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Increasing Load in Performance Testing

publish date: 1969/12/31 00:00:00 UTC

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During performance testing, load is typically increased incrementally. What is observed as load increases beyond the system's capacity?

Response times improve as the system adapts to higher loads

The system automatically redistributes load to avoid degradation

The system performs at a constant level regardless of load increase

System performance degrades gracefully and then completely fails at some point

Correct Answer

System performance degrades gracefully and then completely fails at some point

Explanation

As load increases during performance testing, the system typically shows graceful degradation - performance declines gradually. Beyond a critical threshold, the system fails completely. Performance testing is often combined with stress testing to observe both the degradation pattern and the failure point. Understanding the failure mode is important for operational planning.

Reference

Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 10th edition

Quizzes you can take where this question appears

Release Testing - Performance and Stress Testing