Load testing

Load testing is the process of putting demand on a structure or system and measuring its response.

Load testing lets you measure your website's quality of service (QOS) performance based on actual customer behavior.

Nearly all the load testing tools and frameworks follow the classical load testing paradigm: when customers visit your website, a script recorder records the communication and then creates related interaction scripts.

In the replay procedure, both the hardware and software statistics will be monitored and collected by the conductor, these statistics include the CPU, memory, disk IO of the physical servers and the response time, the throughput of the system under test (SUT), etc.

However, all load test plans attempt to simulate system performance across a range of anticipated peak workflows and volumes.

For example, a regression testing tool will record and playback a mouse click on a button on a web browser, but a load testing tool will send out hypertext the web browser sends after the user clicks the button.

The popular load testing tools available also provide insight into the causes for slow performance.

It helps to identify the maximum operating capacity of an application as well as any bottlenecks and determine which element is causing degradation.

The tester consists of a large resistor that has a resistance similar to a car's starter motor and a meter to read the battery's output voltage both in the unloaded and loaded state.