it_user470436 - PeerSpot reviewer
Monitoring Systems and Performance Engineer at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
It gives me more flexibility into writing my own code.

What is most valuable?

  • The custom scripting that it allows me to carry out sections and find my own variables in LoadRunner.
  • I can use True Client, which is also an HP product, but LoadRunner gives me more flexibility in writing my own code.

How has it helped my organization?

We use LoadRunner to script our applications and then run those as synthetic monitoring from BPM. So the BPM are not only proactive if any of our solutions or if any of our applications are down, but also gives us features like the screen capture editor, such as what are we seeing on the webpage while we are seeing on the application. So that kind of synthetic monitoring. We have three data centers, and we have BPM all through the data centers, and isolating and troubleshooting through a data center is helpful with BPM, and LoadRunner is indirectly helping with that.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We don't use it for performance testing so scalability is artificial for LoadRunner for us.

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How are customer service and support?

I don't remember the last time we reached out to tech support.

What other advice do I have?

I'm really happy with what they’re giving me for what I do, but because I don't do performance monitoring or performance testing using LoadRunner, I'm not completely aware of everything else, but for what I do it's a great tool for me.

Do a POC with your own environment and don't rely on the list of capabilities that a solution just gives you doing a demo in your environment. That's what is the key thing for you to decide on what is the solution that you want.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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PeerSpot user
Performance Tester/QA at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Overall LoadRunner is a good tool to use, but it’s quite expensive and complex to script at times.

What is most valuable?

Available protocols

What needs improvement?

Scripting should be simpler, it becomes very complex many times.

For how long have I used the solution?

3 years

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Yes

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service: 7 out of 10Technical Support: 5 out of 10

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No, but I have evaluated many other solutions.

How was the initial setup?

Not very long.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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April 2024
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it_user68019 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Development at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
What’s new in LoadRunner 11.52 ?

On 12th June at HP Discover, I attended one of lecture sessions led by Shane Evans and Silvia Siquiera. During the presentation, they introduced the new features of LoadRunner 11.52. They started the presentation by introducing the new features that came in LoadRunner 11.50 (last year) and then highlighted the features that had been added since then.

Key new features:

  • Improved application performance (particularly VuGen startup and Analysis).
  • Integration with HP Live network. (HP Live network connects partners customers etc.)
  • Replay summary report displays detailed statistics.
  • Improved run time settings interface.
  • Can now configure round robin ramp up across load generators.
  • Integration with Visual studio and eclipse for agile CI/CD.
  • Support for Junit, nUnit and Selenium in LR scenarios.
  • LR scenarios as part of unit testing.
  • Can add performance tests as build steps in Jenkins.
  • VTS 2 is a big feature.
  • Mobile traffic recording apps for Android.*
  • New, improved proxy recording feature.
  • Shunra network virtualisation enhancements, a single load generator can now simulate different network types simultaneously e.g. some users on 3G, others on DSL etc. this removes the requirement to have a load generator for each “network type”.
  • Additional support for Linux load generators (different Linux versions).
    (This alone could be a reason to migrate to 11.52, Linux load generators can significantly reduce license costs for your test equipment).

*Whilst the new mobile recording engine is useful, I can’t help but feel that HP has scored an “own goal” in marketing terms. A number of their competitors are making lots of noise about their ability to test mobile applications and this announcement implies that HP are only just getting their act together on mobile testing. HP has been able to test mobile (and many other) applications via a proxy recorder for as long as I can remember and I’ve been using LoadRunner since 1999. This is new proxy recording engine undoubtedly makes scripting easier but it isn’t their first foray into mobile testing and their competitors are disingenuous if they try to make that claim.

Future trends
64-bit VuGen
One customer asked about whether HP had any plans for 64-bit VuGen or Load Generators. Shane Evans said that they didn’t perceive particular demand for this especially since load generators could each spawn multiple 2GB processes for load generation but that they would consider this if there was sufficient customer demand.

This question prompted a few others and one customer asked whether dcripting languages other than C were being considered. Shane said that JavaScript was being considered as a possible scripting language. This could pave the way towards using NoJS as a test engine.

