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