Cloud Based Performance Testing

In simple words, Internet-based-computing can be referred to as Cloud computing. Here, shared hardware and software resources are available for use as per demand. This concept is also based on optimum utilization of the increasing power of servers and virtualization technologies. It is the convergence of computing, networking and storage which create a dynamic infrastructure which makes these functions highly dependant on each other. This forces a change in management strategy.

Performance generally refers to the statistics regarding response time, throughput and resource utilization of an application. It is not difficult to assess that a performance problems impact customer experience, revenues, brand perception and overall user satisfaction.

Let us review the tools for performance testing in the cloud.

• Load Storm: This allows developers to evaluate how an application will respond under heavy volumes of HTTP traffic. It gives massive cloud resources in the hands of web developers which enables them to improve the performance of their application.
• SOASTA – CloudTest: It provides performance, functional, Web User Interface and AJAX testing as an on-demand service.
• VMLogic : And Skytap offer scalable test labs along with management software in the cloud. On an average these can cost several thousand dollars per month.
• TechOut: This tool helps to measure and optimize the speed and availability of critical online applications. It also provides Website Monitoring, REST/SOAP Web Services Monitoring, Business Transactions Monitoring, Cloud Monitoring, etc.
• Intro Spectrum: It is a hosted performance monitoring system that makes use of real browsers to provide the most accurate view of website performance. It is hosted in the cloud and hence it is platform/OS agnostic. It works with any public website or any web application.
• Load Intelligence: It can use JMeter in the cloud. It is an affordable Software as a Service from Cloud Intelligence. It includes access to software and unlimited hardware resources. Users of JMeter can execute their test scripts in an unlimited, pre-configured distributed environment. It neither requires setup nor installations. Also, it provides immediate access to JMeter logs, reports, test scripts, CSV files and more.
• Xceptance LoadTest: It is a load testing and regression tool for Web apps and Java apps load testing. For web-based tests it can emulate Internet Explorer or Firefox behavior.
• Grinder in the Cloud: It is a cloud based, open source load testing tool which uses resources offered by Amazon Web Services. It leverages Grinder Load Test Framework by putting it in the cloud.
• Pylot: It is a Web Testing tool from Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud(EC2). It generates concurrent load (HTTP Requests), verifies server responses and produces reports with metrics. Test suites, which are executed are monitored from a GUI or shell/console.
• HPLoadRunner, Keynote and BrowserMob are some additional cloud based performance testing tools.

Conclusion

Performance is critical to revenue and an efficient performance tuning of an application can increase revenue by 10%. Cloud performance, which is measured at the point of application use is the sum of application performance, network performance and cloud infrastructure performance. Cloud based performance testing tools offer a way to test across platforms and ensures capacity even in the most extreme scenarios.

Michael works for Cigniti Technologies, which is the world's first Independent Software Testing Company to be appraised at CMMI-SVC Level 5, and an ISO 9001:2008 & ISO 27001:2013 certified organization.