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CloudTest components

A Cloudtest component is a dynamic web application that combines a Web Browser UI with distributed web services to support test creation, test grid deployment, test execution and real-time performance analytics. CloudTest Components include CloudTest Builder, CloudTest Main, CloudTest Load Server, CloudTest Results Server, CloudTest Database Server, and CloudTest Conductor. CloudTest Components also include the TouchTest Device Agent and the TouchTest Server for use on one Device.

  • CloudTest Analytics Dashboard. A display, which works in conjunction with the CloudTest Results Server to display interactive, real-time streaming analytic dashboards. The CloudTest Analytics Dashboard correlates multiple data streams from a distributed load test into a single test result synchronized and displayed on a synchronized timeline.

  • CloudTest Conductor. An installable multi-purpose software agent. It can be used to records http(s) message and/or browser actions for test creation, launch browser instances and plays UI/Ajax/Flex tests on client machines and monitor and collect performance metrics from CloudTest components and from the customer's infrastructure for inclusion in the analytics.

  • CloudTest Database Server. A persistent data store for Repository’s metadata and the Results Server’s data. Additional Database Servers may be deployed by Customer in the Cloud in order to optimize performance and bandwidth use.

  • CloudTest Load Server. A test engine that executes all or parts of a complex test composition. Multiple Load Servers can be deployed using the CloudTest Grid Wizard to each execute parts of a load test that can scale out virtual users (actual scale is dependent on available servers). Load Servers can be geographically distributed across multiple cloud services, if available, and single test compositions can run geographically.

  • CloudTest Main. A physical or virtual software appliance that contains the CloudTest Web Application, the CloudTest Repository, CloudTest Results Server and CloudTest Database Server. The CloudTest Repository stores and retrieves CloudTest Objects such as Test Compositions, Test Clips, Users, Targets, Scenario Recordings, and Cloud Account Credentials. The CloudTest Web Application includes CloudTest Builder, CloudTest Grid Wizard and CloudTest Analytics Dashboard.

  • CloudTest Grid Wizard. A fully automated capability to define, provision, detect and correct cloud vendor errors, health check and create cross-cloud vendor test server grids. Test Servers may come from public and private clouds and from manually provisioned test servers.

  • CloudTest Results Server. An in-memory, real-time analytic service (with persistence to disk) purpose-built to handle very large result sets and analytics from complex distributed load tests. A Results Server is included with CloudTest Main. Additional Results Servers are deployed by CloudTest Grid Wizard to work in concert with the Load Servers to analyze the real time streams of data as the test runs.

Terminology

  • Message. Messages are the HTTP requests sent to a web application or web service. Messages are represented visually in CloudTest as boxes in the icon view and URL values in the list view.

  • Script. CloudTest Scripts are written in JavaScript and allow you to add custom logic to a Test Clip. For example, a script that modifies the input data for a message based upon a set of status codes from the previous message response extracts data or validates responses.

  • Scope. The ability to set scope on objects in the repository that will define whether an item is private, public, or local. Scope determines whether the information about an item can be accessed from outside of the item. What information that may be depends upon the item.

  • Chain. A chain is an arbitrary grouping of messages, scripts, or checkpoints within the current Test Clip. This grouping may be used to control the timing of the chain members. Objects contained within a chain are executed sequentially by a single thread.

  • Page. A page is a representation of a given HTML page, or URL as represented by its main "HTML Document" and all the resources to which it refers. In CloudTest, a page can retrieve its resources statically (as recorded) or dynamically (as it exists at runtime of the test). Pages have additional load and cache settings as well as override settings at the page, clip, track, and composition level.

  • Test Clip. The building block of testing in CloudTest is the Test Clip. A Test Clip is a visual script that is composed of a series of timed or sequenced events (an event can be, for example, an HTTP request).

  • Composition. A Test Composition is a multi-track interface where test clips can be placed at different times and tracks to create complex testing scenarios. This interface is similar to music and movie digital creation tools. Test Compositions are created by dragging and dropping Test Clips directly onto a timeline or in a sequence based on when they should execute.

  • Target. A Target points to the application, service, or web site that you want to test, including its location (URL) and any authentication information necessary to successfully run a test.

  • Monitor Server. A Monitor Server defines which hardware resources will be monitored. Typical Monitor Servers are Linux/Windows/Mac, database, and application servers. SNMP devices are also Monitor Servers. A Monitor Server does not define the metrics to be captured; just ‘how’ they will be captured (IP Addresses, ports, authentication, etc.).

  • Monitor. A Monitor defines the resources for which you will capture data to be used in analytics. This data typically includes statistics on resource usage, processes and activity. Monitored data appears in the Dashboard on the same timeline as test metrics such as response times and error rates. Reference: Monitoring FAQ

  • Dashboard. A Dashboard is where you view and analyze your test results. CloudTest provides a wide variety of analytic widgets to fill your Dashboards. You can use one or more widgets to track your test in real time and capture results for post-test analysis.

  • Conductor. CloudTest Conductor is an agent that runs on a client machine. You will need to install a CloudTest Conductor on a machine for any one of the following purposes:

    • To record HTTP/S network traffic.
    • To monitor machine statistics (CPU usage, for example)

  • Virtual Users. Software programs or services that, when executed iteratively, generate traffic from their location to target servers or services, as would real users of these same servers or services.

  • Transaction. Transactions provide a means to logically group and capture metrics for one or more tasks in a process. Transactions permit discrete business processes to be grouped accordingly. For example, consider a multi-step checkout process from an ecommerce website. In a site that includes a shopping cart, a user logs into that site, adds an item to their cart, and checks out. Each of these steps can be thought of as a transaction, the performance of which can be measured as a transaction.

  • Group. Groups are user-specified groups of clip elements that behave as one unit but have no additional properties such as timing. They have the same timing as their containing Clip. Groups can include any item that is permitted in the containing Clip.

  • Burst. Anything in a burst container plays back multi-threaded. Because a burst plays asynchronously the order of operations is not guaranteed.

Updated almost 3 years ago