Types of Performance Tests

To achieve the best from your performance tests, you can combine a few testing types that are available under the term “Performance” a good and effective combination will lead to better and more precise results.

Please note that I will list each type of test for this post with a concise description (but I promise to create a dedicated article for each one of them). 

Types of Performance tests

Spike Tests

Testing the software with sudden overloads, the main goal is to validate that the software can handle situations where there is a sudden jump in the user activity.

Reliability / Endurance / Soak Tests

Testing the system with different loads for an extended period aims to see that the system can handle sustained use.

Load Tests

Testing the software with an increasing set of data (Near to the software limitation), the main goal is to see that the software can handle such loads without any side effects (unexpected crashes, memory leaks, bottlenecks, etc.).

Scalability Tests

Testing the software performance while increasing the volume of users/environment and determining how the software will adjust to the growing scale.

Stress Tests

Testing the software under load that exceeds the system limitation, the main goal is to cause system failures,  analyze the crash, and determine how the software recover in case of such failure.

Fail-Over/fault-tolerance Tests

Testing that the software corresponds to failures while involving two or more physical nodes, we need to validate that in case of failure, the users can continue with their work, and the application data/services are moved to the available “Active” node.

Redundancy Tests

Testing the application redundancy mechanism in case of load, the main goal is to determine the effectiveness of the balancing system. 

Volume Tests

Testing the application with different amounts of data, the main goal here is to understand the limits of our application and demonstrate how a specific amount of data can affect the predefined requirements.