How do I check how many users can a server handle before going online?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
How do you do Load Testing and Capacity Planning for Web Sites

I'm moving a site from shared hosting to a VPS, which I have set up. I've made a change to my hosts file so that I see the site on the new server - it works ok as long as I'm the only user. But I want to make sure it doesn't die as soon the users from the old site start using the new server. Is there a tool for Windows to simulate excessive site use and estimate the number of users the server will be able to run seamlessly? Or there is some reason to test it on the server itself?

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 05 '11 at 15:51

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You can indeed use Load Impact (which has already been recommended) as it is possible to remap DNS entries from the script editor.

Just click Add new statement -> Client settings -> Remap DNS entry A to B.

answered Aug 05 '11 at 15:51

Zoda

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 05 '11 at 15:40

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You can use JMeter. You might as well test against the real server before real users start using it.

answered Aug 05 '11 at 15:40

HTTP500

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 05 '11 at 14:38

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There are a few services available, a quick Google search for 'stress test website' or 'load test website' will bring up most of them.

One I have used before with success is: http://loadimpact.com/

answered Aug 05 '11 at 14:38

dannymcc

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but it will use the old server. the dns is leading to the shared hosting – Tootsie Aug 05 '11 at 14:41
Sorry, completely missed that requirement! You should already have an IP address of the VPS even if your domain isn't pointing to it? – dannymcc Aug 05 '11 at 14:42
I do have an IP, but the server won't know which domain to serve and won't be able to stress test PHP scripts I want to test – Tootsie Aug 05 '11 at 14:44
What OS is the new VPS running? – dannymcc Aug 05 '11 at 14:45
CentOS 5.6 ......... – Tootsie Aug 05 '11 at 14:53
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You need to setup a testing/qa/uat domain (uat.livesite.com) as a suggestion and set the dns for this to point to the new vps. Then do your load testing on this. – AliGibbs Aug 05 '11 at 15:06

How do I check how many users can a server handle before going online?

3 Answers3