Network testing tools, also known as application performance management (APM) tools, are a category of software that perform network diagnostics and monitoring. They provide insight into how your Internet applications work in response to requests from users. These tools are helpful for troubleshooting problems related to performance, availability, and security of your applications.
ManageEngine OpManager is an easy-to-use, comprehensive network testing software designed for networks of all sizes and complexities. These network test tools deliver accurate and fast results in real time. By automating the network tests, OpManager reduces resource usage and saves valuable time. The network testing tools offered are easily accessible from a centralized console, making network testing a hassle free experience.
What are network testing tools?
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Network testing tools are a collection of tools that aid in measuring the performance of various aspects of a network. These tools range from ping, SNMP ping, traceroute to WMI query tool and more. Network testing tools help network admins make quick and informed decisions
What is network testing?
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Network testing is a process that is used to quantitatively or qualitatively measure the performance of an IT infrastructure. It is a primitive level of fault identification that does not require tons of historical data. For more advanced monitoring, network monitoring tools are used.
Need for a network testing tool:
The elemental purpose of a network is to share resources efficiently. It is crucial to establish periodic network testing with reliable network testing tools to:
- Understand the network’s state
- Ensure the configuration changes work as expected
- Detect crippling network attacks
- Provide a top-notch end-user experience
Challenges faced by an IT admin
Even in a relatively small networking environment:
- Network tests are grueling for a network admin as they demand a substantial amount of resources and manual effort.
- If multiple networking testing tools are employed, the tools have to be launched and stopped individually to perform each network test, which demands ample time.
- The network testing tools require a certain level of management such as allocating storage, clearing cache, starting and stopping necessary services, and ensuring open ports. The management of multiple tools in itself becomes an intimidating task.
Top 10 Testing Automation Tools for Software Testing
1. Selenium
Selenium is a testing framework to perform web application testing across various browsers and platforms like Windows, Mac, and Linux. Selenium helps the testers to write tests in various programming languages like Java, PHP, C#, Python, Groovy, Ruby, and Perl. It offers record and playback features to write tests without learning Selenium IDE.
Selenium proudly supports some of the largest, yet well-known browser vendors who make sure they have Selenium as a native part of their browser. Selenium is undoubtedly the base for most of the other software testing tools in general.
2. TestingWhiz
TestingWhiz is a test automation tool with the code-less scripting by Cygnet Infotech, a CMMi Level 3 IT solutions provider. TestingWhiz tool’s Enterprise edition offers a complete package of various automated testing solutions like web testing, software testing, database testing, API testing, mobile app testing, regression test suite maintenance, optimization, and automation, and cross-browser testing.
TestingWhiz offers various important features like:
- Keyword-driven, data-driven testing, and distributed testing
- Browser Extension Testing
- Object Eye Internal Recorder
- SMTP Integration
- Integration with bug tracking tools like Jira, Mantis, TFS and FogBugz
- Integration with test management tools like HP Quality Center, Zephyr, TestRail, and Microsoft VSTS
- Centralized Object Repository
- Version Control System Integration
- Customized Recording Rule
3. HPE Unified Functional Testing (HP – UFT formerly QTP)
HP QuickTest Professional was renamed to HPE Unified Functional Testing. HPE UFT offers testing automation for functional and regression testing for software applications.
Visual Basic Scripting Edition scripting language is used by this tool to register the test processes and operates the various objects and controls in testing the applications.
QTP offers various features like:
- Integration with Mercury Business Process Testing and Mercury Quality Center
- Unique Smart Object Recognition
- Error handling mechanism
- Creation of parameters for objects, checkpoints, and data-driven tables
- Automated documentation
4. TestComplete
TestComplete is a functional testing platform that offers various solutions to automate testing for desktop, web, and mobile applications by SmartBear Software.
TestComplete offers the following features:
- GUI testing
- Scripting Language Support – JavaScript, Python, VBScript, JScript, DelphiScript, C++Script & C#Script
- Test visualizer
- Scripted testing
- Test recording and playback
Learn more about TestComplete.
5. Ranorex
Ranorex Studio offers various testing automation tools that cover testing all desktop, web, and mobile applications.
Ranorex offers the following features:
- GUI recognition
- Reusable test codes
- Bug detection
- Integration with various tools
- Record and playback
6. Sahi
Sahi is a testing automation tool to automate web applications testing. The open-source Sahi is written in Java and JavaScript programming languages.
Sahi provides the following features:
- Performs multi-browser testing
- Supports ExtJS, ZK, Dojo, YUI, etc. frameworks
- Record and playback on the browser testing
7. Watir
Watir is an open-source testing tool made up of Ruby libraries to automate web application testing. It is pronounced as “water.”
Watir offers the following features:
- Tests any language-based web application
- Cross-browser testing
- Compatible with business-driven development tools like RSpec, Cucumber, and Test/Unit
- Tests web page’s buttons, forms, links, and their responses
8. Tosca Testsuite
Tosca Testsuite by Tricentis uses model-based test automation to automate software testing.
Tosca Testsuite comes with the following capabilities:
- Plan and design test case
- Test data provisioning
- Service virtualization network
- Tests mobile apps
- Integration management
- Risk coverage
Learn more about Tosca Testsuite.
9. Telerik TestStudio
Telerik TestStudio offers one solution to automate desktop, web, and mobile application testing including UI, load, and performance testing.
