HTTP performance testing overview

There are five stages when performance testing HTTP applications: test creation, test editing, workload emulation with schedules, schedule execution, and evaluation of results.

• Test creation. Although it is possible to write a test from scratch, you generally create HTTP performance tests by recording representative interactions with an application. These actions are saved and a test is generated from these recorded actions. Test recording and related tasks are explained in Recording HTTP tests.
• Test editing. After recording a test, run it individually and inspect the results to make sure that the HTTP tests are doing what you expect. You might want to edit your tests. Typical changes that you might make are:
  • Replacing a value in a recorded test with values in a dataset. This produces more realistic test data. Providing tests with variable data (datasets) explains how to use datasets to replace data.
  • Adding dynamic data to a test (referred to as data correlation). Data correlation, including how to manually correlate test values, is explained in Correlating response and request data.
  • Enabling verification points, so that you can determine whether an expected behavior occurred. Verification points are explained in Verifying expected behavior.
• Workload emulation with schedules. After editing HTTP tests, you create a schedule. You add user groups to the schedule and add appropriate tests to each group to emulate a task. A typical schedule contains the following:
  • User groups and tests. A schedule requires at least these items to run.
  • User groups running from a remote location. This separates your workbench activity and your load-adding activity. For more information, see Running a user group at a remote location.
  • Optional schedule items, such as loops, delays, and think time behavior settings, to further emulate a load. For more information, see Emulating workloads.
• Schedule execution. You typically run a schedule as explained in Running a local schedule or test.
• Evaluation of results. Reports are displayed during the schedule run. You can also regenerate reports after the run, customize reports, and export reports in HTML format, so that others who do not have the product can see them.