<html><body><h2><strong>1. What is capacity in performance test? </strong></h2><p style="text-align:justify;">Capacity in performance testing refers to the ability of a system to handle a specific workload or user traffic volume while maintaining acceptable performance levels. In other words, it is the maximum amount of load or traffic a system can handle without any performance issues such as slow response times, high error rates, or system crashes. Capacity testing involves simulating a high volume of user traffic on the system to identify bottlenecks and performance issues, and to determine the maximum amount of load the system can handle.</p><h2>2. Why is capacity measurement important in performance test?</h2><p>- First, Capacity measurement can help ensure that an application can handle the expected number of users or data without experiencing any performance issues.</p><p>- Second, the Capacity measurement helps to identify the bottlenecks in performance of system, and allow the performance engineers to optimize an application's performance to handle larger loads effectively. </p><p>- Finally, the Capacity measurement ensures that an application is scalable for the future growth or increasing performance of the system in peak time.</p><h2>3. How to measure capacity in performance test?</h2><p style="text-align:justify;">By considering factors that are able to affect the capacity of a system, performance engineers can identify exactly capacity and areas to optimize the system resources. Some of critical factors of the system should be considered as:</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Hardware resources, including the CPU, memory, disk space, and network bandwidth.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Software architecture, including the number of servers, load balancers, and databases.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Expected user behavior, such as the number of users, the type of requests, and the frequency of requests</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Network infrastructure, including the bandwidth, latency, and packet loss.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Testing environment, including the tools and techniques used for performance testing.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- System configuration, including the settings for caching, logging, and other parameters. </p><p> </p><p style="text-align:justify;">To measure the capacity of system effectively and identify potential performance issues, performance engineers can use the following strategies and work closely with developer team and stakeholders as</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> </p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Define realistic user scenarios and traffic volumes based on the system's expected usage patterns.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Choose appropriate performance testing tools that can simulate realistic user behavior and traffic volumes.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Conduct a series of tests with gradually increasing loads, starting from low loads and increasing to peak loads, to identify the system's maximum capacity.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Monitor key system metrics such as response time, throughput, CPU usage, memory usage, and network utilization during the tests.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Analyze the test results to identify performance issues such as slow response times, high error rates, or bottlenecked resources.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Use profiling tools to drill down and identify the root cause of performance issues.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Make more changes to improve capacity and performance of the system, such as optimizing code, tuning database settings, or upgrading hardware or infrastructure.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Repeat the testing process to ensure that the changes have had the desired effect on the system's capacity and performance. </p><p> </p><p style="text-align:justify;">Available tools to measure capacity of the system:</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Apache JMeter is used to test the performance and capacity of web applications.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- LoadRunner is a commercial tool from Micro Focus that can be used to test the performance and capacity of various types of applications, including web, mobile, and cloud applications.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Gatling is an open-source tool that can be used to test the performance and capacity of web applications.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Apache Bench is a command-line tool that can be used to test the performance and capacity of web servers.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Tsung is an open-source tool that can be used to test the performance and capacity of various types of applications, including web, SOAP, and XMPP applications.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Locust is an open-source tool that can be used to test the performance and capacity of web applications.</p><h2 style="text-align:justify;">4. Best practices for system capacity measurement </h2><p style="text-align:justify;">Measuring capacity can present several challenges for performance engineers. Here are some of the most common challenges in capacity measurement:</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Limited Resources, such as time, budget, or test hardware, can make it challenging to conduct thorough capacity testing. It can be difficult to simulate real-world traffic volumes and user behavior with limited resources.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Complex Systems with multiple components, dependencies, and integration points can be difficult to test comprehensively. It can be challenging to isolate performance issues in such systems.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Changing Requirements can make it difficult to plan and execute capacity testing effectively. Unexpected changes in traffic volumes or user behavior can lead to inaccurate test results.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Lack of Test Data can make it difficult to simulate realistic user behavior and traffic volumes. Without adequate test data, it can be challenging to generate accurate test results.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Scalability Issues can arise when the system's capacity is insufficient to handle growing traffic volumes or user activity. It can be challenging to predict future capacity requirements and ensure that the system can scale to meet them.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Unreliable performance testing tools can lead to inaccurate test results and make it challenging to identify performance issues. Using the wrong tools or outdated versions of tools can also result in inaccurate test results.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> </p><p style="text-align:justify;">Here are some best practices that can help performance engineers measure the capacity of a system effectively:</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Defining clear objectives for capacity testing, such as determining the maximum number of users the system can handle or identifying performance bottlenecks, is important to help focus testing efforts and ensure that the testing is aligned with the goals of the project.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Using realistic test scenarios that reflect the expected usage patterns of the system will help ensure that the testing is relevant and accurate. Using production-like environments helps to ensure that the testing environment accurately reflects the production environment.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Using appropriate testing tools that can simulate realistic user behavior and traffic volumes will help ensure that the testing accurately reflects the expected usage patterns of the system.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Monitoring key system metrics during testing, such as response time, throughput, CPU usage, memory usage, and network utilization, will help identify performance issues and ensure that the testing accurately reflects the system's performance.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Conducting multiple rounds of testing with gradually increasing loads to identify the system's maximum capacity and any performance bottlenecks is essential.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Collaborating closely with development teams to identify and resolve performance issues will ensure that performance issues are resolved efficiently and effectively.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">- Documenting and sharing test results will ensure that everyone is aware of the system's capacity and any performance issues.</p><h2 style="text-align:justify;">5. Conclusion</h2><p style="text-align:justify;">Capacity Measurement in performance test is essential to ensure that an application can handle the expected number of users or data without experiencing any performance issues. By using load testing, stress testing, and scalability testing, performance engineers can determine an application's capacity and optimize it for the expected usage. By following best practices such as defining realistic load scenarios, starting with baseline testing, monitoring key performance indicators, and using cloud-based testing, performance engineers can deliver high-performing applications that meet the needs of their users.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Source: https://saigontechnology.com/blog/the-basic-concepts-of-performance-test-capacity</p></body></html>

