Three Key Considerations For Load Testing When Migrating To The Cloud
Tags: load, testing
Published: 2023-06-07 13:55:43

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Enterprises across the globe are migrating to the Cloud in increasing numbers. Gartner reports that 51% of IT spending across application software, infrastructure software, business process services, and system infrastructure will shift from traditional solutions to the Cloud. This compares to 41% in 2022. 

This means that almost two-thirds (65.9%) of spending on application software will be directed toward Cloud technologies in 2025, up from 57.7% in 2022. The benefits of migrating to Cloud are numerous: scalability, flexibility, business continuity assurance and low operating costs. However, there is a catch.

Successful migration to the Cloud does not happen overnight. In fact, it presents a massive logistical challenge. Migration to the Cloud can lead to several issues, and a majority of migrations go over time or budget. Thus, while migrating to the Cloud, you need to ensure that the Cloud environment is configured properly to the size so that applications perform as intended once they relocate. This is where load testing comes in. 

**What Is Load Testing**?

Load testing is a crucial aspect of performance testing that helps assess an application's behavior under different load conditions, including normal usage and peak load scenarios. By conducting load tests, QA teams can gather valuable insights into response times, throughput rates, and resource utilization levels. Load testing aids in identifying the breaking point of an application. This comprehensive evaluation enables the QA team to optimize application's performance and ensure its stability even under demanding circumstances.

An on-premise application can be different from Cloud in terms of infrastructure, resources, and capabilities. Load testing needs to be performed to identify performance issues such as slow response times, crashes, or errors that can occur due to changes in the environment.   

In this blog, we’ll discuss why there is a need for performance testing during Cloud migration. We will examine its benefits and a use-case of a real Oracle Cloud migration.

**What is Cloud performance testing**?

Cloud performance testing is an aspect of software quality assurance. It is a measure of the performance and scalability of Cloud-based applications or services under simulated real-world user traffic and load conditions. While migrating from on-premise to the Cloud, you need to compare the performance benchmarks across the environments to ensure SLAs and user experience are met. Performance testing measures response times, verifies applications' responsiveness and ensures that they meet the required performance standards and service level agreements (SLAs) in a Cloud environment.

Exploring Different Types of Performance Tests on the Cloud
The two main components of performance testing are load testing and stress testing. 

Here is a list of different performance tests for applications on the Cloud:

**Load testing**: This is a type of performance testing that simulates user traffic and measures the behavior of a system under a specific load. The load condition can be simulated by the number of users, requests, or transactions. It is used to measure the performance of the application under normal and peak conditions.

**Stress testing**: This is a type of performance testing that is used to measure the performance of the applications under extreme conditions and beyond its capacity limits. The main aim of stress testing is to determine the system's ability to handle heavy traffic, data processing, and user activity, and identify how it behaves when pushed to its breaking point.

**Volume Testing**: It is all about testing the system's ability to handle large amounts of data.

**Scalability Testing**: Here, we test the system's ability to handle increased load by adding resources.

**Soak Testing**: It is about testing the system's ability to handle normal load over an extended period of time to identify performance degradation over time.

Since load testing and stress testing are the critical categories of performance testing, let’s dive deeper to find out the differences between them.

**Load Testing vs. Stress Testing**

These are the key differences between load and stress testing. Let’s discuss the essential considerations for load testing during a migration.

**Key Considerations for Load Testing When Migrating to the Cloud** 

1. **Your test plan should match the migration pattern**

The Cloud migration pattern may be different for different organizations. In an Oracle EBS to Oracle Cloud migration the pattern occurs in the following three ways: 

**Migration from EBS to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI**): Also known as “lift and shift” or “re-hosting at OCI”, this migration approach is perfect for organizations that want to use the same EBS applications in the Oracle Cloud with little to no disruptions, no training, and no adoption costs for business users. This is for organizations that do not feel the need to improve the functionality of EBS applications (through re-platforming or refactoring). This is often because the application is not disrupting the end-user experience or posing additional technical challenges to IT on the backend. Read our blog to know more about Oracle Cloud Readiness.

**Migration from EBS to Oracle Cloud Applications (SaaS**): Migrating to SaaS is another option. This depends on how much you want to invest and how much you are willing to disrupt your normal operations. This approach provides you the opportunity to streamline your existing business processes, eliminate the unnecessary customizations, and address existing bottlenecks.

**Hybrid Coexistence**: Hybrid EBS consists of on-premises + Oracle SaaS solutions. This is all about moving some application functionality of Oracle EBS out of the instance and into Cloud SaaS.

Since each migration approach is different, Oracle load testing methodologies will also vary accordingly. When you rehost an EBS application in OCI, load testing in Oracle  Cloud will focus more on the overall environment. 

‍2. **Address the myth of Cloud elasticity**

Undoubtedly, migration to Cloud offers high scalability, however, it doesn't mean that Cloud computing platforms are infinitely scalable and can handle any workload without performance issues. Although you get the ability to quickly provision and deprovision resources, there are still limitations based on the underlying infrastructure and the specific configuration of the Cloud environment. Thus, you need a detailed understanding of the provisioning environments and the conditions under which expansion and contraction are to take place. Load testing provides you this information and ensures that Cloud resources can handle expected workloads and meet performance requirements.

3. **Proceed with caution with serverless functions**

Serverless functions undoubtedly offer benefits such as scalability, cost savings, and flexibility. There are certain limitations, as well. Load testing measures as many aspects of application behavior as possible. It ensures that there is capacity in place to support the demand for optimal performance of applications in the Cloud.

**How is Cloud performance measured**?

There are several metrics that can measure Cloud performance. One such KPI is Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS). It measures the read and write speeds that are being achieved in the Cloud.

**How Does Opkey Help In Load Testing**?

Opkey is designed to facilitate load testing for DevOps, ensuring that development teams receive prompt and ongoing performance feedback. With Opkey, you can leverage scriptless tests that are already utilized for functional testing. Opkey supports both conventional protocol-level load testing methods and allows testers to conduct load tests at the browser level, without the need for extensive technical/ programming knowledge. By integrating load testing into their CI/CD pipelines, teams can initiate load testing on their application components as they evolve and continuously monitor performance impacts.

Opkey provides comprehensive support for native testing of packaged applications, covering various protocols, virtualization technologies, as well as web, mobile, microservices, and APIs.
Opkey seamlessly integrates with the entire technology stack, including legacy systems and the DevOps toolchain, ensuring smooth collaboration and compatibility across the organization's infrastructure and development processes.

Opkey is platform-agnostic and seamlessly integrates with all cloud development tools, providing flexibility and compatibility across various cloud environments and development workflows.
You can effortlessly create performance tests and capture results within minutes across different browsers. This feature enables you to quickly assess and analyze the performance of your application, saving valuable time and effort.

While migrating to Cloud, organizations need to focus on load testing to ensure that the Cloud instance can withstand anticipated use. You can do this by leveraging a Cloud-based load testing tool. You can analyze maximum performance of the Cloud by enabling the simulation of exaggerated load tests with a load testing tool.

**Summing up**

While migrating to Cloud, organizations need to focus on load testing to ensure that the Cloud instance can withstand anticipated use. You can do this by leveraging a Cloud-based load testing tool. You can analyze maximum performance of the Cloud by enabling the simulation of exaggerated load tests with a load testing tool.