Performance testing continues to be a big challenge for developers. Different frameworks, plugins and various types of hosting setups all contribute to this challenge. For example, if you are on AWS AMI with Apache as your web server and running JQuery as your javascript library, how can you be sure that your code will perform well across different browsers?
We’ve taken a look at two of the best performance testing tools available for your website. Load Impact and BlazeMeter can both be used to test website speed, site performance, server performance, and a whole lot more. It’s really up to you as to which tool will work best for you and your company, but hopefully reading this comparison will help you in making the right decision.
There are plenty of performance testing tools out there. You can use Google PageSpeed Insights to check your website speed, and GTMetrix, with which you can measure your web page load time and also see how it will appear on different devices. Pingdom Website Speed Test is a well-known tool used by professionals to test their website load times and performance. Additionally, you can run WebPageTest on your local machine to set up both real browser and virtual user tests.
The goals of performance testing include evaluating application output, processing speed, data transfer velocity, network bandwidth usage, maximum concurrent users, memory utilization, workload efficiency, and command response times.
Reasons for Performance Testing
Organizations run performance testing for at least one of the following reasons:
- To determine whether the application satisfies performance requirements (for instance, the system should handle up to 1,000 concurrent users).
- To locate computing bottlenecks within an application.
- To establish whether the performance levels claimed by a software vendor are indeed true.
- To compare two or more systems and identify the one that performs best.
- To measure stability under peak traffic events.
How to Do Performance Testing?
The specific steps of performance testing will vary from one organization and application to the next. It depends on what performance indicators the business considers most important. Nevertheless, the general goals of performance testing are largely the same across the board so there’s a certain workflow most testing plans will follow.
Identify the Test Environment and Tools
Identify the production environment, testing environment, and testing tools at your disposal. Document the hardware, software, infrastructure specifications, and configurations in both test and production environments to ensure coherence. Some performance testing may occur in the production environment but there must be rigorous safeguards that prevent the testing from disrupting production operations.
Define Acceptable Performance Criteria
Determine the constraints, goals, and thresholds that will demonstrate test success. The major criteria will be derived directly from the project specifications, but testers should be adequately empowered to set a wider set of tests and benchmarks.
Plan and Design Tests
Think about how widely usage is bound to vary then create test scenarios that accommodate all feasible use cases. Design the tests accordingly and outline the metrics that should be captured.
Prepare Test Environment and Tools
Configure the testing environment before you execute the performance tests. Assemble your testing tools in readiness.
Run the Performance Tests
Execute the tests. Capture and monitor the results.
Resolve and Retest
Consolidate and analyze test results. Share the findings with the project team. Fine tune the application by resolving the performance shortcomings identified. Repeat the test to confirm each problem has been conclusively eliminated.
Tips for Performance Testing
Create a testing environment that mirrors the production ecosystem as closely as possible. Without that, the test results may not be an accurate representation of the application’s performance when it goes live.
- Separate the performance testing environment from the UAT environment.
- Identify test tools that best automate your performance testing plan.
- Run tests several times to obtain an accurate measure of the application’s performance. If you are running a load test for instance, run the same test multiple times to determine whether the outcome is consistent before you mark the performance as acceptable or unacceptable.
- Do not make changes to the testing environment between tests.
What is the difference between Performance Testing vs. Performance Engineering?
Performance testing and performance engineering are two closely related yet distinct terms. Performance Testing is a subset of Performance Engineering, and is primarily concerned with gauging the current performance of an application under certain loads.
To meet the demands of rapid application delivery, modern software teams need a more evolved approach that goes beyond traditional performance testing and includes end-to-end, integrated performance engineering. Performance engineering is the testing and tuning of software in order to attain a defined performance goal. Performance engineering occurs much earlier in the software development process and seeks to proactively prevent performance problems from the get-go.
What are Performance Testing Tools and How Micro Focus Can Help?
Since performance testing seeks to establish how well a system runs when subjected to different workloads, it’s difficult to execute such tests efficiently without using automated testing tools. Testing tools vary in their capability, scope, sophistication and automation. Find out how Micro Focus Testing Solutions can move the effectiveness of your performance testing to the next level.
The goals of performance testing include evaluating application output, processing speed, data transfer velocity, network bandwidth usage, maximum concurrent users, memory utilization, workload efficiency, and command response times.
Reasons for Performance Testing
Organizations run performance testing for at least one of the following reasons:
- To determine whether the application satisfies performance requirements (for instance, the system should handle up to 1,000 concurrent users).
