Author: JT Smith
Boston, MA, Dec. 1, 2000 – CYRANO today announced the availability of the
new 0.9.3 version of OpenSTA (Open System Testing Architecture) which includes
a more efficient thread-scheduling algorithm that makes it possible to simulate
more virtual users with less computing resources. OpenSTA is a free and open
source software distribution that allows Project Managers, QA Managers, and
Development staff to perform load and stress testing of Web and other
mission-critical applications. The new software package can realistically
simulate thousands of virtual users and generate precise performance measurement
and analysis statistics. This information can be used to validate the ability
of the application infrastructure to handle expected loads while maintaining
desired response times. By identifying the causes of performance problems, the
tool also expedites the process of tuning and improving the infrastructure.
OpenSTA is licensed under GNU GPL, and the source code and installable can be
found on http://opensta.org.
“More and more companies are recognizing the importance of proving in
advance that their important business applications can deliver the response
time and availability that users have come to expect,” said Noelle Beaudin,
Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Development for CYRANO. “But this
process becomes more difficult as the applications begin to reach thousands
and tens of thousand of simultaneous users. Many companies have had problems
in dedicating the computing resources needed to simulate this large number of
users with existing load testing software. This has in some cases made it
impossible to simulate the specified number of users, with the result that
the company is unable to validate performance of the application under the
expected load.”
“The thread scheduling algorithm of OpenSTA Version 0.9.3 overcomes this
problem by taking advantage of the advanced threading capabilities of the
Windows NT platform. Because of this, OpenSTA helps you utilize existing
computing resources much more efficiently,” Beaudin continued. “This reduces
the risk of the CPU becoming a bottleneck and increases the load generating
potential of existing hardware. The result is that users of OpenSTA can run
a greater number of realistically simulated and timed virtual users with less
physical resources. In addition, the new version includes the ability to include
SNMP queries in the test statistical gathering process and combine this data in
the results analysis. These features combined with new capabilities to allow
automatic cookie updating in generated virtual user scripts, provide the user
with the most powerful and easiest to use version to date.”
“OpenSTA is now being used by CYRANO consultants and in organizations
worldwide,” Beaudin concluded. “We have gotten tremendous support from our
users and developers in the open source community. This also furthers our
belief in our original decision to give a powerful and useful tool to the
community so that testing could become an affordable option to small
businesses as well as a standard and included part of the development
lifecycle of any project.”
About OpenSTA
OpenSTA (Open System Testing Architecture) is a free and Open Source
distributed testing environment that enables you to perform realistic
HTTP/S heavy load or stress tests with performance measurement.
Resource utilization information from Web servers, application servers,
database servers and Operating Systems under test can be monitored, graphed
and analyzed along with the gathered Web response times. This allows testing
consultants or other technically proficient individuals
to performance test web-based applications so that they can reduce business
risk, perform capacity planning effectively and increase their return on investment.
Developer and user information on OpenSTA can be found at http://opensta.org. For commercial services related to OpenSTA, please visit
http://opensta.com.
About Cyrano
CYRANO is a public company listed on the EuroNM of the Paris
Bourse (Reuters: CYRA.LN, Sicovam 3922). Formed in 1996, CYRANO
is headquartered in Paris, France, with regional headquarters in
the UK and USA. CYRANO is one of the world leaders in the software
testing, monitoring and quality assurance marketplace. By providing
industry-leading software for web performance testing (OpenSTA), web
functional and regression testing and web application monitoring
(WebTester), database performance testing and analysis (Impact and
Workbench), database monitoring (Production), security testing
(e-secure), legacy understanding and testing (Wincap and Test) and
strategic consulting and education offerings, CYRANO is an end-to-end
quality ensurance provider to its customers, helping them maximize
their IT investments and ensure uninterrupted e-business. CYRANO
offers integrated solutions, service and support to companies that
want to minimize risk, benchmark Service Level Agreements and enable
Capacity Planning for their IT infrastructures.