Telerik TestStudio offers various compatibilities like:
- Support of programming languages like HTML, AJAX, ASP.NET, JavaScript, Silverlight, WPF, and MVC
- Integration with Visual Basic Studio 2010 and 2012
- Record and playback
- Cross-browser testing
- Manual testing
- Integration with bug tracking tools
Learn more about Telerik TestStudio.
10. Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio is a free automation testing solution developed by Katalon LLC. The software is built on top of the open-source automation frameworks Selenium, Appium with a specialized IDE interface for API, web and mobile testing. This tool includes a full package of powerful features that help overcome common challenges in web UI test automation.
Katalon Studio consists of the following features:
- Built-in object repository, XPath, object re-identification
- Supports Java/Groovy scripting languages
- Built-in support for Image-based testing
- Support Continuous Integration tools like Jenkins & TeamCity
- Supports Duel-editor Interface
- Customizable execution workflow
Learn more about Katalon Studio.
There must be many other automated software testing tools available in the software testing industry. Which one do you use? Feel free to share in the comments section.
Network performance testing with OpManager
OpManager monitors physical and virtual servers, interfaces, switches, routers, firewalls, and any networking device in real time for over 200 parameters. It has more than 100 prebuilt reports that provide critical insights into your network performance, supports over 53,000 multi-vendor devices, and offers more than 10,000 device templates for effortless monitoring.
Device availability testing: Ensure all the physical/virtual connections are spot on
- Ping: A ping (Packet InterNet Groper) works on Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) by transmitting packets. OpManager sends an ICMP echo message to the target device. When the target device sends an ICMP echo response, the device is active and responding. You can test the availability of all your servers, switches, routers, firewalls, and networking devices using OpManager.
- SNMP Ping: With OpManager, you can test if SNMP is enabled in the networking device by retrieving management information base (MIB) values. It also collects information from the target device such as DNS name, System Name, Location, System Type, and System Description.
- Proxy Ping: A proxy works on a higher layer of the TCP/IP network model, where there is no direct access to the IP. Proxy Ping is used to ping a target device using a Cisco router. The router acts as the proxy for the target device and responds to the ping request, and the status of the destination device is acquired.
Network service and process testing tool
After testing the servers for availability, it is essential to test the availability of services and processes in the servers. Service and process testing identify possible roadblocks for end users accessing applications on the server and for sharing resources in your network. This is a more balanced server testing plan. OpManager tests the availability of services such as DNS, IMAP, POP, FTP, HTTPS, and Windows services along with the processes running in any number of servers in your IT infrastructure. OpManager also offers Windows network testing tools such as WMI query tool that helps execute custom WMI queries.
URL testing with OpManager’s network testing tools
Even with all its servers, services, and processes running coherently, a website can fail to work for the end user. It is imperative to test the URLs that bring in valuable traffic. With OpManager, you can test the URLs for availability. OpManager also searches for key text on the web page and alerts you if the specified text is not found. This way, you can easily detect attacks on your website.
Traceroute – Detect network attacks
With a traceroute tool, you can identify a malicious attacker who might be redirecting your traffic by manipulating routing standards. This can be tested with the help of hop counts. When the hop count exceeds the usual value, there is a possibility of a potential network attack. Once you have tested the network for attacks and performance, the next step is network optimization.
Workflows – Powerful automations from OpManager
Automate routine and laborious network testing with OpManager’s workflows. Workflows let the users define conditions, variables, and actions for performing tasks. You can create a workflow to test the availability of devices and schedule the workflow for any or all of the devices in your network. Based on the Ping result, you can execute multiple actions automatically. The commands include:
- Restarting servers, and starting, stopping and resuming services
- Escalating device failure messages
- Logging trouble tickets
- Pushing configurations to devices
- Notifying through SMS, email, Slack channels, and more
Apart from these tests on gauging the network’s state using various network testing tools, IT admins need complete visibility into network operations. Real-time alerts becum crucial since there’s nothing worse than learning that the network is down from an end user. Therefore monitoring your network performance and receiving alerts before outages occur is a more balanced IT infrastructure management plan. This is possible only with the help of network performance test tools. However, it is better and easier to manage if all the tools are consolidated into a single network performance testing software. Once the network performance is gauged, troubleshooting network issues (if any) will be the next part. OpManager also makes network troubleshooting easy.
Network performance testing tools:
OpManager’s network performance testing tool set includes:
- CPU monitor
- Memory monitor
- Interface monitor
- CPU temperature monitor
- Bandwidth monitor
- Virtual server monitor
- Storage device monitor
- DHCP scope monitor
- Process monitor
- Service monitor
- SNMP trap monitor
- Switch port monitor
Additionally, OpManager visualizes data in the form of populated graphs, and charts that provide rich analytics into network performance (up to one-minute granularity).
CONCLUSION
Network testing tools are powerful devices that can help you determine the kinds of networks that transmit data over a particular line. They also provide an excellent image of how the data is being transmitted. To use these tools for proper results, you must follow a series of guidelines on how to effectively test whether your network is properly working or not.
One way to make sure your website performs optimally is to run a network connectivity test. The problem is that most people don’t even know what network connectivity testing tools are. With so much technology, marketing and business jargon out there, it can be difficult to know where to start. I’m here to help.