The adoption of cloud computing has significantly increased due to the digital transformation wave. Software development is one of the few industries fully embracing the cloud. The cloud gives software developers countless options, including access and collaborative development.
The cloud provides the necessary tools for testers and developers, enabling them to validate their work and release error-free solutions. A high-quality software solution must pass performance testing, which has become more flexible and scalable thanks to the cloud.
This guide will take you through performance testing in the cloud and the ideal strategy for the best outcomes.
What is Cloud Performance Testing?
It is essential to answer what performance testing is before moving forward. Cloud performance testing is an integral part of the quality assurance assessment. It helps assess if the application will function as expected in the cloud environment. The tests determine the bottlenecks within the system that hamper the performance. It will check how the application will perform during peak loads versus when the loads are lowered significantly.
In the cloud performance evaluation, different workloads test all parameters in the cloud environment. The cloud allows the software testing team to increase or reduce the workloads and scale the resources to meet the different live environment scenarios.
Top Benefits Of Cloud Performance Testing
Let’s look at the top benefits of testing the cloud application’s performance in different environments using various workloads.
- It is an easy-to-configure and hassle-free form of cloud testing. It is simple, too.
- Testing the performance under different workloads in different scenarios can cost a lot. However, with cloud app testing, companies can release a high-performance application within the budget.
- It is easy to scale up or down the total users and workload for the application in the cloud environment.
- Given the increasing number of remote working companies, cloud performance testing allows companies to test their performance from anywhere.
- The cloud solutions are integrated with standardizations, which results in high-quality results.
- The cloud-based performance testing allows the software development company to handle multiple clients and requests without compromising quality.
- You can easily add or delete the infrastructure to match your outcomes. You can employ the hardware needed to assess your application without implementing them.
Types of Cloud Performance Tests
Here are all the cloud performance tests you should conduct while assessing your app before release. Make sure you understand what performance testing is in each case.
- The Load Test: It is essential to check the application’s performance under various load conditions. You should test the application for normal versus peak performance by adding or deleting the users.
- Stress Test: If the application has been designed to handle multiple requests simultaneously, it is essential to check if it can handle the demand. The stress testing will check the impact of the increased requests on the application’s performance. The reports will determine the causes if it crashes and identify the solutions.
- Latency Test: It is essential to check how long the app takes to move data from one point within the app to the other. This will determine the seconds or minutes the user has to wait and whether it will impact the experience.
- Browser Test: This test checks if the system is compatible with the different browsers
- Failover Test: The test determines if the system has initiated the call for additional resources in case the load goes above the pre-determined number
- Capacity Test: This test will help determine the maximum traffic a system can handle at any given time.
- Soak Test: This test helps determine if the application can handle heavy loads for more time.
- Infrastructure Test: In this test, each part of the system is segregated and tested individually. This helps determine if the isolated segment can deliver the requisite performance.
Cloud Performance Testing Strategy
It is important to create a proper strategy to help with the ideal outcome of cloud performance testing.
Determine the Work Scope
Before you begin the actual testing process, knowing the scope of work is essential. What are you planning to cover during the test? Do you aim to increase the load to a specific amount to check the application’s performance?
Check the requirements of the testing, the business goals, and the ultimate performance objectives of the development team. What are some of the desired responses for the application?
During this point, you need to check the software and hardware configurations to ensure the perfect production environment for testing.
Create the Test Plans
Create the test cases based on your understanding of the performance testing goals and objectives. You will need to design the tests for a wide range of scenarios. You will need to determine the expected results for each scenario. At the same time, you need to define the metric and reporting foundations for each test scenario.
Design the Environment
The next part of your strategy involves creating a production-like environment for the application. You must implement the same hardware and software configurations as the software application. It is desired to identify the hardware devices and test environments for all use cases that you have designed. Make sure you have the apt monitoring tools to study your software application. This will help capture the bugs and report them in the later stage.
Execute the Tests
This is the most important part of your cloud performance test strategy. You should individually test each of the test cases that you have written. Analyze each data that you have received as part of the outcome.
Monitor and Fix Bugs
You should analyse the results, monitor the application, and fix the bugs at this stage. This is a continuous testing process. You should check what causes the performance errors. It is also a good idea to check if the application returns the same mistake or if it was a one-time issue before reporting them.
We saw performance testing and the different types of tests you should conduct. Cloud performance testing can enhance the user’s experience, ensure the app functions appropriately under heavy load, and can endure duress. The cloud offers a range of tools and promises an exquisite environment that enables proper performance testing.
Originally published at https://www.impactqa.com on February 23, 2023.
