Load Testing Tool Features

Recording Usage Scenarios

• Automated load test recording. Record website usage scenarios in your web browser. In non-browser applications, capture web traffic from Silverlight or other Rich Internet Applications (RIA) or mobile applications and then create a test case with one mouse click.
• Supported protocols and technologies: HTTP, HTTPS, AJAX, SOAP, WCF, binary WCF, and XML over HTTP.
• Dynamic pages. In order to maintain the integrity of dynamic webpages, some of their parameters are generated during test replay to mimic a browser's and user's behavior. Session IDs, cookies and certain request parameters (e.g. ASP.NET view state) are generated using autocorrelation or heuristic algorithms. This allows StresStimulus to support out-of-the-box testing of many sophisticated web applications such as Microsoft CRM Dynamics, SharePoint, and Salesforce.com.
• Parameterization with external data. To simulate realistic data entry performed by VUs, provide CSV files with relevant production data and map data fields to Post or Get request parameters. During the replay, StresStimulus automatically replaces recorded values with external data using one of several available data-binding methods.
• Authentication. If you need to give every virtual user (VU) a unique identity, simply provide a data set with user credentials. Multiple secure authentication methods are supported, including Web Forms, Basic, NTLM, and Kerberos.
• Scripting is not required, but is available. Create the entire test case through a GUI and wizard-based interface in minutes without touching script. If you need more sophisticated testing rules, the Fiddler .NET-based scripting platform is available.

Emulating Workload

• Load Patterns. To simulate production load, peak load or run a stress test, set the number of VUs and select steady or step load pattern. If necessary, adjust the VU count after the test has started.
• Browser and Network mix. Let your test client behave as hundreds of computers connected via different networks and using different browsers. Select browsers and network types from the list and add them to the mix. You also can add a custom network with a specific connection speed.
• Think and Warm-up Times. When replaying the tests, use recorded or custom think times to reflect human user wait time between clicks. Customize or disable think times for selected pages, test iterations or for the entire test case. Set a warm-up time to prepare the server for normal working conditions at the beginning of the test.
• Cache and Session Control. To simulate a mix of new and returning users, set a percentage of users with empty browser cache vs. users with primed browser cache. You can also simulate a mix of users restarting browsers and users continuing with the same browser session.

Running Load Test

• VU count adjustment on-demand. Get more control over the test by adjusting the VU count while the test is running. Discover your websites behavior patterns with ease to simplify performance troubleshooting. For example, a StresStimulus user noticed that the average response time has sharply increased after changing the VU count from 100 to 120. Is this behavior random or consistent? With VU count adjustment on-demand, the user can repeat the same VU change on-the-fly several times within the same test to answer this question.
• Efficient load engine. The lightweight yet powerful StresStimulus load engine can generate requests from thousands of users in a single box. It saves costs by requiring fewer licenses and test computers, while simplifying the configuration of sizable test rigs.

Monitoring Performance

• Key performance indicators (KPI). The following parameters are graphed in real time alongside the VU count: requests per second, response time, network bandwidth and error rate. Their instantaneous, minimum, maximum, and average values are constantly monitored. KPI graphs are interactive and customizable. Underlying data can be exported for further analysis.
• Server and client performance counters. Add any of the server or client Windows performance counters to the real time graph. Depending on what system area you want to monitor, select ASP.NET, ASP, SQL Server counters or other parameters, such as CPU, memory, and network utilization.

In-Depth Reporting

• Test Summary. The test Summary is a high-level report that presents key performance metrics and gives a bird's-eye view of the load test.
• Page, request and VU details. Detailed reports give a complete performance snapshot of every page, request, and VU simulated experience. They provide deep test analytics to accurately pinpoint application performance bottlenecks.
• Custom performance goals. Set a response time threshold for individual pages and watch which pages are not in compliance with their respective goals under various loads.
• Analysis of a complete transaction log. StresStimulus stores every HTTP session generated during the load test. Flexible filtering allows you to display the sessions of a particular user, iteration, page or URL in Fiddler to conduct deeper performance analysis. For example, you can compare waterfall diagrams of the same page under different load levels to determine what parts of the page are more vulnerable to the high loads.