Performance Testing: Optimize your system for a crash-proof performance

Any business that is subject to website crashes or bugs may experience major revenue losses as well as customer reliability. As per reports, 30% of the audiences expect a website to load in just 1 second while 18% expect a website to load immediately. Furthermore, when confronted with a broken image, over 47% of respondents would abandon the application and transact on another platform.

Why is performance testing needed?

Performance testing is crucial for a variety of reasons. Network difficulties plague mobile applications, especially when the server is overburdened. If the applications are running on unreliable mobile networks, it becomes even more difficult. Customers will be upset if they have a bad app experience, which will result in revenue loss.

One such instance was when Tesco, a famous British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer faced a major crash in just a matter of hours in the wake of Back Friday. This led to the failure to meet the demand of online customers, resulting in a major loss for Tesco. So it is a better option for businesses to do performance testing to avoid future issues.

The following are some of the issues that apps confront in such a situation:

• Problems downloading photos or images that are broken.
• In content feeds, there are huge dark holes.
• Errors in booking or checkout
• Timeouts are used frequently.
• Freezing and Stalling
• Uploads that failed

The pace of the application varies by region. It’s critical to update an app country-by-country and test it for compatibility. Internal testing of the applications’ performance at various speeds and across different networks should be carried out. It’s crucial to make sure that app users all over the world can use it easily and without any network troubles.

Types of performance tests

Performance testing covers many areas in order to assess performance. Let us see the types of performance testing in detail.

• Load testing

Load testing assesses an application’s capacity to execute under real-world load situations when the workload grows, for as when a large number of virtual users perform transactions at the same time. Over time, they may open a landing page, sign up and sign in, transmit files, generate reports, and so on. Load tests would examine how users’ behaviors affect the application’s response time and endurance.

• Stress testing

When QA (Quality Analyst) personnel want to test the performance of a web application outside of normal working settings, they increase the load beyond typical usage patterns. Stress testing is the term for this.

It assesses how well a system performs under high loads or when some of its hardware or software is damaged. By constructing a test case with a large number of concurrent virtual users, load testing tools can be utilized to do stress testing.

• Endurance testing

Endurance tests, often known as soak tests, ensure that software can withstand a regular load for a lengthy period of time. The QA team can also use a modest ramp-up to test the system’s long-term viability. The purpose is to find any memory leaks or other speed issues that may occur during product development.

• Spike testing

A spike test simulates rapid and repetitive demand surges to test the software’s behavior. For short periods of time, the workload should be above standard expectations. One example is a sudden surge in the number of virtual users.

• Volume testing

The overall performance of a web application under various database volumes is the focus of volume or flood tests. To monitor the system’s activity, a database is ‘flooded’ with forecasted large amounts of data.

• Scalability testing

Scalability tests determine how well a piece of software adapts to growing workloads. This can be determined by increasing the user load or data volume progressively while watching the effects on system performance. Alternatively, the QA team could adjust the resources, such as CPUs and memory, while maintaining the same workload. Such testing aids in the planning of software system capacity expansions.

Here’s a quick guide on performance testing tools

When should you start performance testing?

The first load tests should be performed by the quality assurance team as soon as several web pages are functional. Performance testing should be part of the daily testing regimen for each build of the product from that point forward.

Teams must identify at what point in the development process they will benefit the most from doing performance tests while considering the performance of existing systems or those constructed from the ground up.

Performance test metrics

A metric is a measurement taken during the quality assurance process. The performance measurements are used to calculate critical performance characteristics and identify the application’s weak spots. In a word, these metrics demonstrate how the software responds to a variety of user circumstances and how it manages user flow in real-time. It aids in obtaining a clear picture of the activities’ outcomes and identifying opportunities for improvement.

Because performance testing is so vital to the success of software applications, it’s critical to define and assess the key indicators in order to get the best results. You must define the milestones in order to achieve performance excellence. The parameters that fall under the established milestones must then be measured in order to estimate the output and compare it to the expected results. Therefore:

• Metrics are useful for tracking the development of a project.
• They serve as a starting point for the testing.
• The quality assurance team can describe and assess issues using testing metrics in order to discover a solution.
• Metrics tracking aids in comparing test results and estimating the impact of code modifications.

What includes in performance testing metrics?

Now that you know that performance testing metrics are required for a successful software application, the next question is: what metrics should be monitored?

It relies on the type of software, its primary features, and the company’s objectives. So, here’s a set of performance indicators with universal characteristics that any product should track.

• Response time

It is defined as the time it takes from the time a server request is made until the last byte is received from the server. The statistic for performance testing is kilobytes per second (KB/sec).

• Requests per second

When a client application submits an HTTP request to a server, the server generates a response and delivers it back to the client. A significant performance metric is the total number of consistent requests processed per second — requests per second (RPS). Multimedia files, HTML pages, XML documents, JavaScript libraries, and other data sources can all be used to make these requests.

