NeoLoad: “Great Taste, Less Filling”

David Alves:

“Great Taste, Less Filling”….OK, probably doesn’t make sense from the perspective of a load testing tool, but I got your attention. “Great Taste, Less Filling” is one of those catch phrases we all recognize, and while it may not apply directly to NeoLoad, the analogy of NeoLoad’s capabilities to high-end tools such as HP Loadrunner is a valid one. A more appropriate catch phrase might be “Great Capabilities, Less Cost”.

Now at GQP, we are very particular as to whom we partner with, and we only partner with what we believe our companies with best of breed tools. In addition, we are not a pure reselling company, we are a solution company. To that end, we see ourselves as a high tech handy-man that solves our customer’s problems, using a myriad of tools in our tool chest. Just as a handy-man would not carry two or three hammers in his tool chest or belt, we do not partner with companies whose solutions overlap. Each company must bring something unique to the table in helping us solve our customer’s problems. You might equate this to a handy-man carrying a hammer, a ball-peen hammer, and a sledge hammer.

It is for these reasons that we have added NeoLoad to our tool chest, as it complements our other offerings in this space: Loadrunner, SilkPerformer, and XLT (While we presently work with Loadrunner, we are not presently a HP partner. GQP will most likely become a HP Partner in 2011). So what does NeoLoad add to our arsenal that complements the other tools? Well, first I will give a quick synopsis, and then I will go into features and functions.

In synopsis, NeoLoad, while focused on technologies that utilize the HTTP protocol, provides a capability matrix as robust as the high-end tools; like Loadrunner, but does so at a mere fraction of the costs. In addition, it is extremely easy to use, with a short learning-curve.

Let’s first talk about the ease of use aspect of NeoLoad. NeoLoad has no scripting language. Now I will be the first to admit that typically I am not a big fan of GUI-based programming tools. While they tend to be easy to use, they usually sacrifice on functionality and flexibility. However, this is not the case with NeoLoad. It has the most low-level, detail oriented GUI-based programming capabilities I have ever seen in ANY load test tool on the market. I am certain that for 99% of what you need to do, you can most likely do it through the GUI. In addition to its robust GUI programming capabilities, you are able to write custom JavaScript code snippets for the 1% of things that you find you cannot do through the GUI or if you are an advanced user who feels the need to leverage this capability.

Now let’s talk about specific features and functionality of NeoLoad that competes with high-end load testing solutions.

Let’s start with supported technologies. NeoLoad supports testing of:

.NET and J2EE Web Platforms, AJAX, Adobe Flex and Air applications, Adobe RTMP, Silverlight, GWT, Java Serialization over HTTP, Soap-based Web Services, Oracle Forms applications, and SAP Web Apps. As mentioned before, if it happens over HTTP, NeoLoad can test it.

For test data management, NeoLoad allows you to enter values in a List or create self-incrementing counters via the GUI. Additionally, you can read data from a file, or query data using guided SQL for MySQL, Oracle, DB2, PostgreSQL, or Microsoft SQL Server. You may also manually query for data using JDBC.

When it comes to scripting, you record traffic (at the protocol level) from your target application (or you could manually enter requests/responses into the GUI). You are able to group requests together to create the concept of transactions and sub-transactions. You can input looping and conditional logic, spawn threads, randomize transactions, perform auto or manual correlation, manage thinktime and delays, and a whole lot more, without doing any programming. You can even setup rendezvous points like you do in Loadrunner, but again, without programming. Finally, if you need to program, you can do so in JavaScript. Together, these abilities allow you to do anything you would do in a high-level load test tool like Loadrunner, with great ease.

Again, when it comes to scenario (or Workload) modeling and runtime load generation capabilities, NeoLoad holds its own with the high-end tools. In fact, I would venture to say that NeoLoad gives you slightly more options here than does Loadrunner. Of course all the real-time monitoring and graphing capabilities that you would expect are there as well. Like most tools, NeoLoad uses agents to generate load and allows you to simulate different bandwidth speeds, as well as IP address spoofing, and much more.

When it comes to monitoring of back-end systems, this is where NeoLoad really shines compared to other typical, easy-to-use inexpensive solutions. NeoLoad supports monitoring of the following:

Monitoring of CPU, disk, memory, and network traffic for Windows, Linux, Solaris, IBM AIX, HP-UX. In addition, other UNIX based systems can be monitored via RSTAT. It provides monitoring of sessions, threads, database pools and more for these applications servers: .NET, JBoss, Tomcat, WebLogic, WebSphere, Oracle Application Server, Jonas, Adobe LiveCycle Data Services ES, GlassFish / SJAS / SGES and SAP NetWeaver. It also allows you to monitor database locks, query rates and many other database metrics for MS SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, DB2, and PostgreSQL. Finally, for web servers, NeoLoad can monitor IIS and Apache. It can also monitor any system that supports SNMP.

The other way in which NeoLoad competes with the high-end tools is in its analysis and reporting. Just like Loadrunner, NeoLoad allows you to correlate back-end monitored data with front-end user response metrics. You can easily pick metrics of your choice and drag-and-drop them into a graph, manually looking for data correlations, and generate any graph as a report. NeoLoad’s analysis and reporting capabilities are truly on par with the most useful aspects of the Analysis Module in Loadrunner.

The last piece of the puzzle is external and third-party application integration. NeoLoad integrates with CA APM solutions and dynaTrace, allowing you to correlate NeoLoad transactions/virtual users with specific back-end requests, down to the java method level of any targeted classes. NeoLoad also provides an Ant task for automatic load test execution and integration into your build processes.

So how much would you pay for all of this? Well, you can rent the base NeoLoad product for 50 virtual users, for one month for just over $2000.00. On the other end of the scale, you can have an UNLIMITED number of virtual users for just over $13,000.00 per month (find more on pricing here http://www.neotys.com/store/pricesrental.html). Of course some protocols cost a little extra, including monitoring modules and third-party integrations, but the costs are still a fraction of what the costs are for high-end tools that provide much more difficult to use, but similar capabilities. There are obviously certain test scenarios where these high-end tools have great value and advantages over NeoLoad, but for testing of applications over HTTP, NeoLoad is tough to beat.

Once again, GQP is a reseller of NeoLoad, offering the same prices you see online, or in some instances, offering discounted costs. Our goal is to be a one-stop shop for your test engineering needs. By January 2011, sometime shortly after the publishing of this newsletter, GQP will be a Certified Reseller of NeoLoad, indicating that our engineers are certified in NeoLoad and that we can provide the highest quality of consulting services in relation to NeoLoad. So, if you have any needs, please feel free to reach out to us (you can learn more about NeoLoad here http://www.neotys.com/).

So, in conclusion, with NeoLoad, you no longer have to choose between “Great Taste” or “Less Filling”, you can now have both.

Thanks, and please remember to drink….and load test responsibly!