Load Testing

Load Testing is a type of performance testing that evaluates how well a system, application, or website performs under normal and peak load conditions. It focuses on determining the system’s ability to handle expected user traffic and workloads without compromising performance, stability, or availability.

Key components of load testing include:

• Simulating User Traffic: Load testing involves simulating multiple users or requests accessing the system simultaneously to measure how it behaves under different load conditions.
• Performance Metrics: Key metrics are measured during load testing, such as response time, throughput, server CPU and memory usage, and database performance, to ensure the system can handle the anticipated traffic.
• Identifying Bottlenecks: Load testing helps identify performance bottlenecks, such as slow database queries, high CPU utilization, or insufficient server resources, that could impact the user experience.
• Scalability: It assesses the system’s ability to scale, meaning how well it can handle increasing numbers of users or transactions over time, ensuring the system can grow with business needs.
• Stress Testing: Load testing is often combined with stress testing, where the system is subjected to higher-than-normal loads to determine its breaking point or failure behavior.
• Resource Utilization: Load testing also helps measure how efficiently system resources (e.g., memory, bandwidth, and processing power) are used under heavy load.

Load testing ensures that the software can handle the expected user traffic and maintains optimal performance, helping to avoid system crashes, slowdowns, or disruptions during peak usage periods.