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Computer networks are like the camel’s back, and the data that flows through the network is like the proverbial straw that debilitated the Dromedary. In other words, if your network isn’t strong enough to handle the quantity of traffic that it might need to manage, it will overheat and probably eventually crash.
It isn’t that a huge quantity of data is going to suddenly appear and need to flow through the system that you manage, although that could theoretically happen. More likely it will be a gradual climb in activity, like the gradually rising tide.
• What Might Happen
Your system might be close to the thresholds that will make it begin to show signs of strain, and a sudden spike in traffic could send a shockwave throughout the entire enterprise. Work speed could seriously deteriorate, certain applications might fail to function, and in a worst-case scenario, your system could crash and leave you with an awfully big mess to clean up.
This will certainly result in a loss of productivity for your company, and will cost a great deal of money to resolve, so any means that you could possibly use to ensure that your system never reaches the point in which one big rush of data could topple the entire house of cards is certainly a good idea to investigate.
• Load Testing
Load testing software tools can be the best way to help you avoid work slowdowns on stoppages on your company’s network, because they allow you to test your network and see how it reacts under stress. The software tools allow you to simulate any level of traffic that you choose, and then you can see where in the system you are likely to develop bottlenecks or other problems that will restrict the flow of data.
Once you detect potential trouble areas, you can set about finding solutions for those problems before they occur and end up costing your company a lot of money, and you a lot of extra hours of work trying to straighten out the damage that has been done.
• Mobile App Testing
The same thing goes for mobile app testing software tools, which can help you see into the future in terms of the amount of mobile app traffic you might get at some point in the future, and then you see for yourself how your network will react when heavier than usual traffic suddenly appears on your system.
It’s always better to be prepared for the future, so that’s one of the best reasons of all to make sure that you’ve done an adequate amount of testing on your system; otherwise, you’re taking a big risk that at some point a large flow of traffic will suddenly appear like a tidal wave and leave a path of destruction in its wake. Don’t let that happen to you!
Image credit: twicepix
This is a guest post by Eric Blair. He writes about load testing tools and mobile app testing software provided by SOASTA Load Testing Solutions.
