Endurance Testing

In this section, we are going to explore the following topics related to the particular testing technique known as endurance testing in detail.

• What is Endurance Testing?
• The Objective of Endurance Testing
• Attributes of Endurance Testing
• Process of Endurance Testing
• Endurance testing examples
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Endurance Testing.

What is Endurance Testing?

In Software testing, we have several different types of testing that are very effective while analysis any software or application.

Here, we are discussing another type of software testing, which is known as Endurance testing.

Endurance testing is testing where we test the system performance under certain load conditions over an extensive period.

Endurance testing is one of the significant parts of non-functional testing.

Generally, it is also known as Soak testing and longevity testing. Endurance testing is done at the last phase of the performance run cycle.

Note: Soak testing is used to test the behavior of an application in the environment, which is unsupportive for a long time. Usually, soak testing is a destructive type of testing; subsequently, we already know that the server or domain is not supportive.

In order to evaluate the response of a tested component under possible replicated situations for a specific load and time, we used to implement the endurance testing.

In simple words, we can say that the term Endurance is used to define the capacity of something to last, which is further call it as durability, ability, or Endurance.

The memory consumption is measured to fix potential failures and determine the performance quality throughout Endurance Testing.

For enhancing the consistent parameters of the software application, we can record the performances in the endurance testing.

To find out any memory leaks in the system, endurance testing is beneficial, and it also helps us test the response time of the system over a more extended period.

During the endurance testing, the testing is performed for a more extended period as per the given testing requirements, such as 15 hours, 90 hours, as compared to other type of testing such as load or stress testing.

And that makes endurance testing vary from Load Testing, which generally ends in a couple of hours.

The Objective of Endurance testing

• The primary objective of performing the endurance testing is to confirm that the application is efficient enough to handle the increased load without response time failure.
• The purpose of executing the endurance testing is to test the memory leaks.
• It is generally performed by either overloading the system or decreasing the specific system resources, and assessing the results.
• The implementation of endurance testing ensures that the system response time will continue the same or enhanced after an extended period.
• For identifying that how the system performs under constant usage.
• To accomplish the future loads, we need to understand how many additional resources like disk capacity, processor capacity, memory usage, or network bandwidth are essential.
• It governs the robustness and stability of the software product for the maximum time limit.
• It focuses on the consumption of memory.
• Before release any product in the market, we have to make sure that it will help in growing confidence in the software or system stability.

What to test in Endurance Testing?

During the execution of endurance testing, we will test the following aspects:

• Test Memory Leakage
• Test Response Time
• Test connection closure between the layer of the system
• Test database connection close successfully

Test Memory Leakage

In the implementation of endurance testing, checks are done to verify any memory leakage in the particular software or an application, which can cause failure of the system or operating system.

Test Response Time

We can also examine the test response time. And the application or system is tested for the response time of the system as the application becomes less operative as an output of the system's using endlessly.

Test connection closure between the layer of the system

During the endurance testing implementation, if the connection between the system's layers is not closed effectively, it may stall some or each modules of the system.

Test database connection close successfully

If the database connection is not closed successfully during the execution of endurance testing, we may get output in a manner of system crash.

Example of Endurance testing

Let us see an example of Endurance testing for our better understanding of the particular topic.

Here, we will see the example of the memory leak concept, but we will first understand what memory leak is?

Memory Leak: It is the most commonly faced issue in computer science. It is a breakdown to release objects that are no longer used because of a vulnerable programming code written by a developer.

In endurance testing, the test engineer will execute the system for a fixed amount of time by providing a specific quantity of load to test any memory leak.

Handling memory leak issues are completely varied in the usage of programming language.

Hence, we will see one real-life example of any bank.

Example:

• Suppose lockdown has happened and banks will not work for straight 7-8 days.
• Throughout the lockdown period, online banking activities will upsurge as compared to other standard business days.
• A system needs to be ready to handle such a load if there is upsurge in the number of users and the number of operations.

Endurance Testing Process

The process of endurance testing is completed into the following steps:

• Establish the test environment
• Creating the test plan
• Test Cycle Approximation
• Risk Analysis
• Test Schedule
• Test Execution
• Test cycle Closure

Let's discuss them one by one for our better understanding:

Step1: Establish the test environment

The first step of the endurance testing process is creating or establish the test environment. This step will find the necessity of software, hardware, operating system, and database to execute the endurance test.

