Types of Performance Testing

Performance testing is used to verify that an application is able to perform under expected and peak load conditions, and that it can scale sufficiently to handle increased capacity. There are many kinds of Performance test which can be executed to gauge individual performance aspects of an application.

Performance Test Type: Capacity
Definition: Capacity Testing is usually done to provide actual data that can aid in capacity planning. Capacity planners can use this data to validate or enhance their models and/or predictions
Objective of Test is to determine: Is system capacity meeting business volume under both normal and peak load conditions?

Performance Test Type	Definition	Objective of Test is to determine:
Capacity	Capacity Testing is usually done to provide actual data that can aid in capacity planning. Capacity planners can use this data to validate or enhance their models and/or predictions	Is system capacity meeting business volume under both normal and peak load conditions?
Component	A component test is any performance test that targets an architectural component of the application. Commonly tested components include servers, databases, networks, firewalls, clients, and storage devices.	Is this component meeting expectations? Is this component reasonably well optimized? Is the observed performance issue caused by this component?
Endurance	Endurance testing is usually done to determine if the system can sustain the continuous expected load. During endurance tests, memory utilization is monitored to detect potential leaks	Will performance be consistent over time? Are there slowly growing problems that have not yet been detected? Is there external interference that was not accounted for?
Investigation	Investigation is an activity based on collecting information related to the speed, scalability, and/or stability characteristics of the product under test that may have value in determining or improving product quality. Investigation is frequently employed to prove or disprove hypotheses regarding the root cause of one or more observed performance issues.	Which way is performance trending over time? To what should I compare future tests?
Load	A load test is usually conducted to understand the behaviour of the system under a specific expected load	How many users can the application handle before undesirable behaviour occurs when the application is subjected to a particular workload? How much data can my database/file server handle? Are the network components adequate?
Smoke	A smoke test is the initial run of a performance test to see if your application can perform its operations under a normal load.	Is this build/configuration ready for additional performance testing? What type of performance testing should I conduct next? Does this build exhibit better or worse performance than the last one?
Spike	Spike testing is done by suddenly increasing the number of, or load generated by, users by a very large amount and observing the behaviour of the system. The goal is to determine whether performance will suffer, the system will fail, or it will be able to handle dramatic changes in load	What happens if the production load exceeds the anticipated peak load? What kinds of failures should we plan for? What indicators should we look for?
Stress	Stress testing is normally used to understand the upper limits of capacity within the system. This kind of test is done to determine the system’s robustness in terms of extreme load and helps application administrators to determine if the system will perform sufficiently if the current load goes well above the expected maximum.	What happens if the production load exceeds the anticipated load? What kinds of failures should we plan for? What indicators should we look for in order to intervene prior to failure?
Unit	In the context of performance testing, a unit test is any test that targets a module of code where that module is any logical subset of the entire existing code base of the application, with a focus on performance characteristics.	Is this segment of code reasonably efficient? Did I stay within my performance budgets? Is this code performing as anticipated under load?
Validation	A validation test compares the speed, scalability, and/or stability characteristics of the product under test against the expectations that have been set or presumed for that product.	Does the application meet the goals and requirements? Is this version faster or slower than the last one? Will I be in violation of my contract/Service Level Agreement (SLA) if I release?