I have found several load testing articles I think you may enjoy reading.
Load testing tools will report the performance of the system from the end-user perspective – i.e. how long pages take to load in the browser.
Utilize Monitoring Tools During the Load Tests - Web Performance
Load Testing the Cloud - CloudAge - Home base for IT ...
As the popularity of cloud computing increases, companies are now looking to conduct load testing through the Web-based hosting service as well. Essentially, the process entails remotely testing Internet-facing solutions and infrastructure against the actual number of anticipated users and integrating the tests onto a cloud platform. Because the process is executed by automated systems, this allows testing to occur in large numbers and repeatedly.
There has been an upswing in major technology providers developing load testing in the cloud solutions in the past few years, particularly throughout 2011 and 2012 thus far, though various companies have been producing these solutions since late 2008 or early 2009. In fact, IDC predicts that the market will continue to grow at a compound annual rate of 33.1 percent through 2015, when revenues are expected to reach up to $1 billion.
Advocates of load testing in the cloud find the process to be a cost-effective alternative to on-site load testing, while also providing quick on-demand results. Users are able to perform cloud-based performance tests from various geographical locations on a global level, typically through partnerships with cloud providers like Amazon or those detailed above.
Some recent significant contributors to the trend include the following:
LoadStorm released its cloud load testing tool in early 2009, and they have become probably the leading provider of this type of self-service automation tool. LoadStorm is best known for being the lowest cost provider in the industry. That's why they have over 6,000 clients. They also have a reputation for generating more test traffic than any self-service tool - reaching volumes up to 150,000 concurrent users. Recently, LoadStorm has started testing up to 500k users and has announced the goal of hitting 20 million concurrent users by July 1.
BlazeMeter developed a self-service load testing application using the cloud. The solution allows users to test on-site applications, as well as software running in third-party data centers. BlazeMeter is based on Apache JMeter, which the company offers with its on-demand service. In late 2011, the start-up company raised $1.2 million towards future projects.
A good load testing article I found on Facebook is as follows:
Load Testing Saves Money and Time
The following is an article on load testing in the clouds.
A good blog on software performance testing which includes load testing, stress testing.
The following blog is about stress testing which goes hand and hand with load testing and performance testing.
The following article is about the importance of load testing. I found this to be a very informative blog.
Another good blog on load testing and why you should load test often.
The following are a few of my favorites about load testing.
This blog is about how you cannot afford to not load test, stress test and performance test.
Can you get away with not implementing software performance testing?
The following is a good blog on why business executives place a high priority on website performances.
Why Business Executives Place a High Priority on Web Performance in 2012
Another good article on load testing. This is about website failures by big, well known companies.
7 Most Stunning Website Failures of 2011>
The following blog is about the different characteristics of load testing.
The following is an article on Website performance monitoring by SmartBear Software.
Another good blog, about load testing, is from Webperformance. It is about how it will take you longer than you think to load test.
There are many opportunities to start up a successful business on the internet. There are brilliant entrepreneurs who have started their website right out of their own home and have found great rewards creating the business. With great website success can come immediate failure if the site cannot handle all the buyers coming to visit. If you are such a web entrepreneur, then you should learn about load testing.
It is imperative for a web business to ensure no problems will occur when the business is launched and as it grows. Load tests must be performed on the website to make sure it is ready for success. The following description is an introduction that should help entrepreneurs and beginners to load testing understand the what's and why's of this important testing process.
Load testing is a common term used in software engineering whereby an application is stressed with simulated user input to predict the performance of the system. On a website, a load test simulates peak user time and high concentration of traffic on the site (“heavy load”). It answers the question, “How does my website hold up to a bunch of users clicking around at the same time.
The outcome of load testing is to evaluate the response of the server and the software to the large amount of volume. Ultimately, you want to ensure whatever website you have created does not crash or error out when there is large amounts of traffic on the site.
Measurements such as the average response time of page hits are captured in reports and graphs to understand the performance of the website during the load test. Is it responding quickly? Does it slow down as more users hit the website? Some other important measurements are how many page hits per second or minute, how much bandwidth is consumed, and what errors are being received from the web server.
If you are wondering if it is important to test your website, the answer is “Absolutely!”. The necessity of load testing is obvious when you consider the potential loss of money when a website crashes. People come to buy, but the site is down, so no buying – revenue is gone.
Less obvious than a crash is how much money is lost when a website runs slowly. Long response times make users dislike your site, and they leave. People are getting more and more impatient. Their expectations for a fast website has gone down from 10 seconds two years ago to about 3 seconds now. Web Abandonment Happens After 3 Seconds by web performance experts StrangeLoop says it all. I recommend you invest time reading through StrangeLoop's site – it has plenty of good articles about website speed.
The following article is about the demand special holidays put on websites that cater to customers wanting to buy gifts in a hurry and without the trouble of going out to shop.
Valentine's-related traffic spikes cause heartache for ill-prepared sites
Another blog that talks about certain websites not being prepared for high volume traffic. It is interesting why these websites are not prepared.
The following are a few more good load testing articles I think will be helpful.
Cloud Application Performance Management
Load Testing: Compuware Performance Index Ranks User Satisfaction of Top Retailers' Sites