The test environment should be prepared before the test execution, and it should be separated appropriately from the actual live system.

The creation of team is included to execute the endurance testing and handover the roles and responsibilities within the group.

Step2: Creation of Test Plan and Test Scenarios

After completing the first step of the endurance testing process, we will move to the next step, creating a test plan and test scenarios.

In this, the test cases should be designed, reviewed, and execution should be prepared based on the necessity of manual and automation testing or a combination of both.

The application's breakpoint should be decided, and it should be confirmed how much load would be put on the application throughout an Endurance test.

Step3: Test Cycle Approximation

After the completing both step1 and step2, we will move to the next step of endurance testing, Test Cycle Approximation.

The time of every test phase and how many test cycles are required are evaluated in the test cycle approximation step.

It provides an approximation of how much time is required to complete the testing phase. It should be evaluated based on the number of test engineer included and the necessity of number of test cycles.

Step4: Risk Analysis

The risk analysis is the most critical step in the endurance testing process. Here, we will prioritize the test cases based on the risk factor.

And below are some of the most commonly faced issues and risks by the test engineers during the endurance test.

• Is there any external interfering which is not yet delivered?
• Are there any other minor issues, which are not yet identified?
• Is the performance test will to continue reliable with time?

Step5: Test Schedule

In the next step of the endurance process, we will conclude the budget, deliverables, and timeframes for the further process.

Step6: Test Execution

Once the test schedule has been set, we will move to the next step that is test execution. In this, test cases are implemented as soon as the environment is ready, and if there are any issues recognized throughout this stage, they are also noted down.

And the developers will solved these issues and retesting is performed after they are fixed.

Step7: Test Cycle Closure

The last step of endurance testing is test cycle closure. As soon as the test cycle meets the testing process's exit criteria, it will be considered closed, and a report of recognized issues and their final status will be arranged.

Advantages of Endurance Testing

Some of the significant benefits of endurance testing are as discussed below:

• It helps in identifying bugs related to a memory leak.
• The system might face performance-related problems once they are executed for a more extended period.
• Endurance testing also helps us discover these issues and checks the software's robustness.
• During the endurance testing, the bugs and faults can be easily identified, which allows the development team and the client to enhance the infrastructure.
• The endurance testing assures the development team and the client that the system will implement efficiently for a more extended period without any maintenance, specifically on long weekends.
• The essential benefit of performing the endurance testing is reducing maintenance costs that can be higher if particular performance-related issues are not identified throughout the testing cycle.
• Like another non-functional testing type, such as performance testing, endurance testing also results in customer satisfaction.

Drawbacks of Endurance Testing

Though the execution of endurance testing is helpful for an enhancement of an application, there are still some drawbacks of endurance testing, which are discussed below:

• It is a bit costly as it needs the system to run endlessly during the test execution, where we will also involve the suitable infrastructure.
• Endurance testing is a time-consuming process.
• In order to execute the endurance testing, it requires appropriate planning, especially when it comes to determining the number of hours the test runs need to be completed.
• It is essential to keep the endurance testing environment distinct from other test environments because it might cause application failures or data loss.
• It is not possible to execute the Manual endurance testing; therefore, we will use the automation tool to run the testing.
• And the testing team should be experts in order to use the various automation tools.

Overview

In the above article on endurance testing, we have discussed the in-details process of endurance testing, an example of endurance testing, some essential benefits and drawbacks of performing the endurance testing.

Finally, we can say that Endurance Testing is non-functional testing and a subcategory of load testing using performance testing.

Endurance testing is performed to check the performance of the system under constant use. In terms of detecting the issues such as memory leaks, the execution of endurance testing is essential. These issues can be the reason for system failure, causing the loss of crucial data.

Endurance testing is making the application more robust and prepares it to sustain under continuous heavy loads. We should prevent performing endurance tests manually, as it is a very time-consuming process. That's why it is mainly automated.

Some of the most frequent tools used for Endurance test are Apache JMeter, LoadUI, LoadRunner, WebLoad, IBM Rational Performance Tester, etc.

The time of the Endurance test depends upon the business, project, and client requirements. It may last for 10-15 hours or few days or a month or sometimes even a year.

The endurance test process begins with establishing an isolated test environment, creating test plans, estimating test cycle duration, analyzing the risk, preparing the test schedule, executing the endurance test, and finally closing the test cycle.