1.
Load and Performance Testing – From a general perspective Presenter: John Brennan

2.
Agenda <ul><li>Challenge </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Application Infrastructure </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Application Development </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Accessibility </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Economics </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Best Practises for Performance Testing/Tuning </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Preparation </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Development </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Execution Analysis </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Results Summary </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Benefits of Performance Testing </li></ul><ul><li>Q & A </li></ul>

3.
Challenge <ul><li>Application Infrastructure </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Highly Complex Infrastructures; Enterprise Networks, Client Machines, Application/Web Servers, etc, etc </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Application Development </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Legacy Applications </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Today’s Developments; .NET, Java, Macromedia Flash, m-Commerce etc </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Accessibility </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Internal (inc. long distance locations) / External </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Mobile Channels </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Wireless Laptops/PDAs </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>3G+ Telecommunication </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>iMode / WAP GPRS </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><li>Today’s Economy: Organisations faced with delivering more for less </li></ul><ul><li>Customer Facing and Reputation: No room for error </li></ul><ul><li>Timescales: Often Restricted </li></ul>

4.
Best Practises : Preparation <ul><li>Timeline: Approx. 1 Month, depending on project size/scope </li></ul><ul><li>Normally conducted by Project Leader, or lead Performance Tester </li></ul><ul><li>Planning </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Project Timeline, and milestone dates </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Expectations (SLA’s), Goals and Success Criteria </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Design </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Transactions Per Second (TPS) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>User Volumes </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>User Journeys / Business Processes (Aim = 80% of Transactional Throughput) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Data Requirements (Unique / Reusable) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Database Refresh Consideration & Implication </li></ul></ul></ul>{ For each User Journey / Business Process }

5.
Best Practises : Preparation (Cont.) <ul><li>Environment Configuration </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Review Architecture, inc. configuration options, etc </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Perform Environment Comparison (Test v Prod) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Ascertain Scalability Levels (between environments) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Review Application Code Levels </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Agree Change/Release Windows </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Load Farm Requirements (estimate at this point) </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Resourcing </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Internal Support (Technical Specialists and Component Owners) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Contractors / Consultancy </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>3 rd Party Support (i.e. BT for Networks) </li></ul></ul>

6.
Best Practises : Development <ul><li>Timeline: Approx. 1 Month, depending on project size/scope </li></ul><ul><li>Develop System Load Model </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Create appropriate scripts, using most relevant protocol </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Dev => Test => (Sign-Off) => Debug (Iterative Cycle) </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Build / Configure Load Farm </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Create Test Scenarios (Manual / Goal Oriented) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Develop Graphical Representation of Scenario </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Mirror and Schedule (1) Off-Peak, (2) Peak and (3) Seasonal </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Include Transaction Monitors to ensure minimum expectations achieved </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Application Monitoring </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Options: Use Vendor Tools / Configure Tool Monitors </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Diagnostics (.NET, J2EE or Siebel) – Depending on Detail Required </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Note: Infrastructure requirements/constraints and associated cost/benefit analysis </li></ul></ul></ul></ul>

7.
Best Practises : Execution Analysis <ul><li>Timeline: Approx. 1 Month, depending on project size/scope </li></ul><ul><li>Scenario Execution (On Site / Off Site) </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Capture and Record Test Defects </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Collate Test Results </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Perform Analysis </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Add Comment; highlighting operational / performance bottlenecks </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Develop Suggestions for System Improvement </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Adhere to Change / Release Management Processes </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Tuning over Iterative Cycle </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Collaborate with Supporting Resources </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Internal Resource and/or 3 rd Party (i.e. BT, etc) </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Combine Full Results & Publish (Intranet / Word) </li></ul>

8.
Best Practises : Results Summary <ul><li>Timeline: Approx. 2/4 Weeks, depending on project size/scope </li></ul><ul><li>Review Performance Test Engagement: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Summarise Work Completed </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Summarise Issues Rectified </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Summarise Issues Outstanding (if applicable) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Highlight Workarounds (Tactical) </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Highlight Strategic Fixes, and associated Timescales </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><li>Production Monitoring </li></ul><ul><li>Agree Future Reviews </li></ul>

9.
Benefits of Performance Testing <ul><li>Identify functional issues, only found under load </li></ul><ul><li>As with all defects, the earlier they are found, the more cost effective this will be </li></ul><ul><li>Validates system under test against defined SLA’s; meaningful measurements that IT can be measured against (particularly important where 3 rd party suppliers are involved, i.e. measure against contractual obligations) </li></ul><ul><li>Allows for performance degradations to be resolved before going live </li></ul><ul><li>Avoidance of Production Outages (significant cost savings; financial/ reputation) </li></ul><ul><li>Provides an understanding of seasonal peaks and the ability of the architecture to support these now and in the future </li></ul><ul><li>Reusable assets for future testing, even in production monitoring </li></ul><ul><li>Increases awareness of future development/deployments (scalability) </li></ul><ul><li>Increases awareness of hardware requirement (current/future, perhaps reduction) </li></ul>