Capacity is one of the most important performance factors in ISO 25010 and is a critical aspect of performance testing because it helps the organizations determine the scalability of their system and ensure that it can handle expected traffic volumes. In this article, we will discuss what capacity is in a performance test, why it is essential, and how to measure it effectively.

The Basic Concepts Of Performance Test - Capacity

<html><body><h2><strong>1. Load Test </strong></h2><h3>Definition</h3><p>A load test is a type of Performance test that evaluates the behaviors of the application under various loads. It helps to identify the maximum capacity of the system and the point at which it starts to degrade. Load test involves simulating a large number of users accessing the application simultaneously. The test measures the response time and the throughput of the application under different loads. The results help to identify potential bottlenecks and optimize the performance of the system.</p><h3>How to apply for a Load Test?</h3><ul><li>Use realistic scenarios that simulate real-world usage patterns.</li><li>Test early and often to identify issues early on.</li><li>Monitor system resources such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage during the test.</li><li>Use real data to simulate user behaviours.</li></ul><p>How to Apply Load Test to a Project:</p><p>To apply a Load test to a project, first, define the objectives and goals of the test. Identify the expected load that the application will receive and create scenarios that simulate this load. Conduct the test early in the development cycle and regularly throughout the development process. Monitor system resources during the test and use the results to optimize the system accordingly.</p><h2><strong>2. Stress Test</strong></h2><h3>Definition</h3><p>Stress testing is a type of Performance test that evaluates the stability and robustness of the application under extreme conditions. It involves testing the application beyond its normal operational capacity to identify its breaking point. Stress testing helps to identify potential issues such as memory leaks, resource exhaustion, and unexpected crashes. The test also helps to optimize the system by identifying potential issues and fixing them before they affect the end users.</p><h3>How to apply for a Stress Test?</h3><ul><li>Define clear objectives for the test.</li><li>Use realistic scenarios that simulate extreme conditions.</li><li>Test early and often to identify issues early on.</li><li>Monitor system resources such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage during the test.</li><li>Use real data to simulate user behaviours.</li></ul><p>How to Apply Stress Testing to a Project:</p><p>To apply stress testing to a project, first, define the objectives and goals of the test. Identify the extreme conditions that the application may experience and create scenarios that simulate these conditions. Conduct the test early in the development cycle and regularly throughout the development process. Monitor system resources during the test and use the results to optimize the system accordingly.</p><h2><strong>3. Spike Test</strong></h2><h3>Definition</h3><p>Spike testing is a type of performance test that evaluates the behaviour of the application under sudden and significant changes in load. It involves testing the application with a sudden and significant increase or decrease in load to identify how the system handles the spike. Spike testing helps to identify issues such as server crashes, service disruptions, and database failures. It also helps to optimize the system by identifying potential issues and fixing them before they affect the end users.</p><h3>How to apply for the Spike Test?</h3><ul><li>Use realistic scenarios that simulate sudden and significant changes in load.</li><li>Test early and often to identify issues early on.</li><li>Monitor system resources such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage during the test.</li><li>Use real data to simulate user behaviour.</li></ul><p>How to Apply Spike Testing to a Project:</p><p>To apply spike testing to a project, first, define the objectives and goals of the test. Identify the sudden and significant changes in load that the application may experience and create scenarios that simulate these changes. Conduct the test early in the development cycle and regularly throughout the development process. Monitor system resources during the test and use the results to optimize the system accordingly.</p><h2><strong>4. Endurance Test</strong></h2><h3>Definition</h3><p>The endurance test is a type of Performance test that evaluates the behaviour of the application over a prolonged period. It involves testing the application under normal operational conditions for an extended period to identify issues such as memory leaks, performance degradation, and resource exhaustion. Endurance tests help to ensure that the application can handle sustained loads and perform consistently over time.</p><h3>How to apply for an Endurance Test?</h3><ul><li>Define clear objectives for the test.</li><li>Use realistic scenarios that simulate real-world usage patterns over a prolonged period.</li><li>Test early and often to identify issues early on.</li><li>Monitor system resources such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage during the test.</li><li>Use real data to simulate user behaviour.</li></ul><p>How to Apply Endurance Test to a Project:</p><p>To apply an Endurance test to a project, first, define the objectives and goals of the test. Identify the sustained loads that the application may experience and create scenarios that simulate these loads over a prolonged period. Conduct the test early in the development cycle and regularly throughout the development process. Monitor system resources during the test and use the results to optimize</p><h2><strong>5. Volume Test</strong></h2><h3>Definition</h3><p>Volume test is a type of performance test that evaluates the behaviours of the application under varying volumes of data. It involves testing the application with different sizes of data to identify how the system handles the data. Volume test helps to identify issues such as slow response times, database failures, and system crashes. It also helps to optimize the system by identifying potential issues and fixing them before they affect the end users.</p><h3>How to apply a Volume Test?</h3><ul><li>Use realistic scenarios that simulate different volumes of data.</li><li>Test early and often to identify issues early on.</li><li>Monitor system resources such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage during the test.</li><li>Use real data to simulate user behaviours.</li></ul><p>How to Apply Volume Test to a Project:</p><p>To apply a volume test to a project, first, define the objectives and goals of the test. Identify the different volumes of data that the application may handle and create scenarios that simulate these volumes. Conduct the test early in the development cycle and regularly throughout the development process. Monitor system resources during the test and use the results to optimize the system accordingly.</p><h2><strong>6. Conclusion</strong></h2><p>Each type of performance test has a specific purpose to ensure that the system performs well under specific conditions that meet the business expectations. Selecting an appropriate type of performance test depends on the kind of the system, the expected workload, and the performance goals defined for the application or system.</p><p><strong>References</strong></p><ul><li><i><strong>ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level Specialist.</strong></i></li><li><i><strong>ISO 25010</strong></i> quality management</li></ul></body></html>

Performance testing is an essential activity to evaluate speed, stability, and scalability and help the Developers identify potential issues and optimize the performance of their applications. In this blog, let’s explore the differences, benefits, and best practices of each type of performance test to apply to a project.

