Load Testing Blog
Configuring File Uploads
When a testcase has a file upload in it, Load Tester automatically handles the file upload during replays and load tests. However, in many tests each user should upload different file contents (and possibly use a different file name). Load Tester has streamlined this process to make it very easy to handle. Just follow these easy steps:
1) Gather the set of files to be uploaded
2) Import them into Load Tester (Window > Preferences > Web Performance > File Upload) and generate a dataset
3) Find the file field in the testcase using the Fields View
4) Configure the field to use the … Continue reading »
Load Tester™ 4.1 Adds West-coast Cloud for Load Generation
The 4.1 release expands Load Tester’s cloud support by adding a third source for load generation – the Amazon EC2 USA West region. When added to the USA East and European Union regions, the combination supports generating massive amounts of load against websites in North American and Europe.
If you already have one or more cloud accounts configured in Load Tester, you simply add another account, provide the account credentials and select USA West from the region selection.
Chris Merrill, Chief Engineer
Faster Websites Are More Profitable
An experiment by a vendor of website accelerator appliances showed that optimization of website performance had a measurable improvement on visitor retention. Visitors to the optimized site:
had a 1% lower bounce rate
visited 4.5 more pages
spent 27% more time on the site
For the retail site they tested, the impact was felt on the bottom line:
conversion rate increased 16%
order value increased 5.5%
For details, read the full article: Proof that speeding up websites improves online business.
Chris, Chief Engineer
Microsoft Affirms the Importance of Web Performance
No, Microsoft has not admitted that our load testing solution is superior…yet. We anticipate that announcement any day now :>
At last year’s Velocity conference, Microsoft’s Eric Schurman (working on Bing optimization) presented results of tests that Microsoft ran to measure the business impact of the performance of Bing, Microsoft’s newest search platform. Using an A-to-B test platform that directs a subset of their users to a dedicated testing system, they are able to directly observe the effect of specific changes to the performance of the Bing test site. They can collect and analyze a number of metrics about both subsets … Continue reading »
Custom Report Logo in Load Tester™ 4.1
Load Tester 4.1 has a new feature that will be much-appreciated by our many customers who use Load Tester to provide load testing services to their clients. You can now customize the load test report with your own logo image!
Load Tester’s default report logo looks like this:
If you press the Settings button in the report viewer and then select the Report Settings tab, you will find you can choose any image to replace our logo (we recommend an image size of 200×60 pixels):
After accepting that change, the report will show the image you have chosen:
Note that when you change the … Continue reading »
What is “Web Bandwidth” and how do you test it?
When diagnosing performance problems with our clients websites, it is not uncommon for the bandwidth to come into question. Very often, the bandwidth chart will show a distinct plateau and it can be difficult to determine if this is cause or effect. This example shows outgoing server bandwidth (green) as the users (blue) ramp up. It could be interpreted as a bandwidth limitation around 8Mbps. In this case it is not – the limitation is elsewhere in the system.
It can be challenging to prove that bandwidth is the problem. If the bandwidth is not reaching the known limits (i.e. what … Continue reading »
Load Testing tips for Database Administrators
Nearly every useful web application is backed by some sort of database – usually a relational database. Many database administrators (DBAs) have never participated in a load-testing campaign and are sometimes even considered tangential to the load testing process.
However, your DBA is a crucial part of the load-testing team. In addition to the obvious skills of database performance analysis and tuning, the DBA brings other advantages to the project:
insight into how the application interacts with the database that may not be obvious from the perspective of other team members
ability to quickly backup and restore various database snapshots to increase consistency … Continue reading »
It’s Always Nice to Hear…
We know we’ve got great people working here…but we still love it when a customer takes time out of their busy days to compliment one of them. After some recent on-site training and performance tuning for a local customer, George Terrone, President of Integrated Technical Services, wrote to tell us this:
Matt did an absolutely fantastic job. And the timing of his engagement could not have been better. He not only helped our customer understand your product better – he helped to solve a serious Apache problem that had stymied us all.
His Apache expertise – and his attitude – were both … Continue reading »
Designing for Scalability
I ran across this article yesterday. It is nearly two years old, but the content is still entirely relevant. If you are building a system that needs to scale out to handle a large load, then you’ve probably already read this or something similar…if not, then it is worth your time.
What is the relevance to Load Testing, you ask? In section 5 author, Simon Brown, says”
“… set measurable goals throughout the system, verify and measure the real performance and consider performance at all stages of the project.”
For a project manager, a key part of the job is reducing risk … Continue reading »
New JavaScript optimizer
From a load testing perspective, we are not generally concerned with Javascript performance – since it affects client-side rendering time and therefore has little relationship to load. However, we do see a lot of sites that could benefit greatly from improved Javascript performance – especially reducing the size of their Javascript files. Google has a relatively new project, Closure Compiler, that optimizes JavaScript code to reduce size and improve performance.
If you’ve tried the Closure Compiler, give us a shout. We’d love to hear about your results!
Chris
Chief Engineer