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Load Test the Production System

There was a time when the common wisdom accepted that testing a production system was a bad thing. The reasons vary and many still follow that belief. We, however, test production systems for our clients more often than not. Not only can it be successful, we believe it is critical!

We have heard lots of reasons for NOT testing production systems. For example:

System has to be available 24/7? No need to take it down – test it live!

Worried about affecting real users? Test during off-hours when there are no real users. Alternatively, test along-side real users. Start with smaller tests and work towards larger tests as problems are fixed and confidence increases (running stepped-ramp tests works well here…and yields more useful results). Have your staff ready to restore service if it is interrupted (You have a plan for that, right? This is a good time to test the plan!). It is better to have an outage during off-hours when everyone is ready for it than to be surprised during peak business hours.

Data generated by the test will adversely affect the system? If the system is critical to your business, then it should be built to be testable. Enhance the system to understand test accounts and test transactions and implement processes to purge or ignore that data as needed. If that is not possible, duplicate your database and swap in the test database for the duration of the load test. Switch back when testing is complete. As a last resort, create an EXACT duplicate of the production system and accept the fact that it can never be an exact copy.

Modern web systems have many moving parts that must all work in concert or the entire system crumbles. One missed line in a config file can cripple a system at high loads. If the system you are testing is important, then the production system must be tested. And it should be tested frequently – after every configuration / software change. (If the system isn’t important, why are you testing it at all?) At the very minimum, the production system should be tested once, with the final version of the software.

Chris Merrill, Chief Engineer

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