&lt;html&gt;&lt;body&gt;&lt;h2 style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;1. What is Time Behavior?&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Time behavior is the measurement of an application's ability to react to different events over time, encompassing the duration required for the application to perform particular actions such as loading a page, running a query, or processing a transaction. Time behavior also includes evaluating how the application performs under various loads, including high traffic or heavy user activity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;2. Why Is Time Behavior Important In Performance?&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Time behavior is a critical aspect of performance testing as it helps in identifying potential bottlenecks and performance issues. By measuring the application's response time under different scenarios, performance engineers can identify which parts of the application are causing delays and where improvements are needed. This information can help developers optimize the application's performance and improve its overall efficiency.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Time behavior also plays a crucial role in user satisfaction. Users expect applications to respond quickly and efficiently, and slow response times can result in frustration and dissatisfaction. By understanding the application's time behavior, developers can ensure that the application meets users' expectations and provides a seamless experience.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;h2 style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;3. Measuring Time Behavior In Performance Testing&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Time Behavior in ISO 9126 quality management:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://api.careers.saigontechnology.com/storage/ck-editor/CKEDITOR-Rn9TZQhJLz1ZjvKjSVbUhNp1aScn344bu4qCopSH.png&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Time Behavior&nbsp;in&nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ISO 25010&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;strong&gt; quality management:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://api.careers.saigontechnology.com/storage/ck-editor/CKEDITOR-iy6V3h2r5aA5aglVRlvppvWdjEKqexXw4Y1u4XXg.png&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;The&nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;time behavior evaluation&lt;/strong&gt; is the most common objective of the performance testing. This aspect evaluates the ability of a component or system to respond to user behaviors within a specified duration and under the other conditions. The time behavior measurements can differ between the system's response time from user input and the number of CPU cycles needed by a software component to perform a specific task. Since&nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;time behavior is a quality metric&lt;/strong&gt; for dedicating the system to good or bad performance, it becomes the necessary metric to be verified while doing performance verification.&nbsp; Many questions can be raised while gathering the&lt;strong&gt; performance requirements&lt;/strong&gt;. A defined goal's first priority is the user behaviors' response time as&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;If the actual response time is exactly 2 seconds, is it a failure expectation?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;What about 2.01 seconds?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Time behavior can be measured differently. It should become the standard practice&nbsp; for the performance engineer to acquire the performance requirements from the stakeholders. The performance engineer can ask the following questing for the&nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;TIME MEASUREMENT:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Is this the&nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;maximum response time&lt;/strong&gt;?&nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Is this the&nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;average response time&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Is this a&nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;percentile time&lt;/strong&gt; and if so, what is the exact percentile?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Increasingly, the percentile measure is being used. It can be more useful to know that 95% of the user responded within two seconds than dining a maximum response time. And the other concerned questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Why should it be 02 seconds? Should it be less than?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;What are the impacts if the system under test took longer than the expected response time?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Would the business lose the customers if the application makes them wait longer than the expected response time?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;How does the longer wait time affect the user&rsquo;s experiences?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;What does &ldquo;response time&rdquo; mean?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Does the response time mean that the time of transaction has completed the entire operation? Or that a connection time to the target server has been completed?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;What&rsquo;s the system?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Is the time of transaction measured from the end user&rsquo;s local machine through the application stack and back to their local machine?&nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Or is response time measured from the point the web request passes the organization firewall through the application stack and back to the firewall?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Crucially, for what user actions or behavior is the attainment of a two-second response time deemed necessary? Is a single user logging in, and logging out of the system? Five users? A thousand? And thousands? What happens to the&lt;strong&gt;&nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;system's performance&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt;? How does the system scale up to satisfy the&nbsp;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;client&rsquo;s behaviors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt;?&nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Besides, the total number of transactions that need to be completed (throughput) can also affect the timing behavior. A single transaction being processed can complete quite quickly, while a thousand transactions being processed together (much higher throughput rates) can take longer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;4. Time Behavior In Static Testing&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;The performance engineers can detect and remove defects early in the&nbsp;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;software development lifecycle&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt; before the code execution by reviewing the requirements, architecture designs, and implementing source code. This activity is called&nbsp;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Static Testing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;So, in the static testing the&nbsp;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;performance issues&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt; can be found beyond the scope of the project. Ultimately, static testing can also allow the performance engineers to ask relevant questions against the non-executable components of the project for detecting the potential issues of time behavior as below:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Will the response time be within the defined time constraints?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Have all the all time constraints been explicitly defined in relation to average, maximum, or percentile response times?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Have all temporal restrictions been precisely delineated with regards to response times in terms of mean, maximum, or percentile values?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Have these response times been validated against real-world scenarios?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Has the assessment of these response times been carried out by various parties involved in the project?&nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Has the evaluation of aggressive&nbsp;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;time behaviors' effects&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt;, such as extremely low response times, been conducted in relation to the other project features, including&nbsp;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;cost, scope, quality, and risk&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt;?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;h2 style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;5. Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;Time behavior is a fundamental concept in performance testing that helps in identifying performance issues and optimizing application performance. By measuring response time, latency, and throughput, performance engineers can gain insight into the application's behavior under various scenarios and identify areas for improvement. Understanding time behavior is crucial for ensuring that applications meet users' expectations and provide a seamless experience.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level Specialist.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ISO 9126&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt; quality management&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style=&quot;text-align:justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ISO 25010&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt; quality management&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/body&gt;&lt;/html&gt;

Developing a high-performance and scalable system is a complex task, and organizations must find practical and cost-effective approaches to build large-scale applications. Before we get into how to do it right, let's look at Time Behavior, which is one of the most important performance factors in ISO 25010.

