Emulating workloads
You emulate a workload by creating a schedule and adding user groups,
tests, and other elements to it.
- Schedule overview
A schedule can be as simple as one virtual user running one test, or as complicated as hundreds of virtual users in different groups, each running different tests at different times. - Creating a schedule
By creating a schedule, you can accurately emulate the actions of individual users. - Setting user loads
By setting stages, you can model workloads over time and change the number of users that perform certain tasks to reflect real-world usage. You can vary the user load and collect performance metrics for each stage independently, which means that a single run can more efficiently accomplish the work of multiple runs that require shutting down and restarting users. Each stage, which lasts a specific amount of time and contains a specific number of users, defines a different load. - User group overview
User groups enable you to group tests in a logical order. - Working with agents
If you have a significant user load or workload to test, typically a single computer might not be able to process the load efficiently. You need to distribute the load across multiple computers, also called Rational® Performance Tester agents. The agents are installed on computers to generate the load on the application. - Adding a test to a schedule
By adding a test to a schedule, you can emulate the action of an individual user. - Adding must run tests
In a schedule, you can use the Finally block to specify tests that must be run after the main workload is completed, when the last stage duration is expired, or a schedule is stopped manually. - Assigning variables to schedule and user group
In addition to assigning variables at the test level, you can assign variables at the schedule level and user group level. When you assign variables at the schedule level, all the tests and user groups in the schedule can use the variable initial values, if they have the same variable names. - Defining performance requirements in schedules
You can define performance requirements for a schedule to specify acceptable thresholds of performance and to validate service level agreements. - Repeating tests in a schedule
By adding a loop to a schedule, you can repeat a test for a number of iterations and set the rate for running a test. If the loop contains a synchronization point, the synchronization point is released after the first iteration of the loop and stays released for all further iterations. - Delaying virtual users or actions
By adding a delay to a schedule or a compound test, you can emulate user actions more accurately. - Creating rate generators in user groups
A rate generator is a workload container that specifies the number of tasks that the virtual testers run in a given time period. For example, you might be testing an Order Entry group that completes 10 forms every hour, or you might be testing a web server that you want to be able to support 100 hits every minute. Use a rate generator to model this time-based behavior. - Running tests at a set rate
To run a test at a set rate, you add a loop to the schedule to control the iteration rate, and then add tests to the loop. The tests, which are children of the loop, are controlled by the loop. If the loop contains a synchronization point, the synchronization point is released after the first iteration of the loop and stays released for all further iterations. - Running tests in random order
A schedule that contains only user groups and tests will run each test in a user group sequentially. By adding a random selector to a schedule, you can repeat a series of tests in random order, thus emulating the varied actions of real users. - Adding a transaction to a schedule
A transaction is a specific group of test elements whose performance you are interested in. When viewing the test results, you can view performance data about any transactions that you have added. - Synchronizing users
Inserting a synchronization point enables you to coordinate the activities of a number of virtual users by pausing and resuming activities. You can synchronize all virtual users at the beginning of a schedule and stagger the release times so that the users do not overload the system. Synchronization points are also useful in stress testing. - Emulating network traffic from multiple hosts
By default, when you run a schedule, each virtual user has the same IP address. However, you can make each virtual user appear as though it is running on its own host. To do this, you configure IP aliases on the host computer, and enable IP aliasing in the schedule. When you run the schedule, the network traffic will appear to be generated by multiple hosts. - Setting log and statistic levels
Within a schedule, you set the size and sampling rate of the test log and the problem determination log, as well as the statistics that are displayed during a run.
Feedback