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Software Testing - Load Testing
Software testing comprises both the functional and non-functional testing techniques. The load testing is a concept under the performance testing which evaluates the performance of the software under the real life load use cases.
What is Software Load Testing?
The software load testing is conducted to evaluate the characteristics of the software when numerous users are using it simultaneously. It determines the software response time under the influence of different loading circumstances. It is done under both the usual and maximal load criterias.
The software load testing is a kind of performance testing which simulates a real world loading situation on the software to evaluate how it reacts under stress. The primary objective of software load testing is to detect any congestion and to detect the maximum count of users or transactions that the software can take up simultaneously. It is a very critical feature as it assists in determining the expected usage capacity of the software and identifies any issues before it is moved to production.
At the time of the software load testing, multiple use cases are simulated to verify the software characteristics under various loading circumstances. It includes simulating a large number of concurrent users executing numerous requests leading to a hefty network traffic. In such situations, software’s robustness is evaluated, and to detect any defects.
Techniques Used for Software Load Testing
The techniques used for the software load testing are listed below:
Stress Testing
In this type of testing, the capacity of the software is analyzed under the condition of a bigger load which is beyond the normal limits.
Spike Testing
In this type of testing, the capacity of the software is analyzed under the condition of unexpected spikes in traffic.
Soak Testing
In this type of testing, the capacity of the software is analyzed under the condition of sustained load over an extended period of time.
Tools For Performance Testing
The different load testing tools namely JMeter, Gatling, Load Runner etc are used to measure software performance under a big chunk of users, and transactions.
Identify Test Objectives
The software load testing objectives are determined along with the software’s response time, the transaction volumes, and the expected user characteristics.
Identify Critical Scenarios
Some of the critical scenarios which need to be covered during the software load testing are identified.
Objectives of Software Load Testing
The objectives of the software load testing are listed below −
- The software load testing determines the software capacity to work with the growing number of users, and transactions, and to pinpoint the time the software begins to work incorrectly under stress.
- The software load testing detects the software capacity to handle the increasing count of users, transactions, and data in the subsequent time. This helps to plan for future infrastructure, and resources upgrades that need to be taken up for the software.
- The software load testing helps to find issues in the software which may affect its performance under the influence of load.
- The software load testing evaluates the response time for all the users and transactions. It also keeps track of changes in the response time as the load changes.
- The software load testing determines if there are any memory leaks which may affect the performance of the software. Thus it ensures that the software does not consume too much resources while it is executing.
Process of Software Load Testing
The process of the software load testing are listed below −
Step 1 − Identify and configure the correct test environment where the load test cases can be executed.
Step 2 − Identify all the suitable load test scenarios along with the correct transactions, and the data for the transactions.
Step 3 − The load test scenarios are executed. Then the various measurements and metrics are collected post the execution.
Step 4 − The test results are analyzed and defects are reported in case of deviations.
Step 5 − After the defects are fixed, all the failed test cases and defects have to be re-executed and retested respectively.
Different Metrics of Software Load Testing
The different metrics of the software load testing are listed below −
Average Response Time
It describes the average time taken up to respond to requests from the clients, and customers. It also tells about the software speed depending on the time consumed to respond to a request.
Error Rate
It describes the percentage of errors encountered while responding to all the requests. More errors are generated while the software is not able to handle any requests for some time or due to some technical faults which result in a less productive software.
Throughput
It describes the bandwidth consumed during the execution of the load test cases, and to determine the quantity of data which flows between the application main server and the user server. It is determined in kilobytes per second.
Requests Per Second
It describes the count of requests that are available to the application server per second.
Concurrent Users
It describes the count of users who are currently available at a specific or any time. It keeps track of users who are just navigating the software without making any requests. From this data, we can infer at which moment a large number of users are active on the software.
Peak Response Tim
It describes the time consumed to process a request. It determines the peak time at which the request and response are taken care of, and which resource is consuming more time to work on a request.
Different Tools Used for Software Load Testing
The different tools used for the software load testing are listed below −
- JMeter
- LoadView
- WebLoad
- NeoLoad
- LoadNinja
- HP Performance Tester
Advantages of Software Load Testing
The advantages of the software load testing are listed below −
- The software load testing determines the issues namely performance of database queries, memory leakage, network traffic etc. Thus it helps to optimize the software so that it has the capacity to process the expected count of users, and transactions.
- The software load testing detects the threshold capacity of the software. It evaluates if it is able to handle an increasing count of users, and transactions in future(particularly for web applications where there will be a potential rise in the traffic volume).
- The software load testing identifies the issues that may come up under heavy load situations namely increase error rate, slow response time etc. From this data, we can infer the stability and reliability of the software before it moves to production.
- The software load testing reduces the potential risks, for example software crash, or very poor performance in the production.
- The software load testing detects defects at the early phases of the software development life cycle(SDLC).
- The software load testing assists in achieving the customer faith, trust, and confidence on the software.
Disadvantages of Software Load Testing
The disadvantages of the software load testing are listed below −
- The software load testing requires time and cost as it is dependent on both hardware and software to simulate a big chunk of users, and transactions.
- The software load testing can be performed by testers who are experienced and specially skilled in performing the load tests.
- The software load testing is conducted to determine the performance of the software under stress, and hence may not be sufficient to detect all kinds of errors. As a result, it is done along with other testing namely functional, regression, acceptance etc.
- If the software load testing is conducted on an environment which is not a copy of the production environment or the load test scenarios do not include simulation of real life use cases, then the results from them may be incorrect.
- It is not easy to predict and simulate all the real life use cases which the users will actually perform on the software. Thus, it is not always possible to evaluate the software performance with an anticipated load.
- The software load testing produces a big chunk of data. It is difficult to evaluate all the data generated and determine the root causes of the performance errors in the software.
Conclusion
This concludes our comprehensive take on the tutorial on Software Load Testing. We’ve started with describing what is software load testing, what are the techniques used for software load testing, what are the objectives of the software load testing, what is the process of the software load testing, what are the different metrics of the software load testing, what are the different tools used for the software load testing, what are the advantages of software load testing, and what are the disadvantages of software load testing. This equips you with in-depth knowledge of Software Load Testing. It is wise to keep practicing what you’ve learned and exploring others relevant to Software Testing to deepen your understanding and expand your horizons.