5 Essential Tips for Load Testing Beginners

5 ESSENTIAL TIPSLoad BeginnersTesting

FOR

We get it.

Software Development is no walk in the park...

It’s not as easy as pie. Or a piece of cake...

Okay, we’re done with the clichés.Promise.

And adding load testing to the mix (which is highly recommended to keep users happy with your application),

increases your difficulty level.

“Do I have to?”Yes. You have to. Fight through the pain,

embrace the struggle...and load test.

Load Testing:The process of putting demand on a system or device and measuring its response. Load Testing is performed to determine a system’s behavior under both normal and anticipated peak load conditions.

You ready for those 5 essential tips? Let’s Do It.

1 CALCULATE THE NUMBER OF USERS

When you load test, you have to determinethe number of users you wish to simulate.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to guess!

Math nerds rejoice!

That’s right...

We’ve got a formula for you.

Number of pages viewed per hour (PPH) – this figure can be extracted from your Web server’s log file

Number of pages viewed per user (PPU) – that is to say the number of pages in a representative test case

User duration in minutes (UD)

The calculation we use requires three variables:

***

The calculation we use requires three variables:

# of Virtual Users Required ((PPH/PPU)/60)*UD

The formula looks like this:

Keep in mind, this basic calculation assumes a constant load over an hour meaning it does not take into account things like load ramping or traffic spikes, so you’ll need more virtual users when testing with these conditions.

It’s probably quite obvious that if application performance is...

bad for a small number of users,

then it’s no bueno for a large number of users.

Run a small test first. Once the application performs well with a small number of users, add more!

2 GET OTHERSINVOLVED

2 GET OTHERSINVOLVED

You’re going to need to collaborate and communicate across three departments.

THE TESTING SIDE THE DEVELOPEMENT SIDE THE OPERATIONS SIDE

“WHAT, WHY?”

Testers may not know much about the application’s code, so a developer will need to inform the testing team of any changes to the code before the application undergoes testing. If a person from operations isn’t involved from the beginning, then testers may not have the analytics of the application from the production environment.

Involving all three of these groups will create a stronger team dynamic that will result in an accurate depiction of

the application performance.

3 DETERMINE YOURTEST CASES

3 DETERMINE YOURTEST CASES

In order to know what test

cases to implement, you need to understand the paths that users are

taking through your application.

Crack open your site analytics, your app analytics, and the log files from your web server. Study how users are traversing through the application – as well as how many there are, where they are coming from geographically, and the types of browsers and devices they use.

It’s important to put this data in the context of your application architecture, so that you can pinpoint bottlenecks and develop a comprehensive set of tests to exercise them.

You will then be able to see how your application performs under a somewhat realistic load.

Once you assemble this information together...

You can create a test plan that simulates observed behavior using virtual users on emulated and/or physical devices and across geographic regions.

4 YOU CAN’T MAKEASSUMPTIONS WITHAN INEXACT TESTINGENVIRONMENT

Can I extrapolate results based on smaller number of users?

Can I extrapolate the results in the testing environment with a smaller proportional number of servers to the production environment?

Can I assume the performance results from an inexact testing environment apply to my production environment?

There is a nonlinear relationship between the testing environment and the production environment if the

testing environment is not an exact mirror of production. However, mirroring production exactly with the same

infrastructure and configuration can be quite expensive.

So, what’s the solution?

The truth is that you want to make your tests as realistic as possible, but no test will ever be perfect.

Remember that the goal of testing

is to minimize risks.

You can still find and fix performance issues in an inexact testing environment, and for those who can get permission to do so, testing in production on off hours may provide even more accurate results than a mirrored testing environment.

Remember that the goal of testing

is to minimize risks.

5 TAKE TIME TO ANALYZE YOUR RESULTS

5 TAKE TIME TO ANALYZE YOUR RESULTS

Load and performance testing is typically one of the last steps in most development cycles and is often rushed as a result.

This means that testers may gather a heap of performance metrics that may be overlooked because of a looming deadline.

Results analysis is critical.

It allows you to pinpoint smaller issues in your app or the infrastructure itself.

Don’t cut out the analytics; take the time get to the root cause of issues from build to

build before they snowball out of control.

But seriously...

Load test for the sake of your users.

If you have any questions, contact out performance experts.

HAPPY TESTING!

Load testing is a necessary step to ensure the performance of your application for end users.

Take the time to find the best tool for you.

HORROR STORIES:PERFORMANCE TESTING

TALES FROM THE SCRIPT

You often hear horror stories about testers who get blamed for an application’s crashing despite having to use poor testing conditions, or a performance engineer who tested inside a firewall then saw an app fail in production. This all happens with the spectre of time and resource pressures looming overhead.

As the former manager of a load and performance team, Brad Stoner has a number of haunting stories from his days in the field that carry insightful lessons learned about load and performance testing. Watch this webinar to learn:

- The first performance test you should run on your app - How to use the results of a test run in a non-production environment - How testing inside the firewall can come back to haunt you - The most critical test to run

SEE THE FULL WEBINAR

__________________________________________________________Performance Testing Horror StoriesTales from the Script

Brad StonerSenior Performance Engineer

Neotys

ABOUT NEOTYS | www.neotys.com

Neotys is a leading innovator in load testing and performance monitoring solutions for Web and Mobile applications.

Neotys’ products NeoLoad and NeoSense enable Development, QA and IT Operations to quickly and efficiently test and monitor the quality, reliability and performance of their applications. More than 1500 organizations globally have selected our solutions because they are Agile, easy to use and support all RIA and Mobile technologies.

For more information about Neotys and NeoLoad visit: www.neotys.com or contact [email protected].

CONTACT USUS: Tel: +1.781.899.7200 | EMEA: Tel: +33.442.180.830EMAIL: [email protected] | LEARN MORE: www.neotys.com