- To locate computing bottlenecks within an application.
- To establish whether the performance levels claimed by a software vendor are indeed true.
- To compare two or more systems and identify the one that performs best.
- To measure stability under peak traffic events.
How to Do Performance Testing?
The specific steps of performance testing will vary from one organization and application to the next. It depends on what performance indicators the business considers most important. Nevertheless, the general goals of performance testing are largely the same across the board so there’s a certain workflow most testing plans will follow.
Identify the Test Environment and Tools
Identify the production environment, testing environment, and testing tools at your disposal. Document the hardware, software, infrastructure specifications, and configurations in both test and production environments to ensure coherence. Some performance testing may occur in the production environment but there must be rigorous safeguards that prevent the testing from disrupting production operations.
Define Acceptable Performance Criteria
Determine the constraints, goals, and thresholds that will demonstrate test success. The major criteria will be derived directly from the project specifications, but testers should be adequately empowered to set a wider set of tests and benchmarks.
Plan and Design Tests
Think about how widely usage is bound to vary then create test scenarios that accommodate all feasible use cases. Design the tests accordingly and outline the metrics that should be captured.
Prepare Test Environment and Tools
Configure the testing environment before you execute the performance tests. Assemble your testing tools in readiness.
Run the Performance Tests
Execute the tests. Capture and monitor the results.
Resolve and Retest
Consolidate and analyze test results. Share the findings with the project team. Fine tune the application by resolving the performance shortcomings identified. Repeat the test to confirm each problem has been conclusively eliminated.
Tips for Performance Testing
Create a testing environment that mirrors the production ecosystem as closely as possible. Without that, the test results may not be an accurate representation of the application’s performance when it goes live.
- Separate the performance testing environment from the UAT environment.
- Identify test tools that best automate your performance testing plan.
- Run tests several times to obtain an accurate measure of the application’s performance. If you are running a load test for instance, run the same test multiple times to determine whether the outcome is consistent before you mark the performance as acceptable or unacceptable.
- Do not make changes to the testing environment between tests.
What is the difference between Performance Testing vs. Performance Engineering?
Performance testing and performance engineering are two closely related yet distinct terms. Performance Testing is a subset of Performance Engineering, and is primarily concerned with gauging the current performance of an application under certain loads.
To meet the demands of rapid application delivery, modern software teams need a more evolved approach that goes beyond traditional performance testing and includes end-to-end, integrated performance engineering. Performance engineering is the testing and tuning of software in order to attain a defined performance goal. Performance engineering occurs much earlier in the software development process and seeks to proactively prevent performance problems from the get-go.
What are Performance Testing Tools and How Micro Focus Can Help?
Since performance testing seeks to establish how well a system runs when subjected to different workloads, it’s difficult to execute such tests efficiently without using automated testing tools. Testing tools vary in their capability, scope, sophistication and automation. Find out how Micro Focus Testing Solutions can move the effectiveness of your performance testing to the next level.
1. LoadNinja
It allows you to create scriptless sophisticated load tests and reduces testing time by half. It also replaces load emulators with real browsers and gets actionable, browser-based metrics at ninja speed. LoadNinja empowers teams to increase their test coverage without giving up on the quality by removing the tedious efforts of dynamic correlation, script translation, and script scrubbing.
| Features | Protocols |
| Scriptless load test creation & playback Real browser load test execution at scale VU Debugger debug tests in real time VU Inspector manages virtual user activity in real time It is hosted on the cloud Browser-based metrics with analytics and reporting features | HTTP HTTPS SAP GUI Web WebSocket Java-based protocol Google Web Toolkit Oracle forms |
2. Apache JMeter
JMeter is an open source tool that can be used for performance and load testing for analyzing and measuring the performance of a variety of services. This tool is mainly used for web and web service applications.
| Features | Protocols |
| It supports multiple load injectors managed by a single controller Highly portable and supports all the Java-based apps Less scripting efforts as compared to other tools Simple charts and graphs for analyzing key load related statistics and resource usage monitors. Supports Integrated real-time, Tomcat collectors for Monitoring | HTTP HTTPS XML SOAP Java-based protocols FTP |
3. WebLOAD
WebLOAD is an enterprise-scale load testing tool. It features a comprehensive IDE, Load Generation Console, and a sophisticated Analytics Dashboard. This is a web and mobile load testing and analysis tool from RadView Software.
| Features | Protocols |
| Flexible test scenario creation Supports every major web technology Powerful correlation engine Automatic bottleneck detection Generate load on-premise or in the cloud Native JavaScript scripting | HTTP HTTPS XML Enterprise applications Network Technology Server Technologies |
4. LoadUI Pro
LoadUI Pro allows you to quickly create scriptless sophisticated load tests, distribute them on cloud using load agents and monitor the performance of your servers as you increase the load on them. You can access detailed reports and quickly automate your load tests.
