Overview of Mercury Interactive's LoadRunner and its Components

To test the performance requirements such as transaction response time of a database application or response time in the case of multiple users accessing a web site, LoadRunner is an excellent tool that reduces the infrastructure and manpower costs.
Mercury Interactive's LoadRunner is used to test the client/server applications such as databases and websites. Using LoadRunner, with minimal infrastructure and manpower, performance testing can be carried out.
- LoadRunner simulates multiple transactions from the same machine and hence it creates a scenario of multiple simultaneous access to to the application. So, instead of t=real users, virtual users are simulated. With virtual users simultaneously accessing the application, LoadRunner accurately measures and analyzes the performance of the client/server application.
In LoadRunner, we divide the performance testing requirements into various scenarios. A scenario is a series of actions that are to be tested. LoadRunner creates virtual users. The Vusers submit the requests to the server. Vuser script is generated and this script is executed for simulating multiple users.

LoadRunner Components

LoadRunner contains the following components:
- The Virtual User Generator captures end-user business processes and creates
an automated performance testing script, also known as a virtual user script.
- The Controller organizes, drives, manages, and monitors the load test.
- The Load Generators create the load by running virtual users.
- The Analysis helps you view, dissect, and compare the performance results.
- The Launcher provides a single point of access for all of the LoadRunner
components.