Most Common Web App Performance Problems

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10The

Load Testing & Performance Monitoring

for Web & Mobile Applications

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Web application problemsare going to happen.

BestBuy, Black Friday 2014

The best way to address performance problems is to find and eliminate them before they affect users in the first place.

Use all the tools at your disposal–from

automated tools like profilers to best

programming practices like code reviews.

Problems often start with bad code, such as:

• Inefficient algorithms

• Memory leaks

• Application deadlocks

• Old versions of software

• Integrated legacy systems

Problem 1:

Poorly Written Code

An unoptimized database can destroy

a production application. Missing indexes

slow down the performance of SQL queries

which can drag down an entire site.

Use scripts and file statistics to

check for any inefficient queries.

Problem 2:

UnoptimizedDatabases

Data systems tend to degrade over time,

whether in a database, a cache, an object

store or a more sophisticated layered

storage solution.

Decide who is accountable for data

growth in your business. Do your

research and determine the

appropriate storage for your data

needs. Implement appropriate

technologies, monitoring and

maintenance procedures.

Problem 3:

Unmanaged Growth of Data

Anyone who has experienced major traffic

spikes after a marketing promotion or viral

video knows what can happen when you

aren’t properly prepared.

Set up an early warning system

through simulated user monitoring

systems like NeoSense. That way,

you’ll see when traffic is impacting

transactions before your users have

a bad experience.

Problem 4:

Traffic Spikes

Poor load distribution can cause slow

response times by incorrectly assigning

new site visitors to bogged-down servers

instead of others with cycles to spare.

Conduct regular and realistic load testing

with a product like NeoLoad to find any

infrastructural weaknesses at hand.

Problem 5:

Poor Load Distribution

While default configurations make it easy

to get new components up and running,

they’re not always appropriate for your web

applications in a live production

environment.

Every setting should be checked: review

thread counts, allocated memory and

permissions. Confirm that all configuration

parameters suit the demands placed on

your web applications and they just set

that way out of convenience.

Problem 6:

Default Configuration

DNS queries make up the majority of web

traffic. That’s why a DNS issue can cause

so much trouble. They prevent visitors from

accessing your site and result in errors,

404s and incorrect pathways. Likewise,

network connectivity and firewall efficiency

are crucial for access and productivity.

Use DNS monitoring safeguards to

pinpoint problems at hand. Also,

revise switches, check VLAN tags

and distribute tasks between

servers.

Problem 7:

DNS, Firewall and Network Connectivity

Who hasn’t experienced a stalled page

while waiting to load an ad from someone

else’s ad server?

Design your app to protect itself from

at least some of the effects of a

third-party service issue. Also, make

sure your company and the third-

party service provider are clear on

performance guarantees.

Problem 8:

Troublesome Third-Party Services

Sometimes the way virtual systems are

organized–hundreds of VMs on a single

physical server–can result in problems

where one bogged-down system affects all

the others.

Monitor all shared systems and

resources closely so that if one VM

is causing problems you can deal

with the side effects quickly.

Problem 9:

Shared Resources and Virtual Machines

A failure in one location may affect other

spots in ways you wouldn’t necessarily

think of. Problems compound upon

themselves making it hard to determine

what is really going on.

Train your team to find root causes

by backtracking through problems to

find the real culprit. You may even

want to think about mimicking

Netflix’s Chaos Monkey strategy

which introduces abnormal errors in

the network to push the boundaries

of resiliency and recovery.

Problem 10:

The Domino Effect

What can you do to proactively solve performance issues caused by these problems?

Load test regularly and monitor production performance continually.

Hear More Performance Testing Horror Stories in Tales From The ScriptAs the former manager of a load and performance team, Brad Stoner retells a number of haunting stories from his days in the field that carry insightful lessons learned about load and performance testing.

Watch this webinar and learn how to prevent these problems from coming back to haunt you!

Watch This Webinar