LoadRunner Frequently Asked Questions

Maintained by Mark McWhinney, msm@powertest.com

Version 1.0
April 24, 2003
oad!"nner #isc"ssion $ro"p.................................................................................................................... 1
What is the p"rpose o% this &ro"p'........................................................................................................... 1
What types o% messa&es are allowed'..................................................................................................... 1
(s the disc"ssion moderated'................................................................................................................... 1
earnin& oad!"nner.................................................................................................................................. 1
)ow can ( learn to "se oad!"nner'....................................................................................................... 1
What do ( need to know to do load testin& in addition to knowin& how to "se the oad!"nner tool'.......2
Where can ( &et help'.............................................................................................................................. 2
Applications................................................................................................................................................. 2
What protocols does oad!"nner s"pport'............................................................................................. 2
What can ( monitor with oad!"nner'..................................................................................................... 3
)ow many "sers can ( em"late with oad!"nner on a *+'....................................................................4
)ow m"ch memory is needed per "ser'.................................................................................................. 4
*rod"ct........................................................................................................................................................ 4
+an ( &et a e,al"ation copy o% oad!"nner'........................................................................................... 4
What is the c"rrent shippin& ,ersion o% oad!"nner'.............................................................................. 4
What is the di%%erence between oad!"nner and Astra oad-est'.........................................................4
What is the relation between oad!"nner and -opa.'............................................................................ 4
)ow m"ch does oad!"nner cost'......................................................................................................... 4
Where can ( b"y oad!"nner'................................................................................................................ 4
LoadRunner Discussion Group
What is the purpose of this group?
#isc"ssion o% iss"es related to Merc"ry
(nteracti,e/s oad!"nner load testin& tool.
What types of messages are allowed?
Any 0"estion or constr"cti,e comment abo"t
technical iss"es related to oad!"nner or
per%ormance mana&ement in &eneral is &ood.
1ob postin&s %or positions primarily in,ol,in& the
"se o% oad!"nner are 23. Messa&es sho"ld
be in 4n&lish.
Messa&es abo"t iss"es "nrelated to
oad!"nner, postin&s %or "nrelated 5obs, and
personal attacks are not 23. !e0"ests %or
license keys or answers %or the +*6 e7am are
not allowed and are reported to Merc"ry, so
please do not ask.
8)ow9to8 0"estions related to in%ormation that
can be easily %o"nd by readin& the oad!"nner
doc"mentation are disco"ra&ed.
Is the discussion moderated?
6ort o%. Anyone can 5oin the disc"ssion &ro"p
witho"t appro,al and can post a messa&e
witho"t re,iew. )owe,er, the moderator may
remo,e messa&es or ban members witho"t
notice i% there are ab"ses.
Learning LoadRunner
How can I learn to use LoadRunner?
Merc"ry (nteracti,e o%%ers co"rses at their %acility
in 6"nny,ale and other :6 cities. -hey also can
cond"ct co"rses at yo"r site. Merc"ry has
certi%ied trainin& partners that also o%%er
classroom trainin&.
6ome comm"nity colle&es and %or9pro%it trainin&
companies o%%er oad!"nner co"rses as well.
-he hardcopy and *#; doc"mentation that is
shipped with oad!"nner is %airly &ood. <o"
*a&e 1 o% 4
can learn the tool and somethin& abo"t load
testin& by readin& the doc"mentation, b"t it is
best to take at least an introd"ctory class %irst.
Merc"ry does not send doc"mentation to non9
c"stomers.
What do I need to know to do load testing in
addition to knowing how to use the
LoadRunner tool?
:nlike %"nctional testin& yo" need to know more
than 5"st how the application "nder test
%"nctions. <o" need to know how the
components behind the client work and what the
per%ormance iss"es %or the components are.
6peci%ically, yo" need to know the %ollowin&
knowled&e and skills=
Components s"ch as web ser,ers, application
ser,ers, database ser,ers, operatin& systems,
networks and network elements s"ch as load
balancers. <o" need not ha,e 8&"r"8 le,el
knowled&e o% each o% the components b"t
sho"ld ha,e operational knowled&e and an
"nderstandin& o% the per%ormance iss"es
associated with the components. ;or e7ample,
a load tester sho"ld know what m"lti9way 5oins,
inde7es and spin co"nts are and what a%%ect
they ha,e on a database ser,er.
Protocol(s) "sed between the client and ser,er
s"ch as )--*>)-M, 2#?+, 6@AB4-, and
#+2M.
C. -he oad!"nner script lan&"a&e is AB6( +.
(t helps to know the + lan&"a&e, b"t the scripts
are &enerated and manip"lated by oad!"nner,
so there is "s"ally not need to directly edit the
code. -here is also a icon script ,iew which
completely hides the + code.
