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Searching for an alternative to Eggplant Performance for you or your organization?  Whether you’re a developer, engineer, or performance tester, the LoadView platform offerst the flexibility to meet the testing demands for your websites, applications, and APIs.

Eggplant provides a robust ecosystem of performance testing and monitoring products. From functional testing to robotic process automation (RPA), their aim is to help companies optimize the customer experience. Their performance testing tool, Eggplant Performance, is one of a handful of platforms that can be utilized to ensure their websites and applications are performing as expected. However, compared to LoadView, there are a lot of requirements, prerequisites, and additional expertise necessary in order to use Eggplant Performance. We’ll dig into the difference of these platforms below and show you why LoadView should be at the top of your list.

LoadView: Real Browser-based Load Testing for Websites, Applications, and APIs

Today’s customers expect reliable websites and applications. If any of these services fail to load or provide the customer with the intended responses, they’ll quickly lose interest and leave to find a site that will work. Organizations know this and understand that performance testing is a critical component, not only in during the development lifecycle, but also when these services get pushed into production. Load testing provides the opportunity to validate speed, uncover bottlenecks, and ensure current infrastructure can support the scalability of these services. Additionally, LoadView can be used to test external, third-party services, which are seldom tested, but can indirectly affect the end user experience.

Many of the open-source load testing solutions on the market today can only run protocol-based user simulations, which is great for small, functional tests and determining a baseline, but not enough when you need to know the how the client-side response times are impacted. With the LoadView platform, you have the choice of running different user simulation types: HTTP/S and real browser-based tests. Depending on your specific testing needs, LoadView offers additional flexibility when it comes to defining the load type for your test.

• Load Step Curve

Generates loads with a pre-determined number of concurrent users for specified time durations. Useful when determining how your sites and applications manage increases in traffic.

• Goal-based Curve

Useful when you have already identified the limiting level of your required throughput and need to ensure that your performance goal is met.

• Dynamic Adjustable Curve

Adjust load during a test and see results in real-time, giving insight into how site or application performance changes as load levels fluctuate.

Scripting Made Easy with the EveryStep Web Recorder

The EveryStep Web Recorder gives users the ability to easily record and replay critical transactions and user interactions, by simply pointing, clicking, and navigating as a regular customer – all within a real browser! There are no separate downloads or add-ons required. Quickly and easily record test scripts of the complex or mission-critical actions your users make, such as clicks, menu selections, form entries and submission, shopping cart process, and text inputs. Additionally, the EveryStep Web Recorder can capture images and validate text to ensure images and text are rendering and displaying properly.

The EveryStep Web Recorder is compatible with over 40 desktop/mobile browsers and devices and supports many of the technologies and frameworks used to create dynamic applications.  Learn more about the EveryStep Web Recorder.  Some of the mobile devices supported include the following:

• iPhone
• iPod
• iPad
• Nexus
• Samsung Galaxy
• HTC
• Motorola
• Sony
• Amazon Kindle
• Microsoft Lumia
• Blackberry

These scripts can then be uploaded into the LoadView platform to automate the performance testing process for your websites, web application, web services, and APIs. Additionally, the scripts can also be uploaded into the Dotcom-Monitor monitoring platform for continuous monitoring and uptime checks in production.

Learn more about the EveryStep Web Recorder

Global Virtual User Distribution

Most importantly, LoadView doesn’t require you to mange any additional infrastructure or managing any third-party cloud accounts as other solutions do.  Just spin up test machines when you need them.  LoadView utilizes load injector servers located across 15+ locations around world (United States, Canada, APAC, South America, and Europe) to generate user loads. This allows you to distribute user load between geographic locations. For example, if a certain percentage of your customers visit from a few specific geographic locations, you can select those specific zones to test from.

LoadView Pricing 

LoadView has subscription-based plans, starting at $199 per month.  With our subscription-based plans, unused virtual user minutes and load injector hours roll over month-to-month as long as your plan stays active.  Alternatively, you can also select from a pay-as-you-go plan. Pricing is calculated and displayed before you begin new test, so you know exactly what you’re paying for.

If your specific needs require more than what is listed above, please contact us for Enterprise-level plans.

