From Sage 500 to 1000Performance Testing myths exposed

Richard Bishop

From Sage 500 to 1000

Introduction

Trust IV & Richard Bishop

Project Background

8 myths of (non-functional) software testing

What we did…breaking myths

Conclusion

…………..Performance Testing myths exposed

Introduction

Trust IV• Founded in 2005• Testing consultancy, specialising in automated non-functional testing

Richard Bishop, Trust IV Ltd• IT consultant with 20 years experience• Specialising in Microsoft platforms and performance engineering / testing• HP specialist, UK leader of Vivit (HP software user group in UK)

Colleagues• Mixture of consultants and contract resources• Primarily HP LoadRunner specialists• On customer sites and working remotely• Skills in multiple test tools, platforms etc.

Who are we?

Non-Functional Testing

Non-functional, automated testing specialists

What on earth is NFT?

In a nutshell……….Usability, reliability and scalability.

Compatibility testingCompliance testingSecurity TestingBackup and Disaster Recovery TestingLoad TestingPerformance TestingScalability TestingStress Testing

What on earth is NFT?

usability

reliability

scalability

Project Background

Sage 500 to Sage 1000 migration Concerns re: numbers of concurrent users supported Required performance test to validate potential maximum user load Test to include a single “user journey”, simulating a requisition process Objective is to increase user load until system failure

University Hospital Birmingham

8 Myths

The vendor/developer has already tested this so we don't need to NFT not required if functional testing and UAT is OK Can / Can’t test in live environment Web applications are easy to test using low-cost / open source tools Anyone can test…… If a test fails “it must be the test tool / tester's fault” Testing is too expensive / time consuming If it's slow we can “throw kit at it”

(of non-functional software testing)

Myth 1Vendor/developer already tested - we don’t need to…

Myth 2NFT not required if functional testing and UAT is OK

Single user

Forms Server

DB Server

IIS servers

Load balancer

Myth 2NFT not required if functional testing and UAT is OK

Single user Multi user

Forms Server

DB Server

IIS servers

Load balancer

Forms Server

DB Server

IIS servers

Load balancer

Myth 2NFT not required if functional testing and UAT is OK

Single user Multi user

Forms Server

DB Server

IIS servers

Load balancer

Forms Server

DB Server

IIS servers

Load balancer

Myth 2NFT not required if functional testing and UAT is OK

Single user Multi user

Forms Server

DB Server

IIS servers

Load balancer

Forms Server

DB Server

IIS servers

Load balancer

Myth 2NFT not required if functional testing and UAT is OK

Single user Multi user

Forms Server

DB Server

IIS servers

Load balancer

Forms Server

DB Server

IIS servers

Load balancer

Myth 3You can/can’t test in a live environment

..…happen

results can be unreliable…..

Myth 3You can/can’t test in a live environment

You can…..

…..or by mistake….. prior to launch…..or with extremely careful planning

Myth 3Live environments.…. a cautionary tale

Myth 4Anyone can test an application.

Source: http://www.pixar.com/short_films/Theatrical-Shorts/Lifted

Myth 5

Web apps are easy to test using low-cost/no-cost tools

Myth 5

Web apps are easy to test using low-cost/no-cost tools

Myth 6If a test fails "it must be the test tool / tester's fault“

Myth 7Testing is too expensive / time consuming

“The money spent with Trust IV was the best money spent on the whole project”

Myth 8If it's slow we can "throw kit at it"

What we did….

Our standard test approach

POC

Scripting

Low vol. tests

Performance tests

Analysis

POC- January 2013

NOT “just” a web app

We had a “steroid ferret”

POC- January 2013

“Not just a web app“

Can use low cost / open source tools to test.

Not a “web only app”

POC- January 2013

“Not just a web app“

Can use low cost / open source tools to test.

Anyone can test

Needed specialist skills

Digging deeper…SAGE 1000 uses two communications protocols

Digging deeper…SAGE 1000 uses two communications protocols

Had to convert displayed “human readable” text to legacy formatsto allow SAGE 1000 to interpret our simulated user input…

Digging deeper…Complex test date requirements

Digging deeper…Correlation

135532676=

0x08141084=

0xA 0x08 0x14, 0x10, 0x84 0xD

What we did

Script simulating login and requisition 1000 user accounts, 30,000 products

BUT Application update in January, meant re-coding, added delay Initial tests showed problems with scalability…before requisition step fully scripted

Our plan…

• Problems @ 20 user load• Blank screens / HTTP 500 errors• Spent time proving test tool

Manual tests with volunteers & network traces to prove simulation equivalent to real users

Iterative testing began…

…modified test approach as we found defects

Initial tests

V. high thread count

> 2300 threads associated with the JCSP process

V. High context switches rate

> 17,000 switches / sec

Initial TestsKey observations

“System Idle” “Manual test” “Automated test”

CPU utilisation <2% <2% <6%

Available MBytes 30.1 GB 28.73 GB 27.3 GB

JCSP thread count 82 290 371

Total thread count 797 1932 2446

Context switches/sec 275 2000 2500

Processor queue length <1 <1 <1

High thread count and context switching are key issues

Response times > 20 seconds

Initial TestsUser experience

We made recommendations to improve performance

We asked Datel to check:•Heap size•Application pool size•Timeout values

Datel reconfigured application server:•Encrypted login credentials within the application•Altered TCP/IP timeout values and keep alives•Set lifetime session limit to 30 minutes•Registry changes

Next stepsReconfiguration & re-test

Re-tested, but….

Next StepsRe-test

Next steps - retestDespite load balancer problem

Response times consistent

No degradation over time

Re-testObservations

Further tests

1. 230 users1289 logins / hr

2. 250 users1383 logins / hr

3. 500 users2715 logins / hr

4. 500 users5412 logins / hr

Test stats

We noticed large numbers of HTTP 404 errors

Still missed some “asynchronous” traffic

Hadn’t tested complex application flows, due primarily to time constraints

Final report….some caveats

Conclusion

You probably need to test• Reduced response times for SAGE 1000 login

from > 20 seconds (and timeouts) to ≈ 3 s• Application worked, just not our particular configuration

Testing needn’t be expensive• Thanks to UHB for the endorsement

Don’t trust vendors (or developers) to test

What have we learned ?

Conclusion

You probably need to test• Reduced response times for SAGE 1000 login

from > 20 seconds (and timeouts) to ≈ 3 s• Application worked, just not our particular configuration

Testing needn’t be expensive• Thanks to UHB for the endorsement

Don’t trust vendors (or developers) to test

What have we learned ?

RULES AREN’T THERE TO BE BROKEN,

BUT BREAKING MYTHS IS OK……

richard.bishop@trustiv.co.uk@richardbishop @TrustIV

0844 870 0301

Q&A