Defining test environments

Your performance environment is composed of many different components, such as operating system, middleware, and deployment topology. Plan the specifics of each component level to create a test environment.

About this task

A dedicated test environment, including both server and network components, produces the most reliable results. For example, bandwidth test numbers can be skewed by general traffic on the local area network. Select your monitoring tools to minimize effects on system performance.

Procedure

  1. Ensure that your test environment meets the following requirements during benchmark tests:
    • An overall architecture that matches the production environment, such as the same operating system and middleware platforms, similar hardware proportions, and the same number of Java™ virtual machines (JVM).
    • The same versions of all deployed software.
    • Comparable, sufficient data in the databases. For example, test results can vary significantly if a query runs on a test database of 1000 records when your production database contains 50,000 records.
    • Identical server configurations. In the course of testing, you might find it necessary to modify the test server configuration and rebuild and deploy new enterprise archive (EAR) files. Keep copies of the previous EAR files and document any changes that you make.
  2. Record the following configuration details for the servers in both the production and test environments:
    • Number of processors
    • Capacity or clock speed of processors
    • RAM capacity
    • Disk capacity
    • Free space available on disks
    • Network interface card (NIC) capacity
    • Network bandwidth

What to do next

Write your test cases, then run your tests. After the tests are completed, analyze the test results.



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