The Basic Concepts Of Performance Test - Time Behavior

&lt;html&gt;&lt;body&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Load Test&nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Definition&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;A load test is a type of Performance test that evaluates the behaviors of the application under various loads. It helps to identify the maximum capacity of the system and the point at which it starts to degrade. Load test involves simulating a large number of users accessing the application simultaneously. The test measures the response time and the throughput of the application under different loads. The results help to identify potential bottlenecks and optimize the performance of the system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;How to apply for a Load Test?&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use realistic scenarios that simulate real-world usage patterns.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Test early and often to identify issues early on.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Monitor system resources such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage during the test.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use real data to simulate user behaviours.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;How to Apply Load Test to a Project:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To apply a Load test to a project, first, define the objectives and goals of the test. Identify the expected load that the application will receive and create scenarios that simulate this load. Conduct the test early in the development cycle and regularly throughout the development process. Monitor system resources during the test and use the results to optimize the system accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Stress Test&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Definition&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stress testing is a type of Performance test that evaluates the stability and robustness of the application under extreme conditions. It involves testing the application beyond its normal operational capacity to identify its breaking point. Stress testing helps to identify potential issues such as memory leaks, resource exhaustion, and unexpected crashes. The test also helps to optimize the system by identifying potential issues and fixing them before they affect the end users.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;How to apply for a Stress Test?&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Define clear objectives for the test.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use realistic scenarios that simulate extreme conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Test early and often to identify issues early on.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Monitor system resources such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage during the test.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use real data to simulate user behaviours.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;How to Apply Stress Testing to a Project:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To apply stress testing to a project, first, define the objectives and goals of the test. Identify the extreme conditions that the application may experience and create scenarios that simulate these conditions. Conduct the test early in the development cycle and regularly throughout the development process. Monitor system resources during the test and use the results to optimize the system accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Spike Test&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Definition&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;Spike testing is a type of performance test that evaluates the behaviour of the application under sudden and significant changes in load. It involves testing the application with a sudden and significant increase or decrease in load to identify how the system handles the spike. Spike testing helps to identify issues such as server crashes, service disruptions, and database failures. It also helps to optimize the system by identifying potential issues and fixing them before they affect the end users.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;How to apply for the Spike Test?&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use realistic scenarios that simulate sudden and significant changes in load.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Test early and often to identify issues early on.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Monitor system resources such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage during the test.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use real data to simulate user behaviour.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;How to Apply Spike Testing to a Project:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To apply spike testing to a project, first, define the objectives and goals of the test. Identify the sudden and significant changes in load that the application may experience and create scenarios that simulate these changes. Conduct the test early in the development cycle and regularly throughout the development process. Monitor system resources during the test and use the results to optimize the system accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Endurance Test&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Definition&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;The endurance test is a type of Performance test that evaluates the behaviour of the application over a prolonged period. It involves testing the application under normal operational conditions for an extended period to identify issues such as memory leaks, performance degradation, and resource exhaustion. Endurance tests help to ensure that the application can handle sustained loads and perform consistently over time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;How to apply for an Endurance Test?&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Define clear objectives for the test.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use realistic scenarios that simulate real-world usage patterns over a prolonged period.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Test early and often to identify issues early on.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Monitor system resources such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage during the test.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use real data to simulate user behaviour.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;How to Apply Endurance Test to a Project:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To apply an Endurance test to a project, first, define the objectives and goals of the test. Identify the sustained loads that the application may experience and create scenarios that simulate these loads over a prolonged period. Conduct the test early in the development cycle and regularly throughout the development process. Monitor system resources during the test and use the results to optimize&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. Volume Test&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Definition&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;Volume test is a type of performance test that evaluates the behaviours of the application under varying volumes of data. It involves testing the application with different sizes of data to identify how the system handles the data. Volume test helps to identify issues such as slow response times, database failures, and system crashes. It also helps to optimize the system by identifying potential issues and fixing them before they affect the end users.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;How to apply a Volume Test?&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use realistic scenarios that simulate different volumes of data.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Test early and often to identify issues early on.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Monitor system resources such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage during the test.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use real data to simulate user behaviours.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;How to Apply Volume Test to a Project:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To apply a volume test to a project, first, define the objectives and goals of the test. Identify the different volumes of data that the application may handle and create scenarios that simulate these volumes. Conduct the test early in the development cycle and regularly throughout the development process. Monitor system resources during the test and use the results to optimize the system accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6. Conclusion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Each type of performance test has a specific purpose to ensure that the system performs well under specific conditions that meet the business expectations. Selecting an appropriate type of performance test depends on the kind of the system, the expected workload, and the performance goals defined for the application or system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level Specialist.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ISO 25010&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/i&gt; quality management&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/body&gt;&lt;/html&gt;

