HP Performance Center
HP ALM Performance Center Overview
HP ALM Performance Center is a global cross-enterprise performance testing tool which enables you to manage multiple, concurrent performance testing projects across different geographic locations without any need to travel between the locations. Performance Center administers all your internal performance testing needs. With Performance Center, you manage all aspects of large-scale performance testing projects, including resource allocation and scheduling, from a centralized location accessible through the Web. Performance Center helps streamline the testing process, reduce resource costs, and increase operating efficiency.
Performance Center generates load on your Web server or application using HP’s virtual user (Vuser) technology. Each Vuser follows a series of steps (for example, hyperlink steps, submit form steps, and so on) that you define in a Vuser script. You design Vuser scripts to emulate typical user activity in your application.
Vusers run on dedicated host machines. Each host machine runs many Vusers. When run
concurrently, the Vusers create the same load as tens of thousands of individual human users.While Vusers run, Performance Center collects server response time data.
Performance Center analysis tools, which you access both during and after the performance test,provide you with a clear and concise picture of your application’s performance under load.
Performance Center helps you pinpoint performance bottlenecks. It also allows you to determine the number of users your system can scale up to (this number is the “breaking point” after which your application’s performance starts to degrade). This information gives clues as to what can be done to increase your application’s load capacity.
In addition, the information provided by Performance Center helps you analyze how the load on your system affects the service level agreements (SLAs) or other performance thresholds that are important to your business.
Performance Center has the following system advantages:
- Performance Center’s step-by-step process helps guide you through the performance testing procedure.
- Performance Center enables remote testing by anybody, from anywhere, at any time,
eliminating the need to travel. - Performance Center enables multiple concurrent tests, replacing serial testing with parallel testing.
- Performance Center enables remote management from anywhere through a Web server.
- Performance Center is a complete system for managing performance tests, scripts, and resources. Furthermore, Performance Center centralizes the testing environment, with no duplication of testing labs, keeping costs down and minimizing time.
- Performance Center enables you to take advantage of the power of the Web for supporting services such as remote consulting, online support, and so on.
Venkat Matta 