1363.com

Baselining--Stress Testing--Performance Testing--Oh My--Part One--Environments

Baselining--Stress Testing--Performance Testing--OH MY--Part One--Environments. by Barry Koplowitz.

This article is available as a podcast on "The ROOT Cause" podcast series available at iTunes.

This is the first article of a series of two and lays out where you test--not the details of how. The second article is, "Baselining--Stress Testing--Performance Testing--Oh My--Part Two--Differences." It drills down in the goals and processes of the various types of testing strategies--not where they are done.

What testing environments does your organization maintain? DEV, QA, UAT, Parallel Production? There is great variation in the way different organizations use and design these environments. Some are more useful than others.

TESTING ENVIRONMENTS

DEV: This is just for developers and very seldom sees Application Profiling or Stress Testing. But, why not? Wouldn't it benefit developers to see how their code works across a network? It can be a single PC under someone's desk--running services and applications representing all the Tiers of the Production environment, or it can be quite robust.

QA: This is not really the best environment for clients, end-users or business users to do Acceptance Testing. Nevertheless, it is very common for it be used that way. This is where code that has been tested in DEV goes to be tested by other teams--vigorously. It most certainly should be Stress Tested and fully analyzed by Application Profiling at this point.

While there may be different levels of QA, this environment is often too small. In order to be most useful in its role of anticipating the applications performance in PROD, it needs to be large enough to simulate such an environment. Consider making it a SCALED down version of PROD. I mean that literally. If it were a copy of PROD, more or less to scale--its performance would be much more transferable to a PROD reality. It is unlikely to be the same size--but can it be one quarter the size? How about one tenth? The size is less important than having a consistent ratio--keeping it to scale so that metrics are convertible.

Another Best Practice in the QA environment is to use production data wherever possible. Since no clients ever use it (see UAT), and it mirrors the security offered by PROD (I hope), this may be done safely. Then the Databases have the same characteristics--keeping the outcome closer to reality.

UAT (User Acceptance Testing): Where clients, end users and business users can go to test functionality and acceptability of the code. Unfortunately, this role is too often seen performed in the QA environment. However, with a dedicated UAT Environment, you can present clean information in an environment that is not subject to the same "slings and arrows" that are thrown at QA. Here the Client can do what they want. The goal for them here is to test functionality, not load. However, if they want to test load, they can do so. Therefore, it is best to build this environment to scale as well. Nevertheless, the ratios can be such that the UAT environment is smaller than QA. What matters most is that it function as close to PROD as possible.

PARALLEL PRODUCTION: This is a very valuable subset environment of UAT. Here we set up a "ready for prime time" version. It runs on PROD hardware in PROD networks, but in UAT volumes or other forms of segregation. The goal is to see how close to reality you can get using as much production equipment and environment as possible--without breaking PROD. It's not as difficult or dangerous as it sounds when planned out well and can save MILLIONS of DOLLARS in lost time and productivity--not to mention careers.

Here is how this works. You have volumes and directories on your non-prod servers. Create new and comparable volumes and directories on the same PROD servers that you plan on using for the application and put the data there. It is now running on a the PROD box--but not completely in the PROD environment.

Yes--there are issues with DNS and other such things, but they can be worked out for a set of Test Users. Remember, this is going LIVE very soon. Don't you want to find out what will happen with a way to rollback easily? This is NOT an alternative to UAT or QA. It happens after the application has passed all of those tests. It is an alternative to going straight into PROD. If you have sufficient doubts about the application or configuration, so that a Parallel Production test seems scary--you shouldn't be planning on going live yet. This is an additional step--it does not replace anything. Well, it does replace going straight from UAT to PROD--but that is a good thing.

Barry Koplowitz founded Interpath Technologies Corporation in 1999. He was an instructor for Network General and NAI traveling around the USA teaching for Sniffer University and is a executive consultant to large enterprise environments in the area of Processes-Network/Application Analysis and Troubleshooting. He is the writer and host of The ROOT Cause podcast. http://www.interpathtech.com

MORE ARTICLES:

Benchmarking On Linux Reaches New Heights With Phoronix Test Suite Update
The Phoronix Test Suite simplifies the process for computer hardware and software companies to autonomously test their products on Linux and other platforms in an efficient and effective manner.

Beating a drug test is not very tough
There are lots of sources where you can find lots of information about how to beat your drug test. There are several many websites claiming that they can clear your drug test with 100 percent success and security. But the hundred dollar question is whether they are really trustworthy or not. It has been seen that among all these websites and information a huge percent of information and claims are incorrect and unreliable. But when it comes when it comes to incorrect information about beating a drug test, it can cause serious problems. If someone reads information about beating a drug test that is inaccurate and then decides to follow it, they could end up failing their drug test and losing their job. So it is very important you gather some ...

Pass a hair test with the surety to pass it clear
Corporate drug testing is such a drug test which is executed when a candidate is recruited in a company. The employer or the body of recruiting conducts this drug test to be assured that the particular person is free of the addiction. To pass a drug test is the ultimate requirement for getting the job. It is a hurdle to pass and sometimes a real hurdle for the persons who are really addicted to drug. Drug can be any kind of drug such as painkillers, cocaine, heroine; opium etc. maximum numbers of companies are for this drug test before recruiting employees. To pass a drug test is really needed for get a job in a reputed company.

Test Clear can help you to clear your drug test
Drug addiction can destroy your career and your life as well. There are many types of drug testing and alcohol testing. These types of test can conducted in the time of recruitment, issuing driving license and getting an admission in a college or school. If the test is found positive then that can bring you lots of trouble, which can cost your sleep of night. So it is very important to pass a drug test in order to have a problem free life and career as well. It is time to know all about passing a drug test if you are drug addicted.

How to Use Do-It-Yourself Toxic Mold Test Kits
VANCOUVER, CANADA. Many homeowners, landlords, renters, property managers, business owners, and employees want to know, and need to know, the precise identities of the various toxic mold species inhabiting their home, rental property, or place of work, according to Phillip Fry, Certified Mold Inspector and author of the mold book Do-It-Best-Yourself Mold Prevention, Inspection, Testing, and Remediation.

Test Automation Framework
Extensive software testing before the actual release is essential for any company to maintain its position among clients and partners. The software has to perform equally well in every platform and scenario and has to be a strategic part of the entire SDLC. Frequent number of revisions makes testing more sophisticated over time, and becomes a larger and larger proposition as time goes by. The solution to this lies in adopting Test Automation, which can be defined as executing a sequence of actions without human intervention. The purpose of the process is to eliminate man-made errors and provide faster results. Companies that opt for Test Automation pass the break-even point for labor cost after just 2 to 3 runs of automated test.