Queue Performance and Usability

The Queue screen lists the samples that are queued for a step, and provides a table from which samples are selected for placement into the Ice Bucket.

By default, samples listed in the Sample table are grouped by container. Groups are collapsed by default and can be expanded as required by selecting the arrows.

Lab scientists can also choose to group samples by project, submitted sample, or previous step.

Performance and Usability

In the past, some performance and usability issues were encountered when viewing large data sets in the Queue screen. Clarity LIMS now includes performance enhancements that speed up the Sample table loading time, allowing users to more quickly interact with the data.

Clarity LIMS development teams measured the performance for various samples that are queued for a step with the Time to Interactive (TTI) metric. This metric defines the time it takes for a page to become fully interactive and for functionality to start working (eg, selecting, scrolling, and so on). The metric numbers vary based on the following information:

• Server specification.

• Amount of data stored on the server database.

• Client hardware specifications and the browser type used to access Clarity LIMS.

• Network conditions between the server and client.

Performance Test Setup

The following table shows the server and client specifications used for the performance test.

The different client types are used to demonstrate the different setups.

Hardware	Specification	Additional Notes
Server	3.1 GHz Intel Xeon Platinum processor (8-core) 32 GB RAM Oracle Linux v8.8 PostgreSQL 15.2 database	The server database is loaded with the following information: 200,000 submitted sample records 2,000,000 derived sample records 500 projects
Client A	3.1 GHz Intel Xeon Platinum processor (8-core) 32 GB RAM	Access Clarity LIMS within the same network in the lab.
Client B	2.3 GHz Intel Core i9 (8-core) 32 GB RAM	Access Clarity LIMS on the cloud. The VPN access and different network region setup results in high network latency and demonstrates the worst case for performance.

Performance Test Results

The following tables show the results of two performance tests conducted on a Clarity LIMS system on which performance enhancements had been implemented. In both tests, samples were grouped by container.

The tables show how the usability rating changes as the number of samples in the queue increases.

Test 1: Container = Tube

Test 1 Performance Results

Number of Samples	Response Time (seconds) - Client Type A Response Time (seconds) - Client Type B 1000	Response Time (seconds) - Client Type B
1000	2.0	4.5
3000	2.5	5.0
7000	3.5	6.5
10,000	5.0	7.5
15,000	7.0	10.5
20,000	9.0	12.5

Test 2: Container = 96 well plate

Test 2 Performance Results

Number of Samples	Response Time (seconds) - Client Type A Response Time (seconds) - Client Type B 1000	Response Time (seconds) - Client Type B
1000	2.0	4.5
3000	3.0	5.5
7000	5.0	7.5
10,000	7.0	9.5
15,000	9.5	12.5
20,000	12.5	15.0