Load Testing Blog
Patch Available for IE SSL Bug
A recent Microsoft security advisory and subsequent patch unfortunately disabled SSL recording with Internet Explorer on all released versions of Web Performance Load Tester, Load Tester PRO, and Trainer. SSL recording with Firefox was not affect, but other browsers have not yet been tested.
If you have a current support contract you can update any 5.0 or later release by using Help->Software Updates, and selecting “Search for updates of currently installed features”. Follow the instructions to install patch 5.1.111161. If you have a current support contract, but have not yet upgraded to to 5.0 the most recent installer … Continue reading »
Load Testing Mobile Websites for Android
Load Testing a mobile website has a few key differences from testing the full desktop-oriented version of a website. In this article, I will review those differences and show you how to use Load Tester to create testcases using the stock browser on Android 4 / ICS (the Ice-Cream Sandwich release).
This article does not cover the entire load testing process – I recommend checking out our videos and tutorials for more information on using Load Tester to run and analyze load tests.
Before I jump in, I want to give a quick introduction on how a load test is … Continue reading »
Handling Javascript and AJAX Callbacks
Overview
AJAX technologies present some special challenges for testing software – since it blurs the distinction between a traditional page-based web application and a rich client-server application. Most testing tools are specific to one or the other – and for very good reasons. This tutorial demonstrates one approach to handling AJAX callbacks in an AJAX-enabled web application using Web Performance Load Tester.
Prerequesites: This guide assumes a solid understanding of the Load Tester product. The Load Tester videos are a good introduction to the main features. It is assumed can record a testcase and exeute load tests using some of the … Continue reading »
Load Testing an Javascript or AJAX Application
Most of us are relieved that web applications are starting to behave more like desktop applications – i.e. smarter and easier to use. A little wow factor here and there doesn’t hurt either. Ease of use always has a cost, so it should come as no surprise that the AJAX applications are more difficult to develop. But you may be surprised that they can also be more difficult to load test.
The reason is fairly simple. Traditional web applications are relatively easy to model and simulate. The state of a user session, at any given time, is a combination of the … Continue reading »
Load Tester PRO™ 5.1 Released
Fast on the heels of the initial 5.0 PRO release, 5.1 is a major upgrade that includes support for mobile load testing, a completely resigned load test design and control system, improved support for dynamically scalable websites, Internet Explorer 10 support, and portal license manager integration.
Mobile Load Testing
The increasing web traffic from mobile devices has been noticed for years, but how much does it really affect a website? A recent study shows that 7% of web traffic is from mobile devices, which includes both phones and tablets. Because these devices use different browsers, and sometimes access different versions of a … Continue reading »
Do NOT cheat on VUs!
Because load testing tools are usually priced by the number of simultaneous users it can generate, it is tempting to lower the think time or increase the simulated bandwidth and run the test with a lower number of VUs than needed. Then, estimate the number of users the system can handle based on this scaling this (flawed) data.
There is a subset of systems for which this is acceptable. These are primarily sites serving stateless static content or very atomic web services on systems extensively engineered for scalability. Unless your system falls into one of these very narrow categories, then DO … Continue reading »
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:
It is a 24/7 system, so we can’t take it down.
We can not risk degrading the performance of real users.
We cannot test it live because test data will corrupt the database.
System has to be available 24/7? No need to … Continue reading »
Spinout at the Carolina Motor Park
Nineteen cars started on Saturday, and Jason finished 3rd in a very boring race (after
the first lap he basically drove solo laps the whole time). So on
Sunday the top three finishers decided to skip qualifying entirely and
start at the back of the pack just to make things more exciting.
Unfortunately he got spun around while passing a slower car (at the 35second mark) on the
opening lap which put him dead last plus about a 20 second gap.
Fortunately he was able to make up some time and ended up seventh.
It was nearly sixth but for an out of class car got … Continue reading »
Going to the Velocity Conference in June? Save 20%
The Velocity Conference is the biggest and best web performance event in the field, and completely eclipses the testing conferences that add in performance as an afterthought. Well, if truth be told its the only conference entirely on the subject, but that’s besides the point. The others might have a separate performance track, while this entire conference is devoted to building, testing, and operating high volume sites.
http://velocityconf.com/velocity2012
We’re a media partner this year, so if you’re thinking of attending be sure to use this 20% discount code: WEBPER. The conference has … Continue reading »
2012 Racing Season Starts with a Crash
The 2012 car racing season got off to shaky start for our intrepid SpecE30 car and driver. The driver, Jason Tower, is still not back 100% after surgery to repair a torn ligament in his hand, but none-the-less headed to the Virginia International Raceway to try his luck at a weekend of SpecE30 racing.
The first race on Saturday was a disaster after a series of mishaps:
“… a car went off in turn 3 on the first lap which summoned the
emergency vehicles to the spot. The next time around another car
failed to see the yellow flag, … Continue reading »