• WebLOAD
    • WebLOAD Solution
    • Deployment Options
    • Technologies supported
    • Free Trial
  • Solutions
    • WebLOAD vs LoadRunner
    • Load Testing
    • Performance Testing
    • WebLOAD for Healthcare
    • Higher Education
    • Continuous Integration (CI)
    • Mobile Load Testing
    • Cloud Load Testing
    • API Load Testing
    • Oracle Forms Load Testing
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Glossary
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Case Studies
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • Pricing
Menu
  • WebLOAD
    • WebLOAD Solution
    • Deployment Options
    • Technologies supported
    • Free Trial
  • Solutions
    • WebLOAD vs LoadRunner
    • Load Testing
    • Performance Testing
    • WebLOAD for Healthcare
    • Higher Education
    • Continuous Integration (CI)
    • Mobile Load Testing
    • Cloud Load Testing
    • API Load Testing
    • Oracle Forms Load Testing
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Glossary
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Case Studies
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • Pricing
Book a Demo
Get a free trial
Blog

Why Network Emulation is Needed in Website Load Testing

  • 12:56 pm
  • 08 Jun 2017
Capacity Testing
SLA
Definition
Load Testing
Performance Metrics
Response Time
User Experience

network emulation

It is most likely that your web performance test lab has a fast and stable network. Bandwidth is great and there’s no latency and packets loss is never an issue. But this, of course, isn’t a simulation of the real world. Do you know how your server will behave or when a network is congested and packets are dropped?

This is where network emulation comes into play, helping you ensure that your load tests match real-world scenarios as closely as possible, including mobile networks. While you may assume that network emulation is not needed since you can use cloud load generators, this is not the case, since you have very little, if any, control over bandwidth, packet losses, etc.

Including a network emulation product in your lab will also allow you to run functional tests under different network environments, in addition to performance testing.

The network emulation market contains many open source products, and paid products by vendors such as Ixia, HP Shunra, Riverbed Opnet, iTrinegy, etc. Most network emulation products are supplied as an appliances, but you can also find virtual machines or software-based solutions.

 

Network Emulation Load Testing Architecture

You can setup network emulation within your load test environment in several ways:

  • Place the network emulator in front of your application, within the test lab. Since the network emulator is connected to your server, every request to your application will be affected by the network conditions defined in the emulator.
  • Connect a network emulator to the client-side load generator machine. For example, the emulator may be connected to the a cloud load generator machine. Using this method you have greater flexibility to emulate the network conditions for each virtual client differently. For examples you may define a load test scenario with 500 virtual users from NY, where 50% of the users have a fast internet, 25% communicate through 3G, and 25% through a 4G network – all using the same Load Generator machine.

 

Network Emulation with WebLOAD

WebLOAD provides two options to emulate network conditions:

  • You can use WebLOAD together with any network emulation tool. All you need to do is configure the traffic so it goes through the network emulator.
  • WebLOAD also provides a full client-side network emulation. You can quickly select pre-defined network profiles, as well as define specific settings for bandwidth, packet loss, bandwidth, delays, etc.

 

WebLOAD session options

Related Posts

CBC Gets Ready For Big Events With WebLOAD

FIU Switches to WebLOAD, Leaving LoadRunner Behind for Superior Performance Testing

Georgia Tech Adopts RadView WebLOAD for Year-Round ERP and Portal Uptime



Get started with WebLOAD

Get a WebLOAD for 30 day free trial. No credit card required.

“WebLOAD Powers Peak Registration”

Webload Gives us the confidence that our Ellucian Software can operate as expected during peak demands of student registration

Steven Zuromski

VP Information Technology

“Great experience with Webload”

Webload excels in performance testing, offering a user-friendly interface and precise results. The technical support team is notably responsive, providing assistance and training

Priya Mirji

Senior Manager

“WebLOAD: Superior to LoadRunner”

As a long-time LoadRunner user, I’ve found Webload to be an exceptional alternative, delivering comparable performance insights at a lower cost and enhancing our product quality.

Paul Kanaris

Enterprise QA Architect

  • WebLOAD
    • WebLOAD Solution
    • Deployment Options
    • Technologies supported
    • Free Trial
  • Solutions
    • WebLOAD vs LoadRunner
    • Load Testing
    • Performance Testing
    • WebLOAD for Healthcare
    • Higher Education
    • Continuous Integration (CI)
    • Mobile Load Testing
    • Cloud Load Testing
    • API Load Testing
    • Oracle Forms Load Testing
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Glossary
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Case Studies
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • Pricing
  • WebLOAD
    • WebLOAD Solution
    • Deployment Options
    • Technologies supported
    • Free Trial
  • Solutions
    • WebLOAD vs LoadRunner
    • Load Testing
    • Performance Testing
    • WebLOAD for Healthcare
    • Higher Education
    • Continuous Integration (CI)
    • Mobile Load Testing
    • Cloud Load Testing
    • API Load Testing
    • Oracle Forms Load Testing
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Glossary
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Case Studies
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • Pricing
Free Trial
Book a Demo