Don’t Go it Alone: LoadView Professional Services 

Let one of our performance engineers assist with any, or all, of your peformance testing needs.  You pick and choose which elements you need assistance with, and our performance engineers will coach you through them. Schedule a time to meet with a performance engineer today!

Eggplant Performance

Eggplant Performance is the performance and load testing solution from Eggplant and comprised of four tools: Eggplant Performance Studio, Test Controller, Injectors, and Analyzer. Eggplant Performance Studio allows users to create virtual user scripts, configure test data, and define the performance tests. The Test Controller executes and monitors test runs. Injectors generate load from software installed on laptops, desktops, or servers. And lastly, the Analyzer processes the test run results data and creates reports and charts from the raw data.

Eggplant also offers another product called Eggplant Performance for JMeter, which is a version of Eggplant Performance, but like the name implies, is intended specifically for JMeter testing. Eggplant Performance for JMeter is free and runs essentially the same as Eggplant Performance, however, there are differences in terminology and workflow when creating scripts and setting up tests with Eggplant Performance for JMeter. It’s important that users have familiarity and expertise with JMeter when using this tool. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on the standard Eggplant Performance platform.

We’ll explain in more detail how these tools work and some of the differences between them and the LoadView platform, however, one of the significant differences is that Eggplant Performance must be installed on local machine. It’s not web-based like LoadView. With LoadView, all you need is an Internet connect and a browser. Within the Eggplant Performance platform, the Eggplant Performance Studio, Test Controller, and Analyzer tools can only run on Windows.

Scripting with Eggplant Performance Studio

The Eggplant Performance Studio, like the EveryStep Web Recorder with LoadView, is where users begin creating and defining tests used for load testing. Their various recorders support testing websites, as well as common client-server technologies such as Java, .NET, and Citrix. For any protocols and technologies that are not supported out of the box, Eggplant Performance can provide customized virtual users. Similar to LoadView, the recorder captures network traffic to create a script and can also script user actions, such as visiting a website, or driving a user interface, by running scripts which describe these actions. The Eggplant Performance Studios has several different recorders that users can select, depending on the need or situation.

• Web Proxy Recorder. This recorder is the recorder used for capturing website interactions. All HTTP/S and WebSockets traffic is sent through the Web Proxy Recorder. The recording that is created by the recorder can then be used to develop a script to be executed by a Web Virtual User types. If you’re looking to record from a mobile or other external device, you must go through a couple of additional steps:

– Root certificate must be installed prior to recording HTTP/S traffic

– Mobile device needs to have the controller act as its proxy server over port 909

• Web Network Recorder. This recorder records HTTP traffic between a browser and a web server by analyzing the network traffic passing through a network card. Note that this recorder cannot decode HTTPS traffic. This recorder is beneficial in the following situations:

– You’re not able to set your application to utilize the Proxy Recorder

– The behavior of the protocol, when operating through a proxy, is different compared to connecting directly to the server

– Application is already accessed through a proxy

• Citrix Recorder. This is a recorder for Citrix applications. One important note is that users must access the Citrix StoreFront website to obtain connection details. The Citrix Recorder can be used to test the following:

– Response times, as experienced by users

– Understanding how your Citrix server infrastructure responds under load

• TCP/UDP Recorder. This recorder records TCP/IP and UDP traffic between the client-server by evaluating network traffic passed through the network card. This approach is useful for the following situation:

– Your system is an application/device that communicates as a client or server over a network, but doesn’t utilize HTTP

Eggplant Performance Studio also offers additional scripting methods beyond the standard options:

• Selenium Virtual User Scripts. This is a Firefox extension that provides an IDE for Selenium and gives users the ability to record and playback Selenium scripts, however, there are a couple of additional steps that users need to take:

– Users must launch the Firefox browser then download the latest Selenium IDE scripts

– Scripts are exported as Java JUnit 4 WebDriver scripts and then must be converted to an Eggplant Performance Selenium script.

