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Load Testing Blog

How we tripled our conversion rate?

OctoPerf is a SaaS load testing solution.

A load test simulates a number of predefined virtual users, to validate the application for an expected load of concurrent users. Applications tested range from company intranets to e-commerce websites. This type of test makes it possible to highlight the sensitive and critical points of a technical architecture. It also allows measuring the impact on the servers, the bandwidth required on the network, etc.

Graphical Debt

A load test campaign is usually divided in three steps:

  1. Designing the behavior of the simulated virtual users on the application under test,
  2. Configuring the runtime scenario properties (number of concurrent visitors, locations, browser and network used, etc.),
  3. Analysing the test results to pinpoint potential performance bottlenecks.

When we released the first version of OctoPerf back in 2015 it had far less features than it has today. The GUI was pretty simple and displayed these three steps in a single page, making it obvious for load testers that they had to go from design to runtime to analysis.

First version of OctoPerf's GUI

  • in JMeter
  • 10 min read

Soak Test – A Practical Example

As performance testers Soak Testing is a test that is often overlooked.

We always think of Peak Volume tests and we always like to push the system to its limits in the form of a Scalability Test but often the Soak Test is forgotten about.

It’s a great test and it tells you many critical aspects about your application under load, things that no other test can and is critical in determining if you application is fit for production.

What is it?

It’s a test that run for a long period of time, what is a long period of time .. well it depends upon your application, organisation, production requirements, appetite for testing….

OctoPerf 10 is out

It has been a few months since the last update post and as you will see we have been quite busy. Let's not waste any time and look first into the most obvious change of them all.

Some of you may have already noticed that we updated our logo last week. A simpler text logo like we had before did not feel fitting anymore. The new Octo-rocket logo will take our favorite octopus higher than never before. To make good on this promise we have also released a lot of new features!

  • in JMeter
  • 11 min read

JMeter Properties: Configurable Test Plans

Your company probably runs JMeter test plans on a regular basis. Tests constantly need to be adjusted to change settings like concurrent users or test duration. Editing the JMX is time consuming and error prone.

It's painful, especially if you run test using Continuous Integration as part of a Shift-Left strategy. Thankfully, there is a way!

Let me guide you through all the options to design flexible JMeter test plans using configurable properties.

Why Configurable Tests

JMeter performance test plans are now commonly being executed throughout the development lifecycle as part of:

  • pipelines to focus on a particular service or user journey,
  • Isolated component testing as part of development activities,
  • And agile Shift-Left performance testing: testing earlier during the development cycle.

Networking with OctoPerf 9.6

Since our last post about OctoPerf 9.4, we've been working on a lot of different subjects. As usual, you can find all the details in our changelog, but let's have a look at the key improvements.

IP Spoofing

IP Spoofing

IP Spoofing is a technique used to impersonate another computing system. In performance testing it is interesting when you face a load-balancer or anti DDOS mechanism that requires each virtual user to have a different IP. We were previously having trouble with it because of the way we use docker to run our agents. But we finally figured a way to make it work with our new agent. Of course it will only be possible with an On-premise agent since having loads of IPs in the cloud would not be possible. But the setup is very easy, you just have to declare the IPs on the agent machine and then use our interface to link them to your script.