subject to disconnections and timeouts	The more speed the better. Faster speeds will facilitate faster downloads.
Single User on App	2G connection is OK to download but it will take time to download. No issues while working because it works locally on device, without internet connectivity but slow speed at time of uploading can be risky. Also devices with poor processors, smaller screens might perform slow and face limitations.	3G connection is good, though it is required only for a limited period to download and upload the test at the start and end of the process, but even if this is smooth and fast, it will create a better user experience.
Multiple User in Test Lab	Bandwidth requirement depends on number of users. 50 users will need in range of 8 MBPS, 100 users might need 10+MBPS.	For this high concurrency, it is suggested to conduct test only in Lab with local server to avoid all dependency on internet bandwidth.