Type of Load Test
The type of test often depends on the goals. You have to answer the question, "What should I check?"
Performance/Load Test
Validate the target performance of the application (for example, the response time represented by a target percentile is always less than two seconds).
Figure 3.1: Performance/load test
Stress Test
Know the response times during peak periods.
Figure 3.2: Stress test
The language I've been using in recent years for a 1x, 2x, 3x test workload I'm calling a "scale test" to indicate a particular scale for handling load.
It's helped me to more clearly communicate with PMs and business people the value of doing such a test:
- If we pass a 1x phase, everyone here doesn't get fired, customers are happy, and we can stay in business
- If we pass a 2x phase, we're able to handle the upcoming holiday season/increased load as we have some headroom in the system
- If we can pass a 3x phase,...