Types Of Performance Test

Performance Test

<html><body><h2>1. What is Resource Utilization In Performance Test? </h2><p style="text-align:justify;">Resource Utilization refers to the effective usage and allocation of <strong>various resources</strong> of the system such as <strong>CPU, memory, network bandwidth, and storage space</strong> to perform an operation. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The purpose of measuring resource utilization is to identify performance bottlenecks and optimize resource usage to improve the overall performance of the application. This optimization process is critical in ensuring that performance tests yield accurate and reliable results, as well as identifying potential bottlenecks to ensure that the system can handle expected workloads.</p><h2>2. Why Is The Resource Utilization Important?</h2><p style="text-align:justify;">Because of several benefits as below:</p><ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Optimizing resource utilization can help performance of the application better by reducing the performance bottlenecks, improving the response time faster, and reducing the downtime of system resources.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Optimizing resource utilization can help reduce the number of resources required to run an application, resulting in cost savings on infrastructure, maintenance, and energy costs.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">By optimizing resource utilization, an application can better handle higher user loads and scale to meet future demand without requiring additional resources.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Optimizing resource utilization can help ensure that an application is reliable and stable under varying loads, reducing the risk of crashes or system failures.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">By optimizing resource utilization, an application can provide a more consistent and reliable user experience, resulting in higher user satisfaction and engagement.</li></ul><h2>3. How To Optimize Resource Utilization?</h2><p style="text-align:justify;">To optimize the resource utilization, the performance engineer can apply some below strategies:</p><ul><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Test Early and Often</strong> is to help detect the performance issues early on and prevent them from becoming major problems down the line.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Monitor Resource Usage</strong> during performance testing is to detect the areas of high resource consumption, optimize resource allocation and prevent over-provisioning of resources.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Use Realistic Scenarios</strong> that accurately simulate user behavior and workload patterns is to identify performance issues under real-world conditions and optimize resource utilization accordingly.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Use Virtualization Technologies</strong> to create multiple test environments on a single physical machine is to help maximize resource utilization and reduce hardware costs.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Optimize Code</strong> includes many techniques such as caching, reducing unnecessary database queries, and optimizing algorithms.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Consider Using Cloud-Based Testing Services</strong> that provide on-demand access to scalable computing resources help optimize resource utilization by dynamically allocating resources based on demand.</li></ul><p style="text-align:justify;">In addition, performance engineers frequently monitor various factors to identify potential performance issues and optimize resource utilization:</p><ul><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Workload</strong>: such as the number of concurrent users, the types of requests being made, and the volume of data being processed.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>System Configuration</strong>: including hardware specifications, network bandwidth, and operating system settings.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Software Architecture</strong>: including the use of caching, load balancing, and other optimization techniques.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Environment</strong>: such as the network topology, firewalls, and other security measures.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Data Volume</strong>: including the size of the database, the number of files being processed, and the size of data being transferred over the network.</li></ul><h2>4. Best Practices For Optimizing Resource Utilization</h2><h3>Common challenges of optimizing resource utilization:</h3><ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Identifying the right set of resources to monitor and analyze based on the system under test and performance objectives.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Balancing the trade-off between resource utilization and system performance - optimizing one may negatively impact the other.