Test the Amount of Traffic Your Web Site Can Handle

Posted on July 13, 2010 at 5:00 am

One of a Webmaster’s worst nightmares is having a sudden influx of traffic that crashes the entire Web site. Any Web site can face issues like this (just ask AT&T), and instant popularity is often unpredictable.

A site called Load Impact predicts about how much traffic your Web site can handle, or at least, the site’s response time based on the number of users accessing it.

First, enter your Web site’s address in the box that says Load test your website and click Start Test.

On the next page, click Start Free Test under the Run Free Load Test option on the left. The paid option offers more features, like 5000 simulated users instead of just 50, but costs $9/day.

The test takes about 10 minutes to run from start to finish. While the test runs, a status bar at the top of the screen displays the progress. The current speed and total kB transferred are monitored.

Results are displayed on a graph below the progress bar. The graph shows the response time users would receive based on the number of other users on the site. The test only tests in increments of 10, that is, 10 simultaneous users, 20 simultaneous users, etc.

Our graph is a bit hard to interpret. Obviously, we have no way of knowing how many users were on the site at the exact moment of the test already, without logging into the site’s statistical information.

But, at its truest form, the graph basically says that the average Online-Tech-Tips.com users experiences about a 2 second response time, at least up to 50 users. The server obviously handles this kind of load quite well, with only millisecond differences towards the 50 user mark.

Since the test only monitors the impact of 50 simultaneous users, it is only a base prediction, subject to mathematical variance. Other test are available if you choose to register, including a bandwidth test.

Of course, the paid option offers more in depth data and testing options, but is a bit pricey. You do not need to be the site owner to run the test—any URL will work. Load Impact is available at LoadImpact.com.

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