SilkPerformer 2008 is a load testing tool from Borland, originally from Segue. For a start, SilkPerformer are both performance testing tools and bears similarities with LoadRunner such as having a script-generating component (Vugen), a load orchestrating component (Controller) and an analyzing component (Analysis). Therefore, you may like to read about the product LoadRunner in "What's LoadRunner?" to get a head start of typical performance testing tools before proceeding further on this article. The SilkPerformer suite consists of the Workbench, Silk TrueLog and Silk Performance Explorer. The entire load test implementation is the same where the load generators have to be installed at the machines. For the sales talk, please refer to the official vendor here and its technical publication here for more information. In actual comparison, SilkPerfomer has a close resemblance of Performance Center too. For more information of Performance Center, you may want to refer to "What's Performance Center?" too.

Performance Center is an enterprise version of LoadRunner (LR) that allows concurrent runs in an organization by managing a pool of Controllers and Load generators. It is built on a web interface and suitable for organizations that require running multiple load test projects across the organization. You can find out more about the sales talk from the vendor here if you like. To put it simply, Performance Center can run multiple load test while LR can run a single load test.

Performance Center is designed to manage load tests in the concept of projects (or load test projects). And for each project, you are able to trace the number of runs pertaining to each individual project. Privileges such as Administrators, Consultants, Tester and Managers are also introduced in Performance Center. Administrator role maintains the Performance Center setup as a whole and has the rights to manage the resources, determine the maximum number of concurrent users the project can generate. While privileges for users such as Consultant, Tester or Manager can be configured depending on the organization requirements.

Bugnux is a complete Linux distribution that runs from a bootable CD and runs entirely in RAM. Bugnux contains an extensive set of Open Source software testing tools that can be used for functional and performance testing. Tools to test GUI applications and Firefox addons to aid in web application testing have been packaged. Virtually turn any PC into black-box testing device without installing any software. A set of stress and load testing tools that can be used to assist in testing performance of web applications are included.

Enables Direct Testing of Backend Systems Without Writing Java Code

SEATTLE, WA, May 27, 2008 – J9 Technologies Inc. today announced a new solution in its JDBC Protocol Add-in product line, enabling customers to extend the capabilities of HP LoadRunner, to stress and isolate problems in the backend data tier and deploy new applications with confidence. J9 is a member of the HP Quality Management Ecosystem, which provides alliance members the ability to develop test accelerators for HP Quality Center and HP Performance Center to support additional platforms, applications and environments.

The JDBC Protocol Add-in leverages HP LoadRunner technology, capturing all SQL traffic going from a Java application to the backend database and playing it back to directly exercise the data tier for high concurrency testing. This helps QA teams apply a measurable and repeatable load to the database and expose potential performance problems early in the development cycle. The auto-generation of database testing scripts replaces the need for writing complex Java code and frees up QA resources for other QA activities.