• Per unit of time, virtual users

This software performance testing metric aids in determining whether the software satisfies the required requirements. It aids the QA team in calculating the average load and program behavior under various load levels.

The error rate is a metric that measures the ratio of correct to incorrect answers over time. The fault usually happens when the load exceeds the capability of the machine. In addition, the findings are expressed as a percentage.

Average latency is another name for wait time. It shows how much time has transpired between sending a request to the server and receiving the first byte. It’s not to be confused with response time; the two are measured in distinct time frames.

According to a survey, more than 40% of consumers intend to abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.

This performance testing statistic measures how long it takes to deliver a request on average. It is one of the most crucial factors in ensuring the highest possible product quality.

• Peak reaction time

This measure is similar to average load time, but the main distinction is that the peak response time represents the longest time it takes to complete a request. It also demonstrates that at least one software component is faulty. As a result, this metric is far more significant than the average load time.

• Concurrent users

Also called load size, this indicator reflects the number of active users at any given time. It’s one of the most often used metrics for determining how software behaves when a certain number of virtual users are present. Because the quality assurance team does not produce consistent requests, this performance testing measure differs from request per second.

• Transactions passed/failed

This measure represents the proportion of requests that passed or failed out of all the tests that were run. It’s just as important for users as the load time, and it’s one of the most visible measures for ensuring product performance.

How to track performance metrics correctly?

It’s not a good idea to track the statistics solely for the purpose of testing. Metrics are more than just numbers that go into project reports.

Performance testing metrics, like any other quality assurance procedure, should be able to answer particular questions and test hypotheses based on business objectives. Metrics can help promote positive change in this situation.

The following are the main ideas to remember if you want to get the most out of analytics.

• To come up with the performance requirements, specify the client’s business objectives.
• Every feature should have its own success metric, whether it’s a single parameter or a set of parameters.
• Metrics should be linked to the value provided to the user, such as stability, functionality, and speed.
• To track data, determine average indications, and acquire consistent results, do repeated performance tests.
• Individual software pieces are checked separately. Before combining services and databases into a single application, multiple tests should be performed.

Benefits of investing in performance testing

• Engage customers with better speed

A slow and less-performing website will never attract a large audience. In reality, it will deter people from visiting the site. However, using automated testing tools to assess the website’s speed and performance, users will be able to load the site with basic internet and bandwidth access, which will maintain their attention and keep them engaged.

• The faster the website, the better the revenue

Though this is true for practically all websites, it is especially important for businesses that require direct client interaction. Banking and e-commerce systems, for example, must provide clients with a simple and secure interface. As a result, the app has more traction and is visited more frequently.

• Resolve mistakes

The purpose of performance testing is to guarantee that the application performs as expected. Various sorts of Performance Tests assist you in achieving the desired outcomes and resolving hazards that could compromise the application in a real-world environment.

Failover Testing evaluates redundancy methods, Reliability tests run high-level loads for longer periods of time, and Stress Tests determine the system/load application’s capacity. This aids in abusing the application to uncover flaws, which is necessary for making the program market-ready.

• Enhance the application

It is crucial for businesses to guarantee that their applications stay stable even in the most difficult of circumstances, such as network outages, cyber-attacks, or virtual threats. Performance testing utilizing multiple tests and tools validates the application’s sturdiness and ability to perform consistently in the marketplace.

Targeted Infrastructure Tests, for example, are isolated tests that examine each layer of an application for performance concerns that could cause snags while achieving the intended performance.

• Support market claims

It is vital for organizations to ensure that the application/software performs as expected. This is especially important for online gaming apps and software. It is expected to handle a large number of concurrent gamers while maintaining the claimed speed and performance.

During the execution of tests, many statistics are collected to ensure and meet performance targets, particularly Speed, Scalability, and Stability. This aids in the detection of performance concerns.

• Satisfied users

Testing the system’s performance allows you to properly maintain the system and rectify any kind of issue before any customer may notice it. This fulfills the users and contributes to their happiness.

• Improved performance

Measuring the performance of your system can help you enhance the overall performance of your company. Furthermore, measuring performance may help you assess your software’s scalability, efficiency, and speed, which can help you enhance your business’s performance.

Final thoughts

Measuring performance reduces the danger of failure while also allowing you to have more time on your hands. It assists you in maintaining your organization’s high standards by providing consistent outcomes. Conducting accurate test simulations also aids in the prevention of bad performance.

If you wish to keep your business site performing well even under adverse conditions, it is necessary to do performance testing. Get in touch with Zuci Systems to identify the barriers, sort them out and achieve the desired level of performance that customers love.

Looking to improve your product’s performance? Take a look at Zuci’s performance testing services and see how you can leverage Zuci for your business needs.