CODEWITHSUNDEEP
node.jsperformance-testing
Dofs
Dofs

Reputation: 19217

Simulate website load on Node.JS

I am thinking of creating my own simple load test, where I can hit my website with multiple requests (like 100-1000 concurrent users) to see how it performs. I want to try Node.js out, but I don't know if it is the wrong technology for the job, since Node.js don't use threads? Can I with the async model that Node.js uses, simulate the many user requests, or would that be more appropiate to do in another language like Ruby/.NET/Python?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 2988

Answers (3)

Vanuan
Vanuan

Reputation: 33422

It's simple to create load tests with nodeload.

Upvotes: 0

Andres Jaan Tack
Andres Jaan Tack

Reputation: 23024

Node.js ought to be perfect for the task. I do this at work. The one crucial piece that you will have to change is the http socket pool. The following code snipped will disable pooling entirely, letting you starve your Node.js process if you want to.

var http = require('http');
var req = http.request(..., agent: false)

You can read about this more at the http.Agent documentation.

Your concern about threads is astute, but even if you hit that limit (Node is very good at keeping your resources efficient) the solution is simple: start multiple instances (processes) of your load test. As it is, you may have to use multiple machines entirely to correctly simulate load.

In any case, you will not win automatically by using Ruby or Python for this. Asynchronous programming is ideal for I/O and network-bound tasks, and Node excels at this. Similarly, while Ruby and Python have third-party asynchronous frameworks, they're by definition more obscure than the standard asynchronous framework given in Node.

Upvotes: 1

ebohlman
ebohlman

Reputation: 15003

Node can fire off pretty much as many requests as you want it to (though you may have to change the defaults for http:Agent). You're more likely to be limited by what your OS can do than by anything inherent in node (and of course such limitations will apply in any other language you use).

Upvotes: 1

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