Communication. oad testin& is not a heads
down codin& e7ercise. <o" will work with many
parts o% an or&ani.ation to coordinate acti,ities,
sched"les and reso"rces. #aily interaction with
a ,ariety o% people re0"ires &ood oral and
written comm"nication skills as well as &ood
people skills. (% yo" pre%er to sit in a c"be by
yo"rsel%, yo" sho"ld stay in %"nctional testin& or
de,elopment.
Where can I get help?
Mercury Interactive Customer Support Site. Visit
Merc"ry (nteracti,e/s c"stomer s"pport site
Chttp=>>s"pport.merc"ryinteracti,e.comD %or
s"pport ho"rs, contact in%ormation, and other
important in%ormation abo"t c"stomer s"pport.
:se the site to s"bmit s"pport ser,ice re0"ests
on9line, and to access knowled&e base articles,
"ser disc"ssion %or"ms, patches, on9line
doc"mentation and the latest prod"ct
in%ormation. -his is a,ailable to only c"stomers.
Mercury Interactive Web Site. Visit Merc"ry
(nteracti,e at
Chttp=>>www.merc"ryinteracti,e.comD %or
in%ormation on new prod"cts, e,ents, a list o%
local distrib"tors, and more. -his is a,ailable to
the p"blic.
Mercury Interactive Phone Support. <o" can &et
phone s"pport between E AM and F *M *aci%ic
-ime at CGHHD -46-9)* or locally at C40GD G229
F400. -his is a,ailable to only c"stomers.
Applications
What protocols does LoadRunner support?
oad!"nner ships with s"pport %or the %ollowin&
protocols. 2ther protocols are a,ailable b"t are
not necessarily %"ll s"pported.
49?"siness
;-*
#A*
Web>Winsocket #"al *rotocol
*alm
62A*
Web C)--*>)-MD
Wireless
i9mode
VoiceIM
WA*
6treamin&
Media *layer CMM6D
!eal
Mailin& 6er,ices
(nternet Messa&in& C(MA*D
M6 47chan&e CMA*(D
*2*3
6M-*
4nterprise 1a,a ?eans
4nterprise 1a,a ?eans C41?D
!mi91a,a
#istrib"ted +omponents
+2M>#+2M
+orba91a,a
!mi91a,a
Middleware
1acada
-"7edo E
-"7edo H
4!*
?aan
2racle B+A
*a&e 2 o% 4
*eople6o%t 9 -"7edo
6iebel 9 #?2 +(
6iebel 9 2racle
6iebel 9 M66@
6A*
+lient>6er,er
#?2 +(
#omain Bame !esol"tion C#B6D
(n%ormi7
M6 6@ 6er,er
2#?+
2racle C29-ierD
6ybase +tib
6ybase #blib
Windows 6ockets
e&acy
-erminal 4m"lation C!-4D
+"stom
+ V"ser
1a,ascript V"ser
1a,a V"ser
V? 6cript V"ser
V? V"ser
What can I monitor with LoadRunner?
oad!"nner ships with s"pport %or the %ollowin&
components. 2ther monitors are a,ailable b"t
are not necessarily %"ll s"pported.
+lient9side Monitors
4nd9to9end transaction monitors 9 *ro,ide end9
"ser response times, hits per second,
transactions per second.
Virt"al :ser 6tat"s
:ser9de%ined #ata *oint
-ransaction !esponse -ime
-ransaction per 6econd C*assedD
-ransaction per 6econd C;ailedD
Web -ransaction breakdown $raphs
)its per 6econd
-hro"&hp"t
)--* !esponses per 6econd
*a&es #ownloaded per 6econd
6er,er Monitors
B->:B(I>in"7 monitors 9 *ro,ide hardware,
network and operatin& system per%ormance
metrics, s"ch as +*:, memory and network
thro"&hp"t.
B- ser,er reso"rces
:B(I > in"7 ser,er monitor
oad Appliances *er%ormance Monitors
Antara.net
Application #eployment 6ol"tions
+itri7 Meta;rame Ca,ailable only %or
oad!"nnerD
Betwork Monitors
Betwork delay monitor 9 *ro,ides a
breakdown o% the network se&ments
between client and ser,er, as well as
network delays.
6BM* monitor 9 *ro,ides per%ormance data
%or network de,ices s"ch as brid&es and
ro"ters.
Web 6er,er *er%ormance Monitors
Web ser,er monitors 9 *ro,ide per%ormance data
inside the Web ser,ers, s"ch as acti,e
connections, hits per second, etc.