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Dealing with intermittent performance issues or spikes in resource utilization that may be difficult to reproduce or diagnose.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Scaling up or down resources dynamically based on changing workload or system demands.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Managing the complexity of distributed systems and cloud environments, where resources may be distributed across multiple servers, containers, or instances.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Ensuring that resource utilization is consistent and repeatable across multiple test runs and environments.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Integrating resource monitoring and analysis tools with other performance testing tools and frameworks.</li></ul><h3>Best practices for optimizing resource utilization:</h3><ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Identify resource-intensive transactions: The first step in optimizing resource utilization is to identify transactions that consume a significant amount of resources. Once these transactions are identified, developers can analyze the code and optimize it to reduce the resource consumption.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Optimize Resource Usage: Optimizing resource usage involves identifying areas where resources are being wasted or underutilized and optimizing them for better performance.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Use caching: Caching is a technique used to store frequently accessed data in memory, which reduces the load on the database and improves performance. By implementing caching, developers can optimize resource utilization and improve the overall performance of the system.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Monitor resource usage: Monitoring resource usage during performance testing is crucial to identify bottlenecks and optimize resource utilization. Developers can use tools such as monitoring software, profiling tools, and performance counters to track resource usage and identify areas that need improvement.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Conduct Regular Performance Testing: Conducting regular performance testing can help identify performance bottlenecks and inefficiencies in an application's resource usage and allow developers to optimize resource usage over time.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Use Realistic Load Scenarios: Using realistic load scenarios that reflect real-world usage can help ensure that resource utilization testing accurately reflects expected usage.</li></ul><h3>Available tools to measure resource utilization:</h3><ul><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Performance Monitor</strong>: is a built-in tool in the Windows operating system that provides real-time monitoring of system resources such as CPU, memory, disk, and network usage. It can be used to collect and analyze data during performance testing.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>JMeter</strong>: is an open-source tool that is widely used for performance test of the web applications. It includes built-in plugins that allow for the monitoring of system resources, including CPU usage, memory usage, and network usage.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>LoadRunner</strong>: is a commercial performance testing tool that includes built-in monitoring capabilities for system resources such as CPU, memory, disk I/O, and network usage. It also includes analysis tools for identifying performance bottlenecks.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Gatling</strong>: is another open-source tool used for performance testing of web applications. It includes built-in plugins for monitoring system resources such as CPU and memory usage.</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><strong>New Relic</strong>: is a cloud-based tool that provides real-time monitoring of system resources, including CPU, memory, and network usage. It can be integrated with performance testing tools to provide detailed insights into resource utilization during performance testing.</li></ul><h2>5. Conclusion</h2><p style="text-align:justify;">Resource utilization testing is critical for ensuring that an application can handle expected user loads efficiently and scale to meet future growth or demand. By using monitoring tools, profiling tools, and load testing, developers can measure an application's resource utilization and identify performance bottlenecks and inefficiencies. By following best practices such as identifying resource-intensive areas, optimizing resource usage, conducting regular performance testing, and using realistic load scenarios, developers can optimize an application's resource utilization and deliver high-performing applications that meet the needs of their users.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Source: https://saigontechnology.com/blog/the-basic-concepts-of-performance-test-resource-utilization</p></body></html>