Performance Testing Using JMeter
| Features | Protocols |
| Scriptless Load test creation Preconfigured load test templates like spike, baseline, stress, smoke Drag and drop load tests on distribution agents on cloud Sophisticated analytics and statists features for reporting Quick conversion of functional tests | HTTP REST SOAP JSON API Blueprint JSON Schema XML Schema |
5. LoadView
LoadView utilizes real browser-based load testing for websites, web applications, and APIs. It creates multi-step scripts that simulate users interacting with your website or application. With LoadView by Dotcom-Monitor, you can show the actual performance of your applications under load.
| Features | Protocols |
| Cloud-based load testing in real browsers Supports Rich Internet Applications Quickly and easily build test scripts without touching a line of code Test compatibility on mobile browsers and devices Identify bottlenecks and ensure scalability Performance metrics and reports that can be shared with various internal stakeholders | Flash Silverlight Java HTML5 PHP Ruby |
6. NeoLoad
NeoLoad is an innovative performance testing platform designed to automate test design, maintenance, and analysis for Agile and DevOps teams. It integrates with continuous delivery pipelines to support performance testing.
| Features | Protocols |
| Automated test design enabling faster test creation Integration with CI servers for automated test runtime It consists of Shared test scripts and reports Hybrid on-premise and cloud load generation from over 70 global localizations | HTTP HTTPS SOAP REST Flex Push AJAX Push |
7. LoadRunner
LoadRunner is a software testing tool from Micro Focus. It is used to test applications, measuring system behavior, and performance under load. It can simulate thousands of users concurrently using application software.
| Features | Protocols |
| Lower hardware and software costs by accurately predicting system capacity It Pinpoints the root cause of application performance problems quickly and accurately It has Effective tool utilization tracking Browser-based access to global test resources and optimal usage of load generator farm | All protocols are supported by Load Runner |
8. Silk Performer
Silk Performer tool is an enterprise class load and stress testing tool and has the ability to test multiple application environments with the thousands of concurrent users. It also supports the widest range of protocols.
| Features | Protocols |
| It requires minimum hardware resources Simulates modifiable virtual users Supports integrated server monitoring This has Customer friendly licensing Correlation and Parameterization is user-friendly No License requirement for Controllers This Handles Load Test in the project approach | HTTP/HTML HTTPS/HTML HTTP/HTTPS, Flash Email (SMTP/ POP) FTP, TCP/IP, LDAP XML/SOAP |
9. AppLoader
AppLoader is a load testing solution designed for business applications. It allows you to test any application by reproducing the same user experience from all your access points.
| Features | Protocols |
| AppLoader allows you to test the entire business flow This replicates the users’ interactions with your application Scripts are created automatically when you use your application | Citrix XenApp XenDesktop Cloud-based Infrastructure EHR Systems Customer Applications |
10. SmartMeter.io
SmartMeter.io is an alternative to JMeter and aims to fix its drawbacks. It allows for easy scriptless test scenario creation using the so-called Recorder, yet still lets you make advanced edits of the test. It also excels in test reporting and makes use of functions.
Performance Testing Using JMeter
Weekday / Weekend Batches
| Features | Protocols |
| • Scriptless test scenario creation • Comprehensive reporting with automatic evaluation • The GUI test run with real-time results • State of the art response body extractor • It is CI/CD ready | HTTP JDBC LDAP SOAP JMS FTP |
With this, we have come to the end of the top 10 performance testing tools list. I hope you guys enjoyed this article and got an idea about the best tools available for performance testing.
CONCLUSION
Load Testing is the process to simulate multiple scenarios in order to check the performance of an application, website or hardware. Whereas Stress Testing applies heavy workload to an application to understand its limits by pushing it beyond its performance capacity. Both these testing procedures are used to identify and eliminate bottlenecks from the system. The advantage of stress testing versus load testing is that it is a more extreme form of load testing.