Network simulation
The discussion then moved to network simulation and Shane asked the room whether people were using network simulation tools like Shunra or WANEM as part of their tests. Only 2 people in an audience of approximately 90 were using network simulation tools.

Diagnostics tools
Only one customer was using HP diagnostics and two or three others were using Dynatrace or other diagnostics/profiling tools like Wily Introscope. I would be very surprised if network simulation and application diagnostics weren’t significant growth areas for specialist testers in the coming years. These products add significant value to testing engagements and are becoming more important as users become more mobile and applications are increasingly hosted on virtual platforms where performance optimisation is more important.

VTS2 – Virtual Table Server
Shane then did a small demonstration of VTS2. I was a big advocate of the original VTS (virtual table server) and since it’s demise I’ve looked at various ways of managing test data in scripts (such as using MySQL) . VTS was always an unsupported add-on (originally written by Mercury engineers) to allow parameters to be passed from script to script. This worked well but had a number of limitations. As well as being “technically” unsupported, the database had to be loaded with parameters from a CSV file before tests and you had to remember to save the “database” to a file each time that you shut it down.

VTS2 doesn’t have these limitations. It is based on the MongoNoSQL database and can handle up to 2000 txns/sec easily (I can’t wait to try this properly). Media for VTS2 comes with LoadRunner 11.52 or is downloadable from HP SSO.

LoadRunner 12.0 ?
Silvia mentioned the fact that there were so many new features, some people within HP felt that this could merit a new major version number rather than simply adding 0.02 to the last release. This reminded me of Stuart Moncrieff’s summary of 11.50 last year. Having seen the new features, I think that she’s probably right, LoadRunner 12.0 and Performance Center 12.0 are probably already here :)

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Aphiwat Leetavorn. - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Director, Share Holder at Marco Technology
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Identify and eliminate performance bottlenecks before going into production
Pros and Cons
  • "The Analysis feature makes it easy to analyze cross-data and we can pin to the focus period."
  • "The price of this solution should be cheaper."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for performance testing, and to identify bottlenecks.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution has helped us to eliminate software performance risk before going live.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this solution is VuGen, the Virtual User Generator. The scripting can be done easily.

The Analysis feature makes it easy to analyze cross-data and we can pin to the focus period.

What needs improvement?

The price of this solution should be cheaper.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for fifteen years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user363321 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
It includes protocols which support our business requirements, such as Java, HTTP, and Citrix.

Valuable Features

It's got a lot of protocols that support all our business requirements, such as Java, HTTP, and Citrix. It gives us one tool that supports all this technology.

Improvements to My Organization

We don't have to work on another platform as we only have to learn one tool. There's a lot of information, help, and best practices available. It's a market-leading tool so there are lots of people with knowledgeable experience. Our employees are productive from day one.

Because we're a telecommunications company with millions of subscribers, we run very high volume tests for 24-48 hours. LoadRunner has been very, very stable during these tests and has gotten us results. It gives us expert diagnoses of our tests with very detailed, in-depth analyses.

Room for Improvement

We'd like for it to incorporate a tool for ordering module that would work with our proprietary in-house ordering module scripting protocol.

Deployment Issues

We have no issues with deployment.

Stability Issues

It's very stable.

Scalability Issues

It scales very, very well.

Customer Service and Technical Support

They're very good. We have issues, we contact them, and they help us solve the issues.

Initial Setup

Setup was very straightforward. We installed, applied the licenses, and started using it.

Other Solutions Considered

There is Neotys NeoLoad and SOASTA CloudTest, but LoadRunner is the best.

Other Advice

I would definitely recommend using LoadRunner. Use the latest two client protocols for object scripting.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Project Lead at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Consultant
It supports Citrix and SAP protocols, which is very helpful for our clients to understand bottlenecks if there are any on their network, though it should support GWT and mobile testing.

What is most valuable?

  • It allows you to create your own customized code.
  • It provides an analysis report after running a test scenario.
  • It supports maximum protocols.
  • It's user-friendly.