Resource Utilization is the other most important performance factor in ISO 25010. It refers to the measurement and analysis of the usage of various resources of the system efficiently. In  this article, let’s explore its significance and optimizing strategies to enhance performance of the system.

The Basic Concepts Of Performance Test - Resource Utilization

<html><body><h2 style="text-align:justify;">1. What is Time Behavior?</h2><p style="text-align:justify;">Time behavior is the measurement of an application's ability to react to different events over time, encompassing the duration required for the application to perform particular actions such as loading a page, running a query, or processing a transaction. Time behavior also includes evaluating how the application performs under various loads, including high traffic or heavy user activity.</p><h2 style="text-align:justify;">2. Why Is Time Behavior Important In Performance?</h2><ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Time behavior is a critical aspect of performance testing as it helps in identifying potential bottlenecks and performance issues. By measuring the application's response time under different scenarios, performance engineers can identify which parts of the application are causing delays and where improvements are needed. This information can help developers optimize the application's performance and improve its overall efficiency.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Time behavior also plays a crucial role in user satisfaction. Users expect applications to respond quickly and efficiently, and slow response times can result in frustration and dissatisfaction. By understanding the application's time behavior, developers can ensure that the application meets users' expectations and provides a seamless experience.</li></ul><h2 style="text-align:justify;">3. Measuring Time Behavior In Performance Testing</h2><p style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Time Behavior in ISO 9126 quality management:</strong></p><p style="text-align:justify;"><img src="https://api.careers.saigontechnology.com/storage/ck-editor/CKEDITOR-Rn9TZQhJLz1ZjvKjSVbUhNp1aScn344bu4qCopSH.png"></p><p style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Time Behavior in </strong><i><strong>ISO 25010</strong></i><strong> quality management:</strong></p><p style="text-align:justify;"><img src="https://api.careers.saigontechnology.com/storage/ck-editor/CKEDITOR-iy6V3h2r5aA5aglVRlvppvWdjEKqexXw4Y1u4XXg.png"></p><p style="text-align:justify;">The <strong>time behavior evaluation</strong> is the most common objective of the performance testing. This aspect evaluates the ability of a component or system to respond to user behaviors within a specified duration and under the other conditions. The time behavior measurements can differ between the system's response time from user input and the number of CPU cycles needed by a software component to perform a specific task. Since <strong>time behavior is a quality metric</strong> for dedicating the system to good or bad performance, it becomes the necessary metric to be verified while doing performance verification.  Many questions can be raised while gathering the<strong> performance requirements</strong>. A defined goal's first priority is the user behaviors' response time as</p><blockquote><ul><li style="text-align:justify;">If the actual response time is exactly 2 seconds, is it a failure expectation?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">What about 2.01 seconds?</li></ul></blockquote><p style="text-align:justify;">Time behavior can be measured differently. It should become the standard practice  for the performance engineer to acquire the performance requirements from the stakeholders. The performance engineer can ask the following questing for the <strong>TIME MEASUREMENT:</strong></p><blockquote><ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Is this the <strong>maximum response time</strong>? </li><li style="text-align:justify;">Is this the <strong>average response time</strong>?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Is this a <strong>percentile time</strong> and if so, what is the exact percentile?</li></ul></blockquote><p style="text-align:justify;">Increasingly, the percentile measure is being used. It can be more useful to know that 95% of the user responded within two seconds than dining a maximum response time. And the other concerned questions are:</p><blockquote><ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Why should it be 02 seconds? Should it be less than?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">What are the impacts if the system under test took longer than the expected response time?