As the digital realm expands, the role of website performance has become paramount. This has led to the rise of performance testing as a crucial branch of software testing. This is because a website’s performance impacts areas like client experience, brand image, revenue, and other essential business dynamics.
Author Ian Molyneaux, in “The Art of Application Performance Testing“, famously declared, “Should your website perform poorly for an end-user, chances are their next click will take them to your-competition.com.”
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=> Access the Full Performance Testing Tutorial Series here
So, how do you evaluate a website’s performance? The process entails subjecting the website to a specific load, analyzing the outcome, implementing changes, and repeating the process. A performance testing tool that can help you establish a testing scenario and automatically simulate numerous virtual users can prove instrumental in achieving this.
What This Tutorial Will Cover:
A Practical Review Tutorial of SmartMeter.io
A diverse range of tools are at your disposal for conducting performance testing, each with their own distinct features and techniques. In this guide, our focus will be on one such tool – SmartMeter.io.
What is SmartMeter.io?
SmartMeter.io is a desktop tool built to cater to all load and performance testing needs.
It’s not unusual to find free tools to be basic or unwieldy, while professional tools can be challenging, outdated, and pricey. SmartMeter.io strives for equilibrium by revamping the widely accepted open-source standard JMeter and providing a wallet-friendly alternative.
The tool was born from the developers’ desire to overcome the limitations and inefficiencies they identified with JMeter. Their aim was a testing solution that was smarter, faster, and more user-friendly.
Next, let’s dive into the practical review tutorial.
Installation
SmartMeter.io functions well with Windows, Linux, and MacOS systems. You can download the tool from their website.
This tool is accessible for all main platforms, as shown in the image below:
Upon launching the tool initially, you will be asked to select a license file from your disk. If you don’t possess a license yet, you can explore the pricing options or access a free trial by clicking the Free evaluation button.
Once you’ve accomplished these steps, you’re prepared to move ahead.
Here’s an example of the License Screen, where you can secure a license or access a free trial:
Creating your first test
The three main stages of performance testing are:
- Test creation
- Running the test
- Generating a test report
Now, let’s delve into how we can accomplish these steps with SmartMeter.io.
Test Creation: Capturing a Test Scenario
Capturing a test scenario is the initial phase of test creation. This scenario outlines the actions (test steps) to be undertaken by virtual users. Actions can encompass visiting specific pages, logging in, placing orders, processing payments, and more.
A unique component called the Recorder is provided by SmartMeter.io simplifying the procedure of capturing a test scenario. Let’s delve into its utility.
To initiate the Recorder from the welcome screen, click the Start Recorder button.
The image below shows how to kick-start the Recorder from the welcome screen:
Upon opening the Create a new test prompt, you need to determine two values for a basic test recording: the Test name and the URL of the test site. You may leave all other configurations in their default states. To expose the main Recorder window, click the Start recording button.
The image below illustrates the initial configurations in the Recorder:
The Recorder interface is divided into two distinct parts. The left displays a list of transactions representing the test scenario steps along with corresponding HTTP requests. The right features an embedded browser window where new transactions can be recorded.
To record a new transaction, click on the plus button in the upper left corner and then perform the desired action in the embedded browser (e.g., clicking on the homepage). Keep recording transactions until you’ve covered all actions you want to include in your test scenario.
After recording all the transactions that you need, press the Save test button. Once asked if you’d like to open the recorded test in the editor, click Yes.
The image below shows an example of the main Recorder window depicting transactions and the browser:
Test creation: Modifying Scenario Parameters
In addition to the recorded test scenario, you can fine-tune other salient parameters via the Editor.
Through the Editor, you can specify:
- Desired concurrency
- Ramp-up time
- Ramp-up steps
- Hold target rate time
Desired concurrency defines the count of virtual users generated in the course of the test. Greater concurrency signifies an elevated load on the test system.
Ramp-up time dictates the amount of time it will take to reach full load of virtual users.
Ramp-up steps help you add virtual users in groups. You can specify the quantity of steps or groups. If left empty, virtual users will be added steadily.
Hold target rate time determines the period during which the test should be held after reaching the maximum number of generated virtual users.
To set these parameters, head to the Virtual Users segment in the left portion of the Editor window and adjust the values accordingly. The Editor also extends useful charts to visualize the test configurations.
The image below shows an example of the Editor window and basic configurations:
Running the Test
Upon completing the recording of the test scenario and adjusting the configurations, you can initiate the test. In SmartMeter.io, you can begin the test directly from the Editor by clicking on the red arrow symbol.
The image below depicts how to kick-start the test from the Editor:
In case you possess a saved test, you can also run it from the welcome screen by choosing it from the Test Script drop-down menu and clicking the Start test button.
The image below depicts how to kick-start the test from the welcome screen:
When the test is active, the Runner window emerges, and the graphs initiate populating with the arrival of the preliminary results.
The left segment of the Runner window showcases auxiliary metrics and listeners, which can be dragged and dropped into the chief section. The top right section displays real-time metrics such as test duration, warnings, errors, and the count of virtual users (threads).
The image underneath exemplifies a live test run in the Runner window:
Monitoring the results in real time permits decision-making during the test. If you observe a surge in errors, for instance, you might decide to halt the test before its completion. To stop the test, click the stop icon in the upper left corner.
An example of forcefully terminating a test run is shown below:
Generating a Test Report
Generating a test report is an essential facet of performance testing as it facilitates analysis of system performance and detection of potential choke points. At the end of the test, SmartMeter.io automatically produces an in-depth test report.
To view the test report, simply click the report symbol in the upper left corner.
Generating the test report:
The report encompasses a wide array of statistical values and illustrious charts, offering insights into metrics like:
- Number of hits per second
- Response times
- Response codes
- Virtual users (threads state)
- Transactions per second
- Bytes throughput
- And more…
The SmartMeter.io report also equips you with the Target tool, which facilitates effortless comparison between different metrics