Running a good load test requires getting the right people involved
If you are testing in-house, then you will (hopefully) have the opportunity to run many tests. This gives you the opportunity to shake out your testing process ahead of time and to bring individuals in as needed to look at specific problems.
If, however, you are using an outside testing resource service or will be running one big test on a production system, then it is crucial to have the right people involved in the planning and execution of the test. This list includes:
- Network administrators
- System developers and/or integrators
- Web- and app-server administrators
- Database admins
- Architects
- Content Experts
- 3rd-party services, such as your hosting company
During the load test, we recommend making live data available during the test to all of the participants (e.g. via a web-share of your desktop). This will give them an opportunity to view test data alongside other metrics that they may be monitoring during the test. We use this approach extensively in our testing services and find that it also gives the participants a better view into the testing process that improves their understanding as well as their contribution to the effort.
Each of these groups brings a specific view of a web-based system and a unique set of talents for identifying, diagnosing and fixing the performance problems that are encountered. Your testing results will be more valuable as a result of their involvement.
Chris Merrill, Chief Engineer
When his dad brought home a Commodore PET computer, Chris was drawn into computers. 7 years later, after finishing his degree in Computer and Electrical Engineering at Purdue University, he found himself writing software for industrial control systems. His first foray into testing software resulted in an innovative control system for testing lubricants in automotive engines. The Internet grabbed his attention and he became one of the first Sun Certified Java Developers. His focus then locked on performance testing of websites. As Chief Engineer for Web Performance since 2001, Chris now spends his time turning real-world testing challenges into new features for the Load Tester product.
1 Comment
13 February 2012 rajkjose
Good one!!!
I would point out that one of the key reasons for having these poeple involved is to monitor the server resources such as
– Hardware monitoring – CPU, Memory, IO statistics
– Server software monitoring – Web/App/DB server resources like Http connections, App server thread pool, Connection pool, JVM Heap
– Application code monitoring – Method CPU time, memory allocated per objects
thanks
Raj
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