Artifact: Workload Specification |
This specification contains the testing goals and the workload details (including user types, user scenarios, rates of work, measurements to be made, and performance objectives) necessary to be successful.
Domains: Architecture
Purpose
To accurately define the loading conditions under which the Target Test Items must operate within their Target Configuration Environment. To define a realistic representative workload that allows performance risks to be accurately assessed.
Relationships
Roles | Responsible: Test Analyst | Modified By: Test Analyst Test Designer
Tasks | Input To: Evaluate Performance Test Run Performance Test Design Performance Test Establish Performance Test Goals | Output From: Design Performance Test Establish Performance Test Goals
Description
Main Description | The workload profiles composing this artifact represent candidate conditions to be simulated against the Target Test Items under one or more Test Environment Configurations. These are typically determined by analyzing anticipated or existing actor characteristics, user business statistics, and so on.
Brief Outline | 1. Introduction Identifies the purpose, background, and objectives of the performance testing within this project. 2. System Attributes and Variables Identifies the attributes and variables of the system that uniquely identify the workload for the system being modeled. 3. Actor and External Clients Definitions Identifies classes of external clients whose scenarios will need to be modeled to simulate or emulate loads on the system-under-test. Additionally, this section identifies the proportion to which any actor comprises the load for a performance test. 4. Actor Attributes Identifies the attributes and variables of each actor that uniquely identify the different characteristics of the external clients of the system. For each actor, identifies information such as human or non-human, data-feed rate, think time, transaction style, transaction complexity, and behavior patterns characterizing the variability in user interaction with the system. 5. Actor Work Profile Identifies the specific scenarios executed by an actor, and the percentage of time or proportion of effort spent by the actor executing the scenarios to accomplish their total business responsibilities. 6. Work Load Profile For a given profile, identifies the number of external clients being simulated or emulated during the test, including the number, type, and distribution of the transactions. A profile may be defined in terms of "peak load", "average load" and so on. 7. Measurements and Criteria Identifies the measurement and criteria to be used to evaluate successful achievement of the identified performance objectives. Measurements typically include response time limits or throughput capacity. 8. Remote Terminal Emulation Requirements Identifies the requirements and constraints necessary to be addressed in creating a Test Environment Configuration that is acceptable for implementing and executing the performance testing.
Illustrations
Reports | Workload Analysis
Examples | Workload Specification
Tailoring
Impact of not having | If the system under development has to address performance concerns, then not capturing the associated testing goals and workload details might lead to: Failure of the system to match its performance requirements. Lack of consistency in testing these requirements. Missing key user scenarios, types, profiles. Late discovery of performance related problems.
Reasons for not needing | Key artifact for most systems, especially those where system performance under load must be evaluated or where there are other significant quality risks associated with system operation under load. Not usually required for systems that will be deployed on a standalone target system.
Representation Options | The contents and format may require modification to meet the needs of internal or external standards, guidelines, and so on. Optionally, some aspects can be encapsulated within the Test Plan.
More Information
Checklists | Workload Specification
Concepts | Performance Testing
Guidelines | Performance Test Experiments Specifying Work Profiles and Performance Measurements Workload Model
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