Frequently asked questions
What can you script for?
Good test scripting is the key to the accuracy of any load test. We make use of script templates that we have proven to work well. However we also write custom scripts to deal with the unique parts of customers websites. Below are some common requests that we cater for, if your requirement isn’t here just ask and we’ll confirm whether we can script it for you.
- Simulate general user browsing behaviour and target popular activities
- E-commerce transactions
- User Authentication
- Randomised Searching and other randomised form field entries
- Form posting
- Downloading and uploading activities
Where does the traffic come from?
Generating enough traffic to imitate thousands of users during a load test can be challenging. Load Verify generate traffic from the Amazon cloud in either the US or Europe. Using the flexible nature of the Amazon cloud we can scale to millions of Page Views /hr and thousands of concurrent connections. Load tests from the internet should always be conducted on a production level internet connection i.e. where the production site will be hosted.
How do you simulate traffic?
We can generate traffic either using tradditional Http only engine or use real firefox browsers. The reason that http load generation engines are traditionally used, even in the most expensive load testing tools, is that they require a fraction of the resources per user (typically about 1 – 5%) that a browser does. Using a browser has only recently become cost effective by using cloud computing to rent hundreds of servers for short periods of time to get the necessary resources to run the browsers.
With the increasing trend to use client side technologies (like AJAX and Flash) makes it is harder to reliably load test an application purely using http. Testing with a browser has other advantages too like:
- Monitoring browser state
- Cookie handing
- Applets and modal dialogues
- Simulating Plugin behaviour
- Accurate and more realistic timings
- Replicating browser caching
- Flexibility
Usually during a load testing phase most changes to the site will require corresponding changes to the test scripts. In a browser based test if we land on the home page and “click” on the “product” menu item then as long as the product button on the home page remains the same everything else can change.
Do you support my technology?
We can use real browsers and support just about any technology that you might be using. The following list contains some of the common technologies that are supported. This is not an exhaustive list so please ask if your technology isn’t here:
- Flash
- AJAX
- java script
- Silverlight
Is there anything you can’t do?
Yes, we can’t hook into traditional windows forms and buttons with our technology (as opposed to webparts, web buttons and functionality), however we do have other load tools and solutions that might assist. Contact us for more information.