Load Testing

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Load Testing

In this article, I am going to discuss Load Testing. Please read our previous article where we discussed Dynamic Testing. At the end of this article, you will understand the following important pointers which are related to Load Testing.

1. What is Load Testing?
2. What Makes Load Testing Crucial?
3. Why Do Load Tests?
4. What are the Goals of Load Testing?
5. What are the Prerequisites of Load Testing?
6. What are the Rules of Load Testing?
7. Explain the Process of Load Testing
8. What are the Metrics of Load Testing?
9. Mention Load Testing Tools
10. Example of Load Testing
11. What are the Advantages of Load Testing?
12. What are the Disadvantages of Load Testing?

What is Load Testing?

The performance of a software program is tested during load testing, a non-functional software testing procedure, under a predetermined expected load. It defines how the software program functions when several users are using it at once.

Prior to deployment, load testing aims to eliminate performance bottlenecks and guarantee the stability and efficient operation of software applications. Performance testing of this kind mimics a real-world load on a system or application to determine how it responds to pressure.

Finding bottlenecks and figuring out the maximum number of users or transactions the system can handle are the two main objectives of load testing. It is a crucial component of software testing since it makes sure the system is capable of handling the anticipated usage levels and reveals any potential problems before the system is put into use.

What Makes Load Testing Crucial?

The following reason makes load testing necessary:

1. It ensures the effectiveness and consistency of the system.
2. If any application code modifications take place that can have an impact on performance, load testing is required.
3. It is crucial since it mimics actual user scenarios.
4. It aids in identifying any system bottlenecks.

Why Do Load Tests?

1. Through load testing, the system’s performance and dependability are validated.
2. Before they occur in a real-world setting, load testing identifies the bottlenecks in the system under situations of high user stress.
3. In addition to accommodating supplementary performance management and monitoring solutions for a production environment, load testing provides great protection against subpar performance.

What are the Goals of Load Testing?

Before releasing the application to the public or going into production, loading testing reveals the following issues:

• Duration of each transaction’s response
• System component performance under varying loads
• Database component performance under various loads
• Network lag between the server and client
• Difficulties with software design
• Problems with web servers, application servers, database servers, etc.
• Difficulties with hardware constraints, such as CPU overclocking, RAM restrictions, network bottlenecks, etc.

What are the Prerequisites of Load Testing?

Response time serves as the main load testing metric. Determine the following before you start load testing:

• Whether or not the response time has already been recorded and compared – Numerical
• Determine whether the response time is relevant to the business process.
• How realistically justifiable is the response time is
• Whether or not the response time is feasible –
• The response time must be quantifiable using a tool or stopwatch.

What are the Rules of Load Testing?

An engineer doing load testing should adhere to the following guidelines:

1. The site’s test engineer makes an attempt to avoid downloading any photos.
2. Load testing should be scheduled once the application reaches a functionally stable state.
3. According to the reliability of response time, the previous period should be recorded and compared with numerous test runs.
4. Decide on the number of users for each scenario or script.

Explain the Process of Load Testing

1. Test Environment Setup: Setting up a test environment specifically for carrying out load testing is the first step. It guarantees that testing will be carried out correctly.
2. Load Test Scenario: Load test scenarios are built in the next stage. Data is then prepared for each transaction and load-testing transactions are chosen for the application.
3. Execution of Test Scenarios: This phase involves running the load tests that were prepared in the previous stage. To acquire the data, many metrics and measurements are gathered.
4. Analysis of Test Results: Various recommendations are provided after an analysis of the test results.
5. Retest: If the test is unsuccessful, it is run again to ensure that the results are accurate.

What are the Metrics of Load Testing?

Metrics are used to understand how load testing performs in various scenarios. It provides information on how accurately load testing is performed under various test cases. Typically, it is completed following the creation of load test scripts and cases. The load testing can be evaluated using a variety of measures. Following is a list of some of them.

1. Average Response Time: This number indicates how long it typically takes to respond to a request made by a client, customer, or user. Additionally, it displays the application’s speed based on how quickly all of the requests are processed.
2. Error Rate: The Error Rate, which is expressed as a percentage, indicates the proportion of requests for which errors were made to the total number of requests. These errors typically appear when the program is unable to process the request at the time specified or when there are other technical issues. When the error rate keeps rising, the application becomes less effective.
3. Throughput: This metric is utilized to determine the bandwidth range required during load routines or tests as well as the volume of data being used to measure the request flow between the user server and the application’s main server. Kilobytes per second is the unit of measurement.
4. Requests per Second: The number of requests made to the application server per second is indicated by the term “requests per second.” Any type of request, including those for photographs, documents, web pages, articles, or other materials, may be made.
5. Concurrent people: This measure is used to count the number of people who are online at any one time or at a specific period. Without making any requests within the program, it simply counts the number of users who have visited the application at any given time. This allows us to quickly determine when a large number of users are accessing the application or website.
6. Peak Response Time: Peak Response Time indicates how long it takes to respond to a request. Additionally, it aids in determining the length of the longest period of time during which the request and response cycle is handled as well as which resource is taking the longest to react to requests.

Mention Load Testing Tools

LoadNinja: The way we load tests is being revolutionized by LoadNinja. With the help of this cloud-based load-testing solution, teams can easily execute large-scale, thorough load tests in actual browsers while simultaneously recording & replaying these tests without sophisticated dynamic correlation. Teams have the ability to boost test coverage. & reduced the load testing time by over 60%.

Load Runner: HP’s Load Runner tool is used to test applications under both average and high load circumstances. By producing virtual users that simulate network traffic, load runners provide load. It produces graphical results while simulating real-time usage similar to a production scenario.

Example of Load Testing

E-commerce websites make significant profits from advertising campaigns but do not do load testing to ensure optimal system performance while simultaneously attracting a large number of customers. As a result, some very prominent websites have had a significant collapse.

What are the Advantages of Load Testing?

The following are a few crucial advantages of conducting load testing:

1. Before going into production, load testing enables us to identify performance-related problems and bottlenecks.
2. The network, software, and database scalability of the system or software application are all improved by load testing.
3. Reducing cost failures is the main benefit of load testing, which also helps us lower the danger of system interruption.
4. When implementing load testing, customer satisfaction is increased.

What are the Disadvantages of Load Testing?

These are the disadvantages of load testing:

1. Only when we possess sufficient knowledge of a programming language and testing tools can we carry out a load test?
2. The cost of using load testing tools can vary depending on the amount of supported virtual users.

In the next article, I am going to discuss Stress Testing. Here, in this article, I try to explain Load Testing. I hope you enjoy this Load Testing article.