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Load Testing

Load Testing is a non-functional software testing process in which the performance of software application is tested under a specific expected load. It determines how the software application behaves while being accessed by multiple users simultaneously. The goal of Load Testing is to improve performance bottlenecks and to ensure stability and smooth functioning of software application before deployment.

This testing usually identifies –

The maximum operating capacity of an application

Determine whether the current infrastructure is sufficient to run the application

Sustainability of application with respect to peak user load

Number of concurrent users that an application can support, and scalability to allow more users to access it.

It is a type of non-functional testing. In Software Engineering, Load testing is commonly used for the Client/Server, Web-based applications – both Intranet and Internet.

Need of Load Testing:

Consider the following examples

An Airline website was not able to handle 10000+ users during a festival offer.

Encyclopedia Britannica declared free access to their online database as a promotional offer. They were not able to keep up with the onslaught of traffic for weeks.

Many sites suffer delayed load times when they encounter heavy traffic. Few Facts –

$ 4.4 Billion Lost annually due to poor performance

Why Load Testing?

Load testing gives confidence in the system & its reliability and performance.

Load Testing helps identify the bottlenecks in the system under heavy user stress scenarios before they happen in a production environment.

Load testing gives excellent protection against poor performance and accommodates complementary strategies for performance management and monitoring of a production environment.

Goals of Load Testing:

Loading testing identifies the following problems before moving the application to market or Production:

Response time for each transaction

Network delay between the client and the server

Software design issues

Server configuration issues like a Web server, application server, database server etc.

Hardware limitation issues like CPU maximization, memory limitations, network bottleneck, etc.

Load testing will determine whether the system needs to be fine-tuned or modification of hardware and software is required to improve performance. To effectively conduct load testing, you can utilize various performance testing tools that are available to help you identify areas for improvement.

Prerequisites of load testing:

The chief metric for load testing is response time. Before you begin load testing, you must determine –

Whether the response time is already measured and compared – Quantitative

Whether the response time is applicable to the business process – Relevant

Whether the response time is justifiable – Realistic

Whether the response time is achievable – Achievable

Whether the response time is measurable using a tool or stopwatch – Measurable

An environment needs to be set up before starting the load testing:

Hardware Platform Software Configuration

Server Machines

Processors

Memory

Disk Storage

Load Machines configuration

Network configuration

Operating System

Server Software

Strategies of load Testing:

There are many numbers of ways to perform load testing. Following are a few load testing strategies-

Manual Load Testing: This is one of the strategies to execute load testing, but it does not produce repeatable results, cannot provide measurable levels of stress on an application and is an impossible process to coordinate.

In house developed load testing tools: An organization, which realizes the importance of load testing, may build their own tools to execute load tests.

Open source load testing tools: There are several load testing tools available as open source that are free of charge. They may not be as sophisticated as their paid counterparts, but if you are on a budget, they are the best choice.

Enterprise-class load testing tools: They usually come with capture/playback facility. They support a large number of protocols. They can simulate an exceptionally large number of users.

How to do Load Testing

The load testing process can be briefly described as below –

Create a dedicated Test Environment for load testing

Determine the following

Load Test Scenarios

Determine load testing transactions for an application

Prepare Data for each transaction

Number of Users accessing the system need to be predicted

Determine connection speeds. Some users may be connected via leased lines while others may use dial-up

Determine different browsers and operating systems used by the users

A configuration of all the servers like web, application and DB Servers

Test Scenario execution and monitoring. Collecting various metrics

Analyze the results. Make recommendations

Fine-tune the System

Re-test

Guidelines for load testing

Load testing should be planned once the application becomes functionally stable.

A large number of unique data should be ready in the data pool

Number of users should be decided for each scenario or scripts

Avoid creation of detailed logs to conserve the disk IO space

Try to avoid downloading of images in the site

In the process of executing load testing test cases, the consistency of response time over the elapsed period should be logged and the same should be compared with various test runs.

Difference between Load and Stress testing:

Load Testing Stress Testing

Stress Testing determines the breaking point of the system to reveal the maximum point after which it breaks.

To recognize the upper limit of the system, set SLA of the app and check how the system can handle a heavy load.

Generating increased load on a web application is the main aim of load testing. Stress testing aims to ensure that under a sudden high load for a considerable duration the servers don’t crash.

The attributes which are checked in a load test are peak performance, server quantity and response time. This kind of testing checks stability response time, etc.

In load testing load limit is a threshold of a break. In stress testing load limit is above the threshold of a break.

Difference between Functional and Load Testing:

Functional Testing Load Testing

Results of functional tests are easily predictable as we have proper steps and preconditions defined Results of load tests are unpredictable

Results of functional tests vary slightly Load test results vary drastically

Frequency of executing Functional Testing will be high A frequency of executing load testing will be low

Results of functional tests are dependent on the test data Load testing depends on the number of users.

Load Testing Tools: LoadNinja

LoadNinja – is revolutionizing the way we load test. This cloud-based load testing tool empowers teams to record & instantly playback comprehensive load tests, without complex dynamic correlation & run these load tests in real browsers at scale. Teams are able to increase test coverage. & cut load testing time by over 60%.

Load Runner:

Load runner is HP tool used to test the applications under normal and peak load conditions. Load runner generates load by creating virtual users that emulate network traffic. It simulates real time usage like a production environment and gives graphical results.