Web Performance Watch

Reason we load test

This afternoon while I'm at #VelocityConf, I saw this tweet (edited): “In 2008 avg web page was ~300K, 50 objects. Today 679K & 85 objects < Great answer for...Why you should load test." When a site is under load, the page size and number of objects is usually not the problem. We solved this delimna 10 years ago, and it's called a content delivery network. Anyone can deliver static content. The problem is application stability under load. Indeed, the cloud promises this but isn't a solution for good architecture and the hard work designing a system without singular bottlenecks. The real reason we load test is to determine how well the application scales under a realistic load, modeled correctly. How do you resolve the bottlenecks? Do you understand your system's queuing behavior? These are the real questions that load testing answers.

Useful Paranoia

 

The recent Sony and RSA hacks likely threw the IT leaders at those companies into a state of panic. Unanticipated events like breaches and outages stress the organization fabric of IT teams, and can result in pain. It’s almost like tearing a muscle. But pain, like many things, is an experience to be viewed in context and can be rationalized beyond the difficulty it imposes.

For example, if you’re an athlete, pain is expected. Athletes train hard, repetitively breaking down muscle in order to build it. The best athletes are training and workout fanatics. They throw themselves intentionally into stressful situations. No pain, no gain!

Some IT organizations do this too. They contract with outside firms to attempt breaches of their systems. They throw their teams into chaos drills where resources and assets become unavailable. The adage “people, process and technology” applies supremely here, with heavy emphasis on “people.” For example, we’ve seen that the best load testing projects on which we’ve worked are those that involve extended teams and intentionally simulate situations for which they were unprepared.

If you’re feeling comfortable today, tomorrow’s the day to throw a wrench in the system. A little paranoia is healthy. How are you stressing your people, process and technology?