In this article:
Determine load requirements and requirements for system hardware
Article number: KB000013
Related blocks:
Web access.
See below the tips on how to estimate whether the application part of the system suits for working in web applications.
You need to know:
Maximum users working at the same time.
Operating memory of the server.
Processor capacity.
Network interface capacity.
These are the key factors that directly affect performance of a web application.
Create a testbed that at the most corresponds with customer's target requirements and install the platform version based on which the application system works. Start the desktop application (one instance), and open your repository as many times as the number of the working users you are going to support at the same time. Next, in each repository open the objects (reports, express views), with which users are going to work (not all the objects but an average number). If all the objects have been successfully opened, your application system has passed this test. Otherwise it needs to be modified: reduce the amount of used resources.
This text rather accurately reproduces the situation on the server at stress period.
Install a web access server on your testbed and publish there a web application from your repository. One after another open all the objects, with which users are going to work. Check how much time it takes to open objects and execute basic operations and measure pages' size.
An application system can be used for work in web applications if average time of executing an operation on an unloaded server (one user) is not longer than 5 seconds and the size of a page does not exceed 200 kb. The objects that do not meet this requirement are to be optimized: speed up object processing (requests to the database, macros, and so on) and decrease page size (decrease the size of used dimensions and displayed data). Remember that if a report allows displaying a 1000 x 200 table, some user is sure to do it, so you need to take this into consideration.
Conduct load testing. For 10 or 20 minutes work with the maximum expected number of users at the same time. This test evaluates effects of stress loading for memory, processor and network interface during peak load periods. If you are satisfied with speed of the system in this test, one can conclude that this application system suits for working in web applications with the probability of 99%.
Consult the experts before you start developing application part of a web application. It is better to learn from mistakes of other people.
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