Step-By-Step Guide to Perform Load Testing

Step-By-Step Guide to Perform Load Testing

You will find during this guide evidence of everything it’s necessary for you to know so as to perform Load Testing. After you’ve got finished it, you’ll be ready to construct an in-depth strategy for testing your application. This guide will explain all of the components and knowledge that you simply have to take into consideration so as to locate and fix those annoying bottlenecks, which is able to allow you to supply an improved experience for your users after they are utilizing your application. you are absolve to use any load testing tool you like; however, we are going to demonstrate some examples using the open-source JMeter programs.

How to Perform Load Testing, Setting out to End

1. Draft a thought for the execution of performance tests

It is now time to style and define the test plan. After we’ve determined which environments are going to be tested and which tools are going to be wont to develop the scripts so run them, it’s time to urge to start. The subsequent items must be included during this planning document:

• A quick rundown of the introduction follows.
• Why are these load tests being performed, and what quite benefits can we expect from collaborating on them?
• The functions of the system that are visiting to be examined constitute this scope.
• Architecture refers to the specifics of the application’s architecture, including the application Server, Web Server, Database Server, Firewalls, and the other third-party applications or other components which will be present.
• All of the resources that are necessary to start the project, like ensuring that each one of the components which will be load tested is both functional and stable, which the environment is the same because the one that’s in production and has data that are (at least) similar to production data. Prerequisites: all of the resources that are necessary to start the project.
• The list of situations that are visiting be put to the test is noted because of the test scenarios.
• Load Execution Cycles: Mention the Baseline, what number of Cycles of Test Runs are doled out, How Long Each Cycle Will Last, and the way many loads are going to be carried during Each Cycle.
• Members of the team who will participate in the scripting and running of the load tests are stated because of the team.

2. Develop some test cases

The objective of the test cases is to work out the amount of performance that the present system is capable of delivering. The data that was gathered is helpful in the future for benchmarking. It’s strongly recommended that performance test cases cover all of the application’s essential features and functions. After I say critical, what I actually mean is that it gets the foremost use from users. One of the foremost important functionalities, as an example, in online retail is the “buy now” button.

When designing your test cases, the subsequent are some important considerations that must be accorded adequate time and attention:

• The load that the appliance anticipates experiencing during production is mentioned because of the expected load.
• Assertions: certify that the program responds to every request in the manner that we anticipate.
• Ensure that the system protects the confidentiality of its users, the integrity of its data, and also the authorized permissions they need to be granted.
• The amount of your time that ought to pass before a response is anticipated to be received after asking has been made for its cited because of the desired latent period.

3. Create Load Scenarios

During load testing, we mimic the number of labor that an application will have to do when it’s fully operational. We keep track of the many different metrics, including the number of users who are accessing the appliance at the identical time, the number of test cases that may be run, and therefore the number of times users run the test.

It is recommended that when designing a load scenario, the subsequent variables be taken into consideration:

• Normal daily activities
• The busiest times of the day for the system
• The days that are used most often

You will be able to determine the operation or operations that are used the foremost, similarly because of the number of users who make use of these operations, with the assistance of those variables. It’s time to make the load scenario in JMeter now that you just have all of the mandatory information at your disposal.

In order to urge an improved cost-to-benefit ratio, you should, once you are becoming able to conduct a performance test, create a load scenario that simplifies how the particular system is used. If we were to form a precise simulation of what’s going to be received by the system during production, the resulting test would be so expensive that it might not be financially viable for us to conduct it. It’s possible that the advantages won’t be definitely worth the costs, and you would possibly only see the results too late to form a difference.

4. Determine the info and Infrastructure Needed

It is strongly recommended that you simply be conscious of the infrastructure that hosts your application furthermore because of the components that are part of the answer. This can be helpful in gaining an understanding of the infrastructure and determining which components must be monitored while the tests are being disbursed so as to collect the desired information.

Data plays a big role in the operation of the tests, which helps to make sure that the tests are as realistic as possible. Therefore, it’s recommended that the amount of information moreover because the quality and reliability of the info on the testing environment is akin to the one that’s in production. During the course of the test, this may contribute to a more accurate simulation of “reality.”

5. Use Acceptance Criteria

The conditions that the test load results need to meet so as for them to be considered acceptable are called acceptance criteria. Acceptance criteria that are written clearly and concisely help reduce the likelihood of unanticipated outcomes in production environments and make sure that all stakeholders and users are pleased with the outcomes.

These criteria have to be established before any test runs can begin, and they should be supported by the results that we anticipate and demand from the appliance. The subsequent are a number of the foremost frequently used and significant criteria:

• Response Time
• Error Percentage
• Utilization of Processors
• Utilization of Memory
• Disk Usage

6. Execute Tests

During the course of the execution of the load testing, the tester is liable for ending a variety of tasks, the foremost important of which are monitoring the live results and examining the engine health. These activities are a crucial part of the test execution phase, and their completion is critical for the success of the test execution.

Other Things to Consider When Doing Load Testing

Comparing Active Users to Concurrent Users

The distinction between active users and concurrent users is one that we are frequently questioned about. It’s necessary for the teams to own an understanding of the connection between these two values so as for them to be able to calculate the numbers that ought to function for their performance goals.

Users who are actively interacting with the app are noted as concurrent users. While they need an open session, it doesn’t mean that they’re actively interacting with the applying in any way. On the opposite hand, users who are actively engaged with the app are noted as active users. They need a full-of-life session, during which they’re ending tasks on the appliance.

Test Logs

When something goes wrong during load testing, a standard response from a performance tester is “Give me your time to test the logs, to form sure that we didn’t miss anything.” The explanation for this can be that within the test logs, we’ll be ready to find a record of everything that occurred while the test was being run.

For instance, if you would like JMeter plugins to run your test but you didn’t include it on the execution, you may see a warning within the log named JMeter.log stating that the plugin is absent. This happens once you forget to incorporate something into the execution. The warning will have the subsequent format: “WARN: Missing tika-app.jar in the classpath.” this kind of document can’t be converted to plain text at this point.”

One more illustration is when the examination was terminated ahead of time. If this can be the case, you wish to analyze the bzt.log file to see the reason behind the error. The lines indicating errors are going to be shaded in red.

Incremental Test Executions

An incremental approach is suggested because the best method for load testing because it gradually increases the number of labor being done. It’s recommended that the test be begun with a load that adores 25 percent of the full load that’s anticipated for the appliance. After that, continue with one-half of the load, then seventy-five percent of the loads, and eventually, if everything goes as planned, perform the test with 100 percent of the anticipated load.

This method is beneficial because we don’t know for sure whether or not the appliance is ready to withstand the load that’s anticipated. We’ll be able to locate errors or bottlenecks within the application earlier within the process if we add loads in an incremental manner.

Examining the Outcomes of Tests

The performance testing process isn’t complete without the critical and technical step of analyzing the test results. The graphs must be analyzed, metrics have to be checked, bottlenecks have to be found, results have to be compared to the baseline, and conclusions have to be drawn from the test results.

About Enteros

Enteros offers a patented database performance management SaaS platform. It proactively identifies root causes of complex business-impacting database scalability and performance issues across a growing number of clouds, RDBMS, NoSQL, and machine learning database platforms.