Software Testing - Spike Testing
Software testing improves the quality, performance, and robustness of the software. The spike testing is a kind of performance testing in which the load on the software is straightway increased or decreased.
What is Software Spike Testing?
The spike testing is performed by applying a large number of users or transactions on the software, and then the characteristics of the software is evaluated. The main objective of this type of testing is to analyze if the software will function properly or not whenever there are substantial changes in the load.
Objectives of Software Spike Testing
The objectives of the software spike testing are listed below −
- The spike testing is done to analyze how the software responds to unexpected and considerable increase in the number of users or transactions.
- The spike testing evaluates the scalability of the software to measure how it can accommodate the scaling up of the resources as the demand increases so that it can prevent its deteriorating performances in such situations.
- The spike testing analyzes the response time of the software at the time of high volume load. It ensures that the response time at those situations is within the limits, and there are no delays.
- The spike testing guarantees that there are no crashes, or downtimes at the time of sudden increase in the transactions, and usages.
- The spike testing enables the capacity of the software to recover from a sudden rise in load or stress to a normal condition.
Steps of Software Spike Testing Process
The steps of the software spike testing process are listed below −
Step 1 − Configure the test environment on which the spike test cases would be executed. This ensures that the testing process is as per the standards.
Step 2 − Measure the threshold load that the software can bear. It refers to the maximal count of users who can work on the software simultaneously.
Step 3 − The load on the software is increased to the highest or to the summit suddenly.
Step 4 − The characteristics of the software is evaluated when the load is at the pinnacle. In this step, it is also noted whether the software undergoes a crash or not during that time.
Step 5 − From the highest load condition, the load is reduced to nothing or to the minimal point suddenly.
Step 6 − The characteristics of the software is evaluated when the load is at the lowest. In this step, it is also noted whether the software undergoes a crash or not during that time.
Step 7 − A performance graph is formulated to evaluate the characteristics of the software when the load is suddenly increased or decreased to the maximum or minimum points respectively.
Different Software Spike Testing Tools
The different software spike testing tools are listed below −
- LoadRunner
- Apache JMeter
Advantages of Software Spike Testing
The advantages of the software spike testing are listed below −
- The spike testing identifies the probable resources shortages, and scalability issues prior the software is deployed to the production.
- The spike testing increases the reliability of the software by decreasing the probability of crashes or downtime at the time of heavy usages or transactions.
- The spike testing helps to plan resources, and infrastructures on the basis of their usages at the time of highest or lowest load.
Disadvantages of Software Spike Testing
The disadvantages of the software spike testing are listed below −
- It is not easy to replicate the unexpected spikes which makes it difficult to simulate the real life scenarios.
- The spike testing is only focussed on evaluating the characteristics of the software when there are sudden and extreme changes in the load, rather than a gradual increase or decrease of load conditions. As a result, all the probable stress scenarios are not covered.
- The spike testing is an expensive process, and requires adequate resources to simulate the scenarios involving multiple users, or sudden modifications in the load.
Conclusion
This concludes our comprehensive take on the tutorial on Software Spike Testing. Weve started with describing what is software spike testing, what are the objectives of the software spike testing, what are the steps of the software spike testing process, what are the different software spike testing tools, what are the advantages of software spike testing, and what are the disadvantages of software spike testing. This equips you with in-depth knowledge of Software Spike Testing. It is wise to keep practicing what youve learned and exploring others relevant to Software Testing to deepen your understanding and expand your horizons.