Key types of Performance testing

[Me] : - What are the key types of performance testing we can do on websites?

[Guruji]:- The most common performance concerns related to Web applications are “Will it be fast enough?”, “Will it support all of my clients?”, “What happens if something goes wrong?”, and “What do I need to plan for when I get more customers?”. In casual conversation, most people associate “fast enough” with performance testing, “accommodate the current/expected user base” with load testing, “something going wrong” with stress testing, and “planning for future growth” with capacity testing. Collectively, these risks form the basis for the four key types of performance tests for Web applications..

Term

Purpose

Notes

 

Performance test

To determine or validate speed, scalability, and/or stability.

·         A performance test is a technical investigation done to determine or validate the responsiveness, speed, scalability, and/or stability characteristics of the product under test.

 

Load test

To verify application behavior under normal and peak load conditions.

·         Load testing is conducted to verify that your application can meet your desired performance objectives; these performance objectives are often specified in a service level agreement (SLA). A load test enables you to measure response times, throughput rates, and resource-utilization levels, and to identify your application’s breaking point, assuming that the breaking point occurs below the peak load condition.

·         Endurance testing is a subset of load testing. An endurance test is a type of performance test focused on determining or validating the performance characteristics of the product under test when subjected to workload models and load volumes anticipated during production operations over an extended period of time.

·         Endurance testing may be used to calculate Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), Mean Time To Failure (MTTF), and similar metrics.

 

Stress test

To determine or validate an application’s behavior when it is pushed beyond normal or peak load conditions.

·         The goal of stress testing is to reveal application bugs that surface only under high load conditions. These bugs can include such things as synchronization issues, race conditions, and memory leaks. Stress testing enables you to identify your application’s weak points, and shows how the application behaves under extreme load conditions.

·         Spike testing is a subset of stress testing. A spike test is a type of performance test focused on determining or validating the performance characteristics of the product under test when subjected to workload models and load volumes that repeatedly increase beyond anticipated production operations for short periods of time

 

Capacity test

To determine how many users and/or transactions a given system will support and still meet performance goals.

·         Capacity testing is conducted in conjunction with capacity planning, which you use to plan for future growth, such as an increased user base or increased volume of data. For example, to accommodate future loads, you need to know how many additional resources (such as processor capacity, memory usage, disk capacity, or network bandwidth) are necessary to support future usage levels. Capacity testing helps you to identify a scaling strategy in order to determine whether you should scale up or scale out.

 

 

author

Vinay Jagtap

A hard core Technocrat with over a decade of extensive experience in heading complex test projects coupled with real time experience of project management and thought leadership. Extensive experience in Performance, Security and Automation Testing and development of automation frameworks and ability to setup and execute Global service centers and Center of Excellences for testing.

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