HEY DEV-ZOPE, I gather several of you out there know about this but for those who don't: <I AM A DEVELOPER & HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS PRODUCT - NO FLAMES PLEASE> We have been using this product for the last week and it has made a tremendous difference in the quality of the software we are developing with ZOPE and other web tools. As I though about it, many out there would benefit knowing about this tool, as I didn't until recently. </I AM A DEVELOPER & HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS PRODUCT - NO FLAMES PLEASE> WEB HAMMER 2.1 - Product Review It simulates web requests, LOTS OF THEM. You can configure it to do the following: Flood any URL with 40 Simultaneous connections(Get,Post,Head Requests) One Page of Settings - Easy to Use. - See attached File. **BE CAREFUL YOUR SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR WILL FREAK OUT!!!!!** If you want to know when your server will crash, this will find that limit. We started using the application on several PERL and ZOPE apps in the office and we immediately found out where our apps were weak. In one case, one code change gave us 5X scalability on a simple script, we would have never known without the tool. We are also using it to test our form collection scripts and the database behind. Since you can do a POST we were validating middlewear and Database entries in no time, It is easy to check for errors with 1-2 Post try 40,000 --> You will find bugs. Try simulating 40,000 form submissions in 20 minutes and see where your database and server are. First time we ran the app it smoked everything (WebServer+Middlewear+Database(Oracle 8.0.5)). Nothing but Ashes!!! After some minor code changes we were handling the load fine. It costs some $85.00, but it lets you sleep at night knowing your system won't break, under the most strange & serious circumstances. Or it will tell you when you need to switch to bigger iron. You can get it at http://www.serverobjects.com/products.htm#WebHammer <http://www.serverobjects.com/products.htm#WebHammer> There is an evaluation copy that supports 2 threads per second, so you can try it for free. We have configured 2 Win boxes to simulate the loading on our servers. Each one does nothing but load test. If you are putting your reputation on the line, test to find you code's limits before your client does. It is $85 of insurance we would pay over and over. <ZOPE> We ran this tool against the Zope Server on some complex scripts, because of ZOPE's caching ability after the first couple of hits the server screamed! In our testing after ZOPE rendered the first page everything else seemed to come out of the cache. Zope also would thrash if the object: A. was not cached B. was a unique request C. involved a database connection. <INDIGO THRASH TEST> Thrash v. To cause a server to use memory and resources violently. If your system monitor goes 100%,2%,100%,15%,100% quickly you are Thrashing. As this is very OS dependent and very very code dependent. Server Hardware = Dell 410 DUAL P400 Raid0 2-9gb + 512RAM (PLENTY OF ZIP) TEST is similar code on identical Hardware 1. Linux-ZApache-ZOPE = "Min Thrash - No Death" --> It is very difficult to Kill. We ran 80 Threads across the box and killed the database but the middlewear and web server were still waiting for more requests. Quite a show for Linux/ZAP/ZOPE. Easy to code. 2. Linux-Apache-MODPERL = "Min Thrash - No Death" --> It is very very difficult to Kill. We ran 95 Threads across the box and killed the database but the middlewear and web server were still waiting for more requests. Quite a show for Linux/APACHE/MODPERL. Hard to code-requires experience. 3. NT-IIS-PERL= "MAX Thrash & Death" --> 40 Threads over 10 Minutes = IIS DEATH There is what looks to be a memory leak in IIS that causes a strange response in IIS4 sp3. It is similar to the server vomiting on itself. The memory requirement grows and then peaks and goes back to 10%, weird. We are working on tuning and some other strategies. This is really an IIS/NT problem it doesn't handle threads anywhere close to Linux/Apache. 4. NT-IIS-ZOPE= "MED Thrash & Death" --> 40 Threads over 20 Minutes = IIS DEATH SAME As PERL - There is what looks to be a memory leak in IIS that causes a strange response in IIS4 sp3. It is similar to the server vomiting on itself. The memory requirement grows and then peaks and goes back to 10%, weird. We are working on tuning and some other strategies. This is really an IIS/NT problem it doesn't handle threads anywhere close to Linux/Apache. We are working on Tuning IIS4 --> See http://www.microsoft.com/backstage/whitepaper.htm <http://www.microsoft.com/backstage/whitepaper.htm> ------------------------------------------------------------ </INDIGO THRASH TEST> <?>Is there a way to preload ZOPE's cache? Just a thought.</?> We also tested input from forms into a database from ZOPE, Although our results are specific to our implementation, typically the bottleneck is opening and closing the database connections. It caused allot of thrashing on both sides(middlewear & database). <DigCre>Hint, Hint ---> Any word on Aqueduct Integration for Zope?</DigCre> Overall the ZOPE process was as fast as any we have seen, ColdFusion and other middlewear packages. Considering the time we saved coding & configuration, Zope is worth its weight in gold. Zope also scales very well on very complex queries. <ZTABLES> Input from forms to ZTABLES is 40X-50X Faster(Tested!)than dealing with database connections. We are collecting the data into ZTABLES and then replicating it into Oracle during the wee hours. The design is faster than anything out there. ADD indexing or searching -->ZTABLES(Period!) Searching a database live in Zope takes a hit(!!!potentially every request is unique!!! = No Caching), but moving the data into the ZTABLES first makes the server sing. It is a performance boost that you have to see to believe. Why don't you guys charge for ZTABLES & AQUADUCT as components? I would not mind paying for it as I gather everyone else wouldn't. Considering the advantages are HUGE!!! </ZTABLES> </ZOPE> Just thought you ought to know! Theodore E. Patrick email: tpatrick@indigonetworks.com <mailto:tpatrick@indigonetworks.com> phone: 615-777-0070 ext.125 Indigo Networks - The Ultimate Choice In Who Sees You. http://www.indigonetworks.com <http://www.indigonetworks.com>
