ProtocolLoadPhase Object

Controls the workload as it climbs or descends through a series of steps. This pattern is useful for tests that benefit from having a ramp up phase to slowly or rapidly increase the load at the start of the test, and a ramp down phase to prevent the introduction of new load while permitting the previously applied load to complete without abrupt termination. Tests that benefit from using a stair pattern include capacity workload testing, such as measuring the maximum no-drop connections per second rate, or load testing to determine whether a device can sustain the load for significant periods of time.

Holds the amount of load steady. The flat pattern phase is often set to zero, and adds a delay phase into the workload. This allows time to prepare the network infrastructure components (servers, load balancers, caches) prior to load generation.

Introduces sudden increases (spikes) in a load for a relatively short period of time, after which the load decreases. Often, the sudden increase is repeated with larger increases. This pattern is useful for tests that run for a short period of time under loads that are heavier than the average. A burst pattern is typically used in robustness testing to test the ability of the device under test to recover after receiving spikes of load.

Defines an arbitrary curve that represents a neutral to high workload, then neutral to low, and back to neutral. When repeated, this pattern graphically resembles a wave-like curve. The curve of the sinusoid is based on the relationship between the Ramp Time and Steady Time variables. The nearer the sum of the Ramp Time and Steady Time gets to half of the Period value, the less curve appears in the sinusoid. For example, if the sum of the Ramp Time and Steady Time is equal to, or greater than, half of the Period value, the result will be a flat line instead of a sinusoid curve. To achieve a smooth sinusoid curve, set Ramp Time and Steady Time to one. This pattern is useful for tests that benefit from having waves of load. A sinusoid pattern is typically used in stress or long duration tests that are designed to repeatedly stress the device under test to its maximum, allow it to recover, and stress to the maximum repeatedly. For example, the sinusoid can be used to represent a base level of traffic that varies slowly over time. Another traffic pattern represented in a different client profile could represent traffic that only occurs at a certain time of day. When these patterns are combined, the sum might represent a typical traffic pattern for an entire day.

Shows the bounds of where values occur in the workload. This pattern is useful for tests that simulate erratic traffic, for example, traffic from a faulty router that occasionally routes traffic one way, and then fails and routes it another. The value of the random pattern is chosen at runtime, and the last repetition of the random pattern is always the same value as when the pattern started (the load height ends at the same height it began). The random pattern is affected by the Random Seed value.

The ending load height is the same as the beginning (similar to burst). There is no ramp to the height of a saw tooth, just a series of steady values, alternating between the pause height and the saw tooth height. Stair, Flat, Burst, Sinusoid, Random, Saw

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