CloudPuncher is a very advanced load testing and performance analysis service. One of the main guiding principles we applied when developing the product was ease-of-use and realistic approach during automated load testing. Below is a list of the most important product features which set CloudPuncher apart.
- Scriptless Test Recording - CloudPuncher provides a recording tool facilitating creation of the tests. To create a recording, download and run the tool and simply navigate through your site as the users would when they visit it.
- Rich Client Support - CloudPuncher supports load testing of both traditional websites and online applications as well as Rich Internet Applications created with Adobe Flex, Flash, Microsoft Silverlight and AJAX technologies.
- Test Values Randomization - CloudPuncher executes load tests by replaying the recorded workflows in the configured number of virtual clients. If the workflow is not changed, any number of the virtual clients will execute the same requests as they appear in the recorded form. Test Value Randomization provides a simple, but effective way to change the data used by the virtual clients. As a result, it is possible to configure a test so no two requests are going to be the same thus making the test more realistic.
- Monitoring - CloudPuncher Monitoring provides an inside view of your server-side infrastructure during a load tests. The monitors can instrument operating system, web servers, application servers, databases or any custom component. The data collected by the monitors will be aggregated and provided for user analysis in correlation with the client-side performance information.
- Multiple Workflow Support - A workflow is a path a user takes when navigating through a web application. Load tests executed by CloudPuncher can be easily configured to allocate different numbers of virtual users per recorded workflows. This results in more realistic load testing as the server will not be experiencing the same sequence of requests.
- Multiple Browser Support - When CloudPuncher executes a load test, the allocated virtual users can impersonate different browser types.
- Custom Client Allocation - CloudPuncher provides an easy-to-use and a very intutive user interface for configuring how the virtual users to be allocated during a load test. There are three policies available: user count ramp-up, high and low user intervals and completly custom, user-defined policy.
- Unlimited Virtual Users - CloudPuncher, as the name suggests, runs in the cloud - it is entirely based on a cloud computing infrastructure. As a result, the service can tap into the resources available in the cloud to scale up the size of the executed tests to enable extremely large number of virtual users.
- Multiple Geographic Locations - Realistic load tests should generate client-side traffic from desperate geographic sources - very similar to the real traffic your website or online application will get. The servers allocated by CloudPuncher to generate client-side traffic can be started around the world. Additionally, the user interface provided by the product enables configuration of the traffic distribution between geographic regions.
