How to load test with Cloud Load Generators

For tests with Load Generators in the Cloud and with the Controller on premises, some configuration and tuning operations are necessary to increase the capacity of the testing environment before setting the Cloud Load Generators, as described in Select the Cloud Load Generators.

• To load test with Cloud Load Generators

1. Open your scenario in the NeoLoad Controller.
2. Check the design of your scenario:
   • For the requests, ensure the validations, if any, are really necessary. Keep them only for the key pages whenever you can.
   • For the variables values, ensure the distribution policies are not Controller-based whenever you can.
   • Ensure the validations and the variable extractions on bulky inputs, if any, are really necessary and optimize them.
   • For the variables extractors:
     • Ensure the XPath expressions, if any, are really necessary.
     • Ensure the regular expressions with quantifier backtracks are really necessary.
   • Limit the number of Virtual Users with few requests or pages, or redesign them.
   • For the Virtual Users, ensure the JavaScript actions, if any, are really necessary and reduce their number whenever you can.

   See Configure the scenarios.

3. Check the configuration of the Controller:
   • Deactivate your anti-virus.
   • Configure a limited duration for your test.
   • Limit the number of monitoring metrics or keep the default selected ones.
   • In Edit > Preferences > Project Settings > Runtime parameters, disable Store previous response data on error.
   • When necessary, modify the error management and the start-up timeout values in the controller.properties file.
   • In the Runtime section, select the scenario, click Advanced, then disable Display Virtual User status during the test.
   • For the Controller JVM, define the heap size in the NeoLoadGUI.vmoptions and NeoLoadCmd.vmoptions files.
   • Save your project on the local disk.

   See Configure the Controller.

4. Configure the infrastructure to optimize the performance of the heavy load testing.

   See Configure the network.

5. Only if you are paying with Cloud credits: Size your Cloud Load Generators with an on-demand Cloud session:
   • Create an on-demand Cloud session with one Load Generator.
   • Ensure the Controller accesses the Neotys Cloud Platform and the Cloud Load Generator (both of them on port 443).
   • Start a ramp-up test in no debug mode.
   • Identify the significant breaking point in the CPU, memory, throughput or hit rate metrics.
   • Identify the number of Virtual Users at that breaking point.

   See Cloud credits only: Size Cloud Load Generators.

6. If you need to use the same IP addresses for the whole test campaign, reserve IP addresses.

   See Reserve IP addresses.

7. Set enough time to reserve your Cloud session and get your Cloud Load Generators.

   See Reserve the Cloud Load Generators.

8. When the reserved session is available, start the test:
   • Do not use the debug mode.
   • Run a short preliminary load test to make sure that:
     • the Cloud Load Generators have access to the tested application,
     • the monitoring counters are set up as expected.
   • Warm up the application with one or two lower tests.
   • Start your heavy load test.

   See Start the test.

9. Terminate the test and your Cloud session.
10. Read the test results.

    See Read test results.

Home