SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

OPERATING SYSTEM

In order to run a load test you need at least two machines, one for running your web server, and another for running Web Performance Trainer. The operating system requirements listed below are for the machines running Web Performance Trainer only, which is independent of the web server and the operating system of the machine upon which the web server is running.

Web Performance Trainer consists of 2 parts, a controller and a load generating engine, which by default are run together. In order to run the controller you need to have a graphical user interface installed, which means the Solaris and Linux computers must have X installed. The load generating engine can be broken out and run on a separate machine, which doesn't require a user interface, and thus can be run on headless servers.

	OPERATING SYSTEM	VERSION
	Windows XP	-
	Windows NT	4.0 (SP6)
	Windows 2000	SP2
	Linux	Tested on RedHat 6.x & 7.x, Mandrake 7.2. Note that RedHat 7.1 and 7.2 require small patches.
	Solaris	2.6, 2.7, and 2.8. Several patches and font packages are required, although a fresh 2.8 install should include everything automatically.

WHY NO SUPPORT FOR WINDOWS 95/98/ME?

Generating traffic on a web server takes an operating system that is designed to run multiple simultaneous threads of execution. Desktop versions of Windows are designed for single user use, and don't give reliable performance or results in a demanding stress test.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

Simulating multiple virtual users/browsers hitting a web site is a CPU and memory intensive operation. The most common question is "What type of hardware do I need to test my website?" The answer depends on the type of tests you will run, but the minimum requirements for a realistic simulation are:

MEMORY REQUIREMENTS

By default Web Performance Trainer uses 64MB of memory, so your computer should have at least this much available. Because statistics are gathered on a per-URL basis, playing back tests with larger numbers of URLs requires larger amounts of memory.