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Would the business lose the customers if the application makes them wait longer than the expected response time?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">How does the longer wait time affect the user’s experiences?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">What does “response time” mean?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Does the response time mean that the time of transaction has completed the entire operation? Or that a connection time to the target server has been completed?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">What’s the system?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Is the time of transaction measured from the end user’s local machine through the application stack and back to their local machine? </li><li style="text-align:justify;">Or is response time measured from the point the web request passes the organization firewall through the application stack and back to the firewall?</li></ul></blockquote><p style="text-align:justify;">Crucially, for what user actions or behavior is the attainment of a two-second response time deemed necessary? Is a single user logging in, and logging out of the system? Five users? A thousand? And thousands? What happens to the<strong> </strong><i><strong>system's performance</strong></i>? How does the system scale up to satisfy the <i><strong>client’s behaviors</strong></i>? </p><p style="text-align:justify;">Besides, the total number of transactions that need to be completed (throughput) can also affect the timing behavior. A single transaction being processed can complete quite quickly, while a thousand transactions being processed together (much higher throughput rates) can take longer.</p><h2 style="text-align:justify;">4. Time Behavior In Static Testing</h2><p style="text-align:justify;">The performance engineers can detect and remove defects early in the <i><strong>software development lifecycle</strong></i> before the code execution by reviewing the requirements, architecture designs, and implementing source code. This activity is called <i><strong>Static Testing.</strong></i></p><p style="text-align:justify;">So, in the static testing the <i><strong>performance issues</strong></i> can be found beyond the scope of the project. Ultimately, static testing can also allow the performance engineers to ask relevant questions against the non-executable components of the project for detecting the potential issues of time behavior as below:</p><blockquote><ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Will the response time be within the defined time constraints?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Have all the all time constraints been explicitly defined in relation to average, maximum, or percentile response times?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Have all temporal restrictions been precisely delineated with regards to response times in terms of mean, maximum, or percentile values?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Have these response times been validated against real-world scenarios?</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Has the assessment of these response times been carried out by various parties involved in the project? </li><li style="text-align:justify;">Has the evaluation of aggressive <i><strong>time behaviors' effects</strong></i>, such as extremely low response times, been conducted in relation to the other project features, including <i><strong>cost, scope, quality, and risk</strong></i>?</li></ul></blockquote><h2 style="text-align:justify;">5. Conclusion</h2><p style="text-align:justify;">Time behavior is a fundamental concept in performance testing that helps in identifying performance issues and optimizing application performance. By measuring response time, latency, and throughput, performance engineers can gain insight into the application's behavior under various scenarios and identify areas for improvement. Understanding time behavior is crucial for ensuring that applications meet users' expectations and provide a seamless experience.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"><strong>References</strong></p><ul><li style="text-align:justify;"><i><strong>ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level Specialist.</strong></i></li><li style="text-align:justify;"><i><strong>ISO 9126</strong></i> quality management</li><li style="text-align:justify;"><i><strong>ISO 25010</strong></i> quality management</li></ul></body></html>

The Basic Concepts Of Performance Test - Capacity

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