Load Testing Vs Performance Testing Vs Stress Testing! Which one to consider?

Performance Testing vs. Load Testing vs. Stress Testing

Suppose you’ve got your hands in DevOps or have worked as a QA developer. In that case, you’d understand the importance of performance tests to make sure each features addition or code modifications.

(a) doesn’t break the system and

Well! (b) works.

But, before running the test, you’d require visiting through the different types of performance tests to comprehend the differences within various tests load tests and other types of tests and which test is suitable for which situation? We’re covering the same answers in this blog-

What is Performance Testing?

Performance testing is a broad term for ensuring how the system behaves and performs, its network, etc. It evaluates the performance components and identifies if everything is working smoothly; responsiveness, Resource usage, scalability, reliability, speed, and resource usage of your software and infrastructure.

Before running performance tests, determine your system’s business goals to evaluate if your system behaves satisfactorily or not according to your customers’ needs. Different performance tests provide additional data bypassing other parameters in different load scenarios. The test results will highlight the bottlenecks, errors, and areas of modifications that should be resolved before going further.

The Goals of Performance Testing include:

Run performance tests when you want to establish the benchmark behavior of the system. Or while inquiring about your website’s and app performance, which transitions with testing servers, databases, networks, etc. If you follow the waterfall methodology, test at least each time you release a version. If you’re shifting left and going agile, you should test continuously.

What is Load Testing?

Load tests evaluate how the system will function with simultaneous virtual users performing transactions over a certain period. Volume testing and Endurance testing are the other two names for the same, and they can be run by deploying suitable automation tools like WAPT or LoadRunner that aid the load testing. Endurance testing ensures that the system can handle the load for a sustained period, while Volume testing primarily focuses on databases.

The sole purpose of load testing is to check the system’s endurance for how long it can hold by constantly and steadily increasing the load on the system until it reaches the threshold limit.

The Goals of Load Testing Include:

To ensure the application can handle the load expected out of it by Determining the upper limits for the application’s fundamental components like hardware, database, network, storage, etc.

Identify the possible defects running in the applications regarding memory leaks or mismanagement of memory or buffer overflow. These will come out from load testing, including load balancing problems, bandwidth issues, the capacity of the existing system, etc.

What is Stress Testing?

Under stress testing, the system is put into overload or extreme load with existing resources to check its upper limits. These tests are carried out to break the system down to understand how it behaves when it recovers back into the normal state/usage. Negative testing is also a part of stress testing that removes components that aren’t performing voluntarily.

It ensures-

• If the KPIs are intact throughout the response time before the spike in load.
• Stress tests evaluate the memory leads, data corruption, security issues, etc.

Also known as fatigue testing, this testing should capture the stability of an application by testing it beyond its bandwidth capacity. Thus, it evaluates the behavior of an application beyond peak load and normal conditions.

The goals of Stress Testing includes-

• The aim is to evaluate the after-crash reports to determine the application’s future after failure.
• The priority is to guarantee the system doesn’t compromise on factors like security post-failure.

Conclusion- Highlighting everything you need-

• Performance testing is used to determine factors like network and computer speed.
• Performance tests, help in checking website servers, databases,
• Stress testing determines the strength and robustness of the system for unexpected conditions.
• Load testing simulates a real-world load on any application or website is used for the Client/Server, Web-based applications.