• Importing HAR files. Eggplant Performance Studio supports the following programs:

– Charles

– Chrome DevTools

– Firebug NetExport

– Compuware APM Ajax Edition

– Fiddler

• Virtual User APIs. Users can create an empty script with one of the following Virtual User APIs to write code:

– Java API

– .NET/C# API

Eggplant Test Configuration and Execution

The Eggplant Performance Studio is also where users configure tests once the scripts are created. Custom workflows can be built around the scripts and added to the tests, with each test being made up of virtual user groups, and each virtual user group running its own workflow or script.

Once the test is configured, users can execute and monitor tests from the Test Controllers application. It’s worth noting that the Test Controller is a separate application, so users are required to download and run this application in order to run their tests. When configuring tests in LoadView, this is all done from within a single interface, no separate application needed.

Within the Test Controller application, Eggplant users have various options and configurations to choose from, including:

• Starting and stopping tests
• Viewing test data in real-time
• Creating and viewing user-defined metrics
• Accessing past test data
• Scheduling tests at a specific time

Users also have the option to manage where the virtual load originates. By default, the machine where Eggplant Performance is installed on acts as test controller, called a Static injector. However, if you don’t want to max out the resources on your own machine, users also have the option of using the Eggplant Cloud, which uses Eggplant’s own infrastructure to run tests, or utilizing a Public Cloud option through Amazon AC2 or Microsoft Azure. One of the benefits of using Eggplant’s infrastructure or the Public Cloud is that you don’t have to run through the process of setting up virtual machines, operating systems, or storage, making it great for running larger tests. However, if uses select the Public Cloud option, they must already have a separate AWS or Azure account. This is another key difference between Eggplant Performance and LoadView. With LoadView, everything is managed in the cloud for you, with no separate account setup required.

Gathering Data with Analyzer

Analyzer gathers all the test data, such as response times (mean, max, min, and percentiles), from the server/client, giving users the ability to decide whether the performance was within certain thresholds. By default, Analyzer is not turned on for users. Users have to add test data into Analyzer to begin creating graphs, charts, and tables. Users can select which types of information/metrics they want included in their test results or select from a list of default templates. Unlike functional tests where it’s a simple pass/fail, the data collected here allows users to compare data across different tests or the same test from different time periods to understand the individual components that affect website or application performance.

Eggplant Performance: Additional Integrations

Eggplant Performance integrates with other testing tools, such as Jenkins, for CI/CD environments. Eggplant also integrates with Dynatrace for ongoing application monitoring and offers an API that can be utilized to integrate with additional tools.

Eggplant Performance Free Trial

All features are available in the free version of Eggplant Performance. If you have multiple Eggplant Functional licenses, you can use those with the free edition at no additional cost.

• Web Protocols

Test up to 50 concurrent virtual users

• Citrix and Selenium

3 concurrent virtual users

Eggplant Performance License Model

Eggplant does not list any pricing on their website, you must contact their support team. Eggplant Performance is licensed simply by the number of virtual users required and sold on a term basis, which includes:

• The latest version of Eggplant Performance
• Support and maintenance
• Access to all new product releases
• Access to guides and training material

Eggplant Performance System Requirements

As mentioned earlier in the article, Eggplant Performance runs only on Windows machines. Below is a list of the various system requirements:

• Windows
  • Eggplant Performance
    • Only available for Windows Operating Systems
    • Vista/7/8.1/10, Server 2008/2012/2016 Requires 64-bit OS
  • Eggplant Performance Analyzer (Includes Studio, Controller, and Injector)

Only available for Windows Operating Systems

Windows Vista/7/8.1/10, Server 2008/2012/2016 Requires 64-bit OS (.exe)

Eggplant Performance Injector (Includes Studio, Controller, and Injector)

Windows Vista/7/8.1/10, Server 2008/2012/2016 Requires 64-bit OS (.msi)

Eggplant Performance OCR (Optical Character Recognition)

Available for Windows only (Optional component for C# Citrix VUs)

Requires 1GB of disk space

Windows Vista/7/8.1/10, Server 2008/2012/2016

Eggplant Performance: SAP Fiori Virtual User Type

Windows Vista/7/8.1/10, Server 2008/2012/2016

Linux

All versions supported

MacOS

Mac OS Sierra, OSX El Capitan, OSX Yosemite

iOS

iOS 10.0 and below