Case Study

Client Overview:
This case study focuses on load testing for the Balfre e-commerce website. Balfre is a well-known online marketplace specializing in high-end Deep cleaning and Office Supply item organization. The purpose of this load testing was to ensure the website’s robustness and performance during an expected surge in traffic, specifically during a special promotional event.

Business Context
Balfre was gearing up for a special limited-time promotion that typically attracted a substantial influx of online shoppers. The marketing team projected a 600% increase in website traffic compared to regular daily loads. Ensuring the website’s stability and responsiveness under this anticipated load was critical to maintain the brand’s reputation and prevent any potential revenue loss.

Load Testing Objectives
The primary objectives of the load testing were as follows:

• Determine the maximum number of concurrent users the Balfre website can handle without performance degradation.
• Identify performance bottlenecks and areas for optimization.
• Ensure that the website remains highly responsive and available during peak traffic.

Load Testing Tools and Environment

Load Testing Tool: Apache JMeter
Testing Environment: Cloud-based servers hosted on AWS
Test Scenarios: Realistic user scenarios simulating various actions such as product browsing, searching, adding items to the cart, and completing the checkout process.

Testing Process Followed

• Baseline Testing: Initial baseline tests were conducted to understand the website’s performance under normal operating conditions.
• Scalability Testing: The load was gradually increased to simulate the expected peak traffic, with a focus on scaling up the number of concurrent users over time.
• Stress Testing: The system was intentionally pushed beyond the anticipated load limits to assess its behavior under extreme conditions.
• Monitoring and Analysis: Real-time monitoring of system resources, response times, error rates, and database performance was conducted throughout the load tests.

Key Findings

• Scalability: The Balfre website demonstrated the ability to handle up to 7,000 concurrent users without a significant increase in response times or error rates.
• Bottlenecks: Performance bottlenecks were identified during the checkout process, primarily related to database query performance. Optimization efforts were initiated to address this issue.
• Error Handling: The website exhibited graceful degradation, with error rates consistently staying below 1% even under extreme load.
• Resource Utilization: Server CPU and memory utilization were within acceptable limits, but the database server resources were strained during peak traffic.

Recommendations and Actions Taken

• Database Optimization: Database queries were optimized to enhance order processing efficiency during high loads.
• Auto-scaling: Auto-scaling mechanisms were implemented to add additional server instances automatically during traffic spikes.
• Content Delivery Network (CDN): A Content Delivery Network was integrated to distribute static content and reduce the server load.