I've written a simple order application that consists of a 1 page order-form containing a set of input fields and a submit button. The order form is loaded by invoking a URL (with data being passed via POST):
http://localhost:8080/orderform.jsp
The input fields of the order-form are populated with the POST data and whilst the form is loading there some server side processing taking place e.g. retrieving data from a database. Once the page has loaded and the submit button is clicked further server side processing takes place to process the order and then a receipt page is displayed to the user.
I need a way to load test this simple process in order to ascertain the maximum throughput of the server.
Any tool suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
For this relatively easy way of load testing I would recommend JMeter.
While jmeter is ok, it's really weak in the analytics and parameterization area. If you want something free but enterprise-class, I'd recommend CloudTest Lite from SOASTA. It gives you the fastest way to create realistic scenario on the market, real-time analytics (!) and best of all, it's free.
You can download it and give it a try here: http://www.soasta.com/cloudtest/lite/
Fred
This would be a trivial test using our product, Web Performance Load Tester. You didn't mention a budget and our product is not free. However the free version will run 10 simultaneous users and if you reduce the think time, you can push a lot of transactions using the free version.
If you need something free, JMeter, Grinder and OpenSTA are popular options. You'll spend a lot more time learning the tools and setting up the tests.
I ve wrote one very simple tool cause i didn't want to use any browser based tool.
Biggest problem is i also wanted to stress test it locally, like hitting localhost.
Maybe you will also find it useful:
https://github.com/georgekosmidis/WebStressTool
Uses Apache HTTP server benchmarking tool v2.3.1757674