Just a post ago i was wondering about testing my website’s performance under heavy load and did this using online tool from LoadImpact. However, the limitation of the free service at LoadImpact.COM is that you can only run a certain amount of tests per specific website a day. Thus i got a thought about good desktop tool, which would allow me for unlimited use.
My Twitter friend @portertech suggested on looking at Apache’s JMeter. Sure enough, the tool is complex and Apache’s website is full of “non-human” language describing it. Sean had also suggested on visiting FossCasts.COM to learn about the basic use of JMeter – and again thanks to him for that. Now i can run as many tests a day as i want. And FossCasts.COM – definitely worth adding to your favorites.
It has come to my attention, when a client of mine recently experienced unexpected traffic spike, that some industry standard solutions not always work or should i say not 100% reliable all the time. My client’s server setup was an-old-school Apache 2.2/mod_php WordPress blog installation. One day they posted some “hot-buzz” celebrity photos and server had become non-responsive under the traffic flow. Of course, at that time i was unaware about high-availability setups and never imagined scenarios like this one, when you get monthly volume of visitors during the 24 hour period.
For most of the people professional photography means expensive cameras and costly equipment with price tags somewhere around $1500.00. Not for me – i was lucky enough to be given