In this guide, we will walk you through the process of comparing two or more LoadGen Load and Performance test runs using the LoadGen Analyzer. While LoadGen does not provide this functionality out of the box due to the large amounts of data involved in combining multiple test runs, we offer a tool called LoadGen-DBMerger to facilitate this process.
Understanding the Data Tables
In the architecture of LoadGen, there are three main types of messages that facilitate communication and data management:
- DUAF (Data User Action Framework): This category includes messages related to user actions within applications or transactions, such as start, stop, and fail events.
- PM (Performance Metrics): These messages contain performance data from the systems under test, including various performance counters.
- SMD (Session Messages Director): These messages have the highest priority and ensure the LoadGen Director receives critical session-related communications promptly. We will not use this data in analyzing a test or this document.
This structure allows LoadGen to efficiently manage and analyze the vast amounts of data generated during testing, ensuring high levels of performance and insight.
Each test run generates tables with a DateTime string appended to their names. For instance, DUAF202406141746438149 and PM202406141746438149 might be tables from one test run, and DUAF202406231746422999 and PM202406231746422999 might be from another.
Steps to Compare Test Runs
Step 1: Download the LoadGen-DBMerger Tool
The LoadGen-DBMerger tool helps merge multiple SQL tables into a new table with a datetime stamp. You can download the LoadGen-DBMerger tool here.
Step 2: Run the LoadGen-DBMerger Tool
You can run the LoadGen-DBMerger tool in interactive mode or command line mode.
Interactive Mode
- Launch the LoadGen-DBMerger tool.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to provide the necessary information:
- SQL Server name
- Database name
- Trusted connection (yes/no)
- SQL Server user name (if trusted is no)
- SQL Server password (if trusted is no)
- Tables to merge (comma-separated table names)
Command Line Mode
Run the LoadGen-DBMerger tool with the following command:
LoadGen_DBMerger.exe -silent -server <serverName> -database <databaseName> -trusted <yes/no> -user <userName> -password <password> -tables <comma-separated-table-names>
Options:
- -silent : Run the application in silent mode.
- -server : Specify the SQL Server name (use . for localhost).
- -database : Specify the database name.
- -trusted : Specify whether to use a trusted connection (yes/no).
- -user : Specify the SQL Server user name (required if trusted is no).
- -password : Specify the SQL Server password (required if trusted is no).
- -tables : Specify the tables to merge, comma-separated (e.g., DUAF202406141746438149,DUAF202406231746422999).
Step 3: Understand the Tool's Features
The LoadGen-DBMerger tool provides the following features:
- Merges multiple DUAF and PM tables into a new table.
- Creates a new table with a datetime stamp based on the current time.
- Creates a column with the name 'TestName' with values to 'Test 1', 'Test 2', etc.
- Creates a corresponding PM table with the same datetime stamp.
Step 4: Analyze the Merged Data
Once the tables are merged, you can use LoadGen Analyzer to compare the combined data. Follow these steps to start analyzing:
- Start the LoadGen Analyzer and connect to the merged data table (which has the timestamp of running the LoadGen-DBMerger tool to merge data tables).
- Create a custom chart.
- Open the Grouping section.
- Drag and drop the Grouping 'TestName' to the Grouping field.
This will allow you to create comparative charts and visualize the performance and transaction data across multiple test runs.