Apache
Microso%t ((6
i*lanet CB46D
Web Application 6er,er *er%ormance Monitors
Web application ser,er monitor 9 *ro,ides
per%ormance data inside the Web application
ser,er, s"ch as connections per second, acti,e
database connections, etc.
?roadVision
Allaire +old;"sion
Microso%t Acti,e 6er,er *a&es
6il,er6tream
?4A Webo&ic C,ia 6BM*D
?4A Webo&ic C,ia 1MID
(?M Web6phere
i*lanet Application 6er,er
2racle JiA6 )--* 6er,er
Ariba
A-$ #ynamo
6treamin& Media *er%ormance Monitors
6treamin& speci%ic monitors %or meas"rin& the
end "ser 0"ality on the client side, and isolate
per%ormance bottlenecks on the ser,er9side.
Microso%t Windows Media 6er,er
!eal Betworks !eal6er,er
;irewall 6er,er !eso"rce Monitors
+heck*oint ;ireWall91
#atabase 6er,er !eso"rce Monitors
*a&e 3 o% 4
#atabase monitor 9 *ro,ides per%ormance data
inside the database, s"ch as acti,e database
connections, etc.
6@ 6er,er
2racle
#?2
6ybase
4!* *er%ormance Monitors
6A* !>3 Monitor
1a,a *er%ormance Monitors
-ower1
1*robe
1244 *er%ormance Monitor
Middleware *er%ormance Monitors
-"7edo 9 *ro,ides per%ormance data inside
a ?4A -"7edo application ser,er, s"ch as
c"rrent re0"ests in 0"e"e.
(?M Web6phere M@ CM@6eriesD Ca,ailable
only %or oad!"nnerD
(n addition to these monitors, oad!"nner also
s"pports "ser de%ined monitors which allows yo"
to easily inte&rate the res"lts %rom other
meas"rement tools with oad!"nner data
collection.
How many users can I emulate with
LoadRunner on a PC?
-his &reatly depends on the con%i&"ration o% the
*+ Cn"mber o% +*:s, +*: speed, memory and
operatin& systemD, the protocolCsD "sed, the si.e
and comple7ity o% the scriptCsD, the %re0"ency o%
e7ec"tion Citeration pacin& and think timesD and
the amo"nt o% lo&&in&.
How much memory is needed per user?
<o" can &et some appro7imation o% the memory
needs by lookin& at the 8! H.02 %ootprints.pd%8
%ile located on the oad!"nner disc"ssion &ro"p
at &ro"ps.yahoo.com>&ro"p>oad!"nner>%iles.
Product
Can I get a evaluation copy of LoadRunner?
Bo. Merc"ry does not ship e,al"ation copies o%
oad!"nner. <o" can contact Merc"ry or a
Merc"ry reseller to &et a demo at yo"r site or ,ia
Webe7.
What is the current shipping version of
LoadRunner?
H.E
What is the difference between LoadRunner
and stra Load!est?
Astra oad-est is another load test tool %rom
Merc"ry (nteracti,e b"ilt speci%ically %or testin&
web applications. !elati,e to oad!"nner it=
6"pports only )--* and )--*6 protocols.
)as less %"nctionality.
:ses the V?6cript scriptin& lan&"a&e.
)as a lar&er %ootprint CK F M?ytesD.
+osts less.
(s easier to learn.
(n that oad!"nner s"pports web applications
pl"s m"ch more, it is the pre%erred tool %or load
testin& web applications. -he e7ception is i% the
load testers are non9technical Cbad ideaD or the
load test pro5ect/s b"d&et is too limited to a%%ord
oad!"nner.
What is the relation between LoadRunner
and !opa"?
-opa. is Merc"ry (nteracti,e/s line o% prod"cts
and hosted ser,ices %or monitorin& applications
a%ter deployment to prod"ction. -he -opa.
prod"cts are b"ilt with oad!"nner technolo&y
and "se the same script recorder. 6cripts b"ilt
%or load testin& with oad!"nner can be "sed by
-opa. %or monitorin& witho"t modi%ication.
How much does LoadRunner cost?
-he main cost dri,ers %or a oad!"nner license
are the n"mber o% "sers to be sim"lated and
n"mber and type o% protocols "sed. <o" will
need to talk a sales representati,e to price o"t
the ,ario"s components.
-he total cost o% oad!"nner typically r"ns %rom
:6#LF0,000 to L100,000 or more.
Maintenance cost is 1GM o% the total list price.
-he maintenance incl"des new oad!"nner
releases, patches, phone s"pport and access to
the s"pport web site.
Where can I buy LoadRunner?
oad!"nner is sold by Merc"ry (nteracti,e and
by a"thori.ed resellers.
*a&e 4 o% 4