Arscognita Inc - Web Performance Testing for the Real World

Using Gatling to Test Nonprofit Web Servers

Gatling is a load and stress testing framework written in Scala, a functional programming language that runs on the JVM. The framework uses the Akka framework for handling concurrency and the Netty framework for handling network operations. The software is very stable and can scale to handle distributed workloads. Gatling focusses exclusively on web load testing and therefor only supports HTTP, JMS, WebSockets and Server-sent events. Configuration of the load tests is done using a Scala based Domain Specific Language.

Gatling can be used as a low cost method of testing nonprofit web servers or other servers in a situation where the test subject doesn’t have a lot of money to run testing, but when testing is really important. Typically, nonprofit organizations don’t often have the best resources and often their servers are slow, although this isn’t always the case—you can check this out if you’re looking for more information on nonprofit servers in general and how to get the best one for your organization. That said though, testing is really important for nonprofits to make the most of what they have.

Before using Gatling for load testing you will need a client for generating the load and a web server that will respond to the requests. The client should have JDK8, Maven and Scala installed. Installing Gatling is easy as you only requires the zip file. You unzip the files in your preferred folder and Gatling is ready to run as long the prerequisites are installed.

Next you need to configure the simulation scripts and scenarios. The scripts are written in the Scala DSL but one need not be versed in Scala to use Gatlin. Developers should also note their text encoding format. Gatling uses UTF-8 encoding by default. If your server uses a different encoding, change it in the gatling.conf file. The gatling.conf file also contains all requests and simulations.

In load testing, scenarios are steps that a user will take when completing an action. A scenario usually includes requesting several web pages in a particular order and performing searches for example a common scenario for an ecommerce site would involve a user searching for a specific item and then ordering that item. Gatling provides Recorder, a tool that records actions on a website and then exports them to Gatling scenarios in the proper Scala format. Users launch the script by running a script in the bin folder. The script is named recorder.bat on Windows and recorder.sh on Unix based systems. Additionally Recorder helps you configure how responses and requests will be handled. Once you run Recorder, Gatling will produce a scenario in the required Scala format. You then run the gatling.sh or gatling.bat file depending on your OS and Gatling will run your load tests. After the tests have been completed, Gatling will provide a link to the reports for the tests.

Increasing the Speed of Websites with a Content Distribution Network (CDN)

When developing a website, the speed of each page loading is essential because of the myriads of competition in an online environment. Not only does a website have to be attractive with quality visual and content, but also a website needs to interactive effectively to keep consumers engaged. It is like the importance of communication as the keys to success in businesses, an effective website shows (or communicates) credibility of products and/or services. Microinteractions, for instance, enables interaction by triggering consumers to interact with businesses on websites such as a login feature.

“If you care about user experience, you should care about microinteractions,” says Smart Design’s creative director Dan Saffer. He continues explaining that microinteractions are the icon buttons in which sets a status of a message on a website, even muting the status on mobile devices such as a cell phone.

So again, not only speeding up webpages, but also it is of essence to be sure that a website has good speed to actually function effectively and to be productive in promoting products and/or services in an online environment. Especially in today’s digital era where websites can be designed to speak to the consumers about what a company has to offer. Monitoring and load testing is also helpful when looking at the reliability of web hosting and web servers. Using a tool like Dotcom-Monitor for load testing (available at Dotcom-Monitor.com) is important to make sure that your website. There are also other free tools like HP’s LoadRunner that can also be helpful in this type of testing.

That is why when developing a website, choosing a reputable proxy server for content delivery network, otherwise known as content distribution network (CDN) is also a critical process when making decisions about distribution of a website for high performance. Futhermore, ensuring that you have a good, reliable server to host your website on is very important according to WebHosting Buddy and a variety of other sources.

“There’s no return on investment if your content doesn’t reach viewers and readers, says Maryanne Gaitho from SimpliLearn’s website talking about content distribution.

Generally speaking, a business website’s performance and speed relies on CDN to reach the target audience. And, as mentioned earlier, microinteractions are needed to accomplish simple tasks such as turning on and off functions through icons to keep consumers engaged. It is the cosmetics of a website that attracts the consumers to explore and read websites.

Website Performance Testing For Blogs

Website performance testing for blogs is quite important as traffic on the blog may be so high that there is no way it will hold up to the strain. A blog that has a large readership must be cared for properly including how the server is responding to each bit of traffic. This article explains how the blog owner may have their tests done to ensure the blog will stand up to what is happening.

#1: The Blog Is Not All That Small

There are quite a few blogs that are not that small, and they must be given a test that will show how long their server will last. The blog owner must know what to do to ensure the blog will hold up to more traffic, and they will get the report that shows how they may make changes today. The blog will last longer under the pressure of high traffic when it has been tested properly, and they will see how much better the blog runs when the owner is gone through a number of tests.

#2: Testing At Many Times

There are many different ways to complete each test, and the test must be done when there are varying amounts of traffic on the site. It will be quite helpful to anyone who is searching for a way to keep their site going, and they may continue to make adjustments to the site to ensure they have a blog their readers may enjoy at any time.

#3: How Long Will Tests Last?

Tests must be put together to ensure they do not last all that long. Someone who is planning a new test will find it simple to put it on the schedule, and they will see it lasts only a few moments before a report is produced for the owner.