IBM Rational Performance Tester for z/OS Unveiled

By Indu Britto

New Software Pinpoints Defects in Critical Web Applications.

At the IBM Rational Development Conference 2005 in Bangalore, India, IBM unveiled the new Rational Performance Tester for z/OS that uses innovative user emulation technology to leverage the power of the mainframe to simulate the activities of thousands of simultaneous users of critical business applications. IBM Rational Performance Tester for z/OS is the only load and performance testing solution, which enables the use of zSeries hardware as a load generation platform.

The new piece of software is mainly targeted at businesses that are predominantly web-based and are required to interact with customers, suppliers, and partners in real-time. For example, businesses that need to manage banking transactions, process credit card information and schedule airline reservations.

Application failure due to performance-related problems is preventable with pre-deployment performance testing. The key feature of the Rational Performance Tester for z/OS is its capability to leverage the power of the mainframe to validate application performance prior to deployment. According to IBM, “…the Rational Performance Tester for z/OS is the only product in the marketplace that allows the use of mainframes as load generation platform to apply stress to Web applications running on Windows, UNIX and mainframe systems.

IBM Rational Performance Tester for z/OS works in tandem with the IBM Rational Functional Tester for Terminal Based Applications to provide an advanced set of performance and functional testing tools for mainframe-based applications. IBM Rational Functional Tester can test an application’s pages for the accuracy of different activities, including online bill payment and account balance inquiries. Development teams also use this tool to generate tests that check potential application loopholes, such as account login validation, to help ensure that the application is secure.

“IBM’s software can anticipate usage patterns, helping businesses keep their Web sites secure and functioning properly. This helps customers quickly address their customer needs and market opportunities…” said Roger Oberg, VP of Marketing, IBM Rational.

Some of the features of the IBM Rational Performance Tester for z/OS include:

• Windows- and Linux-based user interfaces with z/OS-hosted test execution
• Multi-user performance testing for Web-based applications
• Visual editor delivering both high-level and detailed test views
• Flexible modeling and emulation of diverse user populations
• Low memory and processor footprint, enabling large multi-user tests with limited hardware resources
• Real-time reporting to enable immediate recognition of performance problems
• Automatic identification of and support for dynamic server responses
• Automated test data variation
• Dynamic variation of user load during the test
• Collection and visualization of server resource data
• Browser-like display of each Web page within a test
• Permits custom Java code insertion for flexible test customization