Performance testing is one of the important processes of the software QA segment. While the application is efficiently designed and tested for functionality, it might lack the power to accommodate thousands of concurrent users.
Performance testing gauges the actual potentiality of an application. It replicates a scenario wherein thousands of concurrent users are running the application and thereby calculates the performance of the applications in terms of load balancing, stress management, endurance and scalability.
As the testing environment requires thousands of concurrent users, automated software is used to carry performance testing. HP is the leader in this segment with its HP load Runner software tool.
What is HP Load Runner?
HP Load Runner is a software testing tool from HP that is designed to perform non-functionality testing like performance testing. It unleashes the actual potentiality of an application before it goes live. With rapid advancement in technology and increasing cloud computing networks, it is important to check every application for load balancing and scalability features before releasing it for customers.
The need for HP Load Runner
In today’s fast-paced world, people need instant results. With several options available to customers, businesses only have few seconds to convince a customer to stay on the application. In such conditions, application load time is very essential. You have to make sure that the application loads in quick time. At the same time response time should be minimal too. When a user inputs data into the application, he expects a quick output. In addition, scalability is another factor wherein multiple users login at the same time and expect the application to deliver the same performance. All these issues have to be sorted out before launching a software application. HP load Runner offers intuitive testing tools that automate non-functional testing processes to analyze the performance of an application.
HP Load Runner in the cloud
With increased use of cloud-based applications, there is a greater need for cloud testing in recent times. HP Load Runner was lacking this feature earlier.
However, users can now make use of cloud-based HP Load Runner services to optimize resources and enjoy maximum ROI. HP Load Runner works with Amazon EC2 to offer highly scalable testing solutions to businesses of all sizes. With on-demand services, you can quickly deploy the testing environment and enjoy world-class technologies at cost-effective prices.
One of the important benefits of cloud-based testing is the provision of real-time network testing environments. While testing the application from your on-premise lab, several aspects like the latency, data loss, packet loss and bandwidth issues can be evaluated. On-premise lab testing does not effectively simulate these aspects. As load testing tools are required to test the performance of an application with thousands of concurrent users, cloud-based load testing achieves this task to perfection.
Tips to make the most out of HP Load Runner
While the testing software is packed with innovative features, it requires some expertise and experience to squeeze maximum performance from the application.
- First of all, it is important to coordinate with all members of the testing team beforehand.
- A dry-run/sanity is always a good idea.
- Keep frequent communication and don’t hesitate to coordinate with every person in the team.
- While performing tests, it is recommended to reboot servers.
- If you are using web browsers, clearing the cache is important.
- While using test cases, choose stable ones.
- Organizing your scenario, scripts and transactions is another critical aspect. You can do so by choosing an appropriate naming convention for each transaction.
- In addition, you can capture the database and / or Application server images and closely monitor server health using Perfmon etc.
By following these simple tips, you can ensure that the testing procedure is optimized to the core.