How has it helped my organization?

It generates reports in a format that's very easy to understand for both our own internal use and other audiences. It supports Citrix and SAP protocols, which is very helpful for our clients to understand bottlenecks if there are any on their network.

What needs improvement?

It should support GWT and mobile testing, including network virtualization.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for eight years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We didn't encounter any issues during deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We haven't encountered any stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't encountered any issues while scaling.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

I'd say that customer service is not good.

Technical Support:

Technical support is also not good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used NeoLoad, but it does not support Citrix, so we chose LoadRunner.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup was not that difficult.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation through an in-house team.

My advice is for you to have a load generator machine that has a good configuration for handling large volumes of users.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is very costly, but LoadRunner works perfectly. It fits our needs in the way we use it, but you should make sure your use justifies the cost.

What other advice do I have?

We have only web-based services, mobile testing in scope, and the user load is maximum 1000, so we could have used NeoLoad, but there were lots of other factors in switching.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Diego Caicedo Lescano - PeerSpot reviewer
Diego Caicedo LescanoChief Innovation Officer at SAGGA
LeaderboardReal User

Hi Anupam,

The following features were introduced or enhanced in Network Virtualization for LoadRunner and Performance Center version 12.50 within the 12.50 Release:
- Full protocol support. You can now define virtual locations for all supported LoadRunner and Performance Center protocols.
- NV Analytics report integration with VuGen. Analyze your script before using it in your tests. After you run a script in VuGen, review the NV Analytics report in the replay summary.
- Integrated installation. NV 12.50 is now a part of the LoadRunner and Performance Center installation process. At the end of the LoadRunner and Performance Center installations, you have the option to install the NV 12.50 components.
- Integrated licensing.
- Unified licensing management. LoadRunner and Performance Center now manage licensing for Network Virtualization Vusers, which enable you to run scenarios that incorporate NV virtual locations.

Technical Leader at Valtech
Real User
A Very Systematic Tool Anyone Can Use
Pros and Cons
  • "LoadRunner is a very systematic tool for anyone to use. Even someone who is actually a first time user of LoadRunner can actually get a lot of benefit out of the tool."
  • "If they can make LoadRunner more comprehensive, it would really help."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for LoadRunner is a lot of business transactions, physical scenarios, and incoming applications. We use LoadRunner for building and it is very easy to use because of its support for all of the protocols. 

LoadRunner is a very systematic tool for anyone to use. Even someone who is actually a first time user of LoadRunner can actually get a lot of benefit out of the tool.

How has it helped my organization?

LoadRunner is an expensive tool, so mostly it is large-sized companies that would prefer LoadRunner over other legacy applications. Being with LoadRunner for so long has given a lot of opportunities for us to experiment with large workloads and even the various different types of extensions. That has actually really benefited the organization.

What is most valuable?

One of the most valuable features of LoadRunner is the correlation feature which is automated now. All year when I started this with a lot of manual processes, it would actually capture dynamic values, but now these new versions have made it very easy for any newcomer to form whatever you want.

Get in other agitation settings which are very detailed and any tester can go through everything they intend to do, customize their execution patterns. The results are very detailed, presenting a very comprehensive summary that anyone can read and understand.

What needs improvement?

If they can make LoadRunner more comprehensive, it would really help. My main recommendations for improvement for LoadRunner are:

  • It would be good if LoadRunner can categorize the different transactions based on the time taken to do the test, against the transactions first.
  • The reports should be a little more comprehensive, more detailed.
  • There should be a way to use the default monitoring tool integrated with LoadRunner.

For example, if I have to look for monitoring I have to always integrate an extending tool to LoadRunner and then monitor my task. If LoadRunner is not driving and they can afford to have their own monitoring enabled, that would help.

The LoadRunner report also needs more information other than the straightforward notes, like response time.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

To be frank, the earlier version (graded I-5 and graded I-6) was very bad for me. I had a really bad experience on that version. 

One of the problems we had was that one of the scripts that we used to create worked and then there were some bugs that were coming out runtime support. 

