The 35th IPP Symposium

Lottery System's Performance Must be a Sure Bet

Mirek Kula and Mark Truman, GTECH Corporation

The lottery systems' operating environment is quite bizarre by conventional wisdom (sub-second Server-over-WAN response time at a sustained demand of thousands TPS) and commercial terms are outright hostile (uncapped liquidated damages of thousands of dollars per minute of downtime).

While costs are capped, the uncompromised reliability, security, and performance are demanded, often beyond what is commonly understood as a reasonable requirement.

Luckily, some things matter more than others so a sharp focus in resource allocation does help; and since doing a small number of things very well is what ultimately counts, prioritization is crucial.

The presentation outlines these constraints and discusses what GTECH has done to thrive in the environment they create. What are the architectural and design principles resulting from these constraints? What are the traps to avoid? Can a TP system perform in a deterministic manner across a wide rage of demand and be affordable? Can one always be above average?