The recent version runs well, and actually, LoadRunner has removed those bugs. It's been a good experience.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of driving, LoadRunner is at a level that is a little riddled but otherwise, it's been a good thing. LoadRunner has the kind of features that are much more advanced. The comparison is IIS & NeoLoad. It is very scalable.

How are customer service and technical support?

Very rarely have I actually wondered how to use tech support because most of the bugs, most of the issues have been resolved by ourselves, through online browsing and materials. I've not really chatted with the LoadRunner tech support.

How was the initial setup?

The setup of LoadRunner is very straightforward. It comes with one retro file which installs all the applications which handle the individual applications also. It's a very easy setup, just that the sizing of the tools is much less. Other than that, the setup is pretty easy.

What about the implementation team?

The three factors we look for in a vendor are: 

  1. The pricing 
  2. The features
  3. The customer support

    Definitely, the features are most important to complement the pricing.

    What was our ROI?

    Since it's 11 years that the company has been using LoadRunner, there was no other tool on the market that would actually come to the standards of LoadRunner and that is why we had chosen such a tool. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Look at the options on other software which are not as pricey as LoadRunner. It's true that LoadRunner has all the features and a lot of ways to help, but then not all companies require such extensive tools. That is where I would probably suggest asking the pricing and the features integrated.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    At that time it was Silk Performer vs. LoadRunner, and Silk Performer was not optimal enough in terms of its features. We were having a lot of issues trying to create our scripts using Silk Performer and latched upon LoadRunner. We found out that LoadRunner has got a lot more features than Silk Performer and was able to cover the tasks.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would give LoadRunner around 8 out of 10 in the review, considering the fact, that I know how good the tool is. There are a few areas for improvement, the results, and the monitoring tools. Other than that, I think I'm pretty satisfied with LoadRunner.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user567588 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Manager Quality Assurance at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Enables us to test most of our products and projects, across all the different technologies
    Pros and Cons
    • "Enables us to test most of the products and projects that we have across all the different technologies, without having to look at other tools."
    • "We still have some issues with integration with things like SiteScope which, obviously, being another HPE product should be very straightforward, but there are always issues around that."

    What is most valuable?

    Enables us to test most of the products and projects that we have across all the different technologies, without having to look at other tools.

    How has it helped my organization?

    It allows us to get better reliability, quicker, for the products and solutions. That means fewer critical performance issues when the product goes to market. 

    What needs improvement?

    Probably integrations. We still have some issues with integration with things like SiteScope which, obviously, being another HPE product should be very straightforward, but there are always issues around that.

    We would like to see more integrations and easier integrations. We have other products that we have integrations with, other third-party products, which seem to be straightforward, ALM and JIRA for example. But for integration between HPE products, we would like to see that go a bit more smoothly.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    About 12 years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    it's stable. It's been around for a long time. There are no real issues, no defects or anything.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scalability is good. There are lots of different options ranging from the freely available versions through to Enterprise and Performance Center. And obviously features like StormRunner Load allow you to scale more quickly and effectively.

    How is customer service and technical support?

    We've used technical support quite a lot but not so much lately because it's something we're very familiar with, so we tend to manage it. But when we've used it we've been happy with it.

    How was the initial setup?

    It was a very long time ago. It was complicated only because of the age of the technology then and the infrastructure we had.

    Updating, it's something you just have to plan for, but otherwise it was fairly straightforward.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    There are various things we haven't been able to test so we're continuously looking at other vendors to complement it. NeoLoad being one, recently. That's it really.

    What other advice do I have?

    It covers the most technology, is the most reliable, it gives us the most features.

    It's not a 10 out of 10 because of the issues with integrations and it's not quite the one solution, the one-part solution for everything.

    I don't know if it's really the product's fault but there are products that, later on, I can't test or can't script against or can't replay against and it's just understanding whether that's a limitation of the tool or a limitation of the product. Part that is design as well as trying to actually script against it.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free OpenText LoadRunner Professional Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: April 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free OpenText LoadRunner Professional Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.