Boost System Performance During Traffic Surges with Spike Testing
Introduction
Spike testing is a type of performance testing that evaluates how a system responds to sudden, extreme increases in load. Unlike stress testing, which gradually increases the load, spike testing simulates abrupt surges in traffic to identify system vulnerabilities, such as crashes, slow response times, and resource exhaustion.
In this blog, we will explore spike testing in detail, covering its importance, methodology, and full implementation using K6.
Why Perform Spike Testing?
Spike testing helps you
- Determine system stability under unexpected traffic surges.
- Identify bottlenecks that arise due to rapid load increases.
- Assess auto-scaling capabilities of cloud-based infrastructures.
- Measure response time degradation during high-demand spikes.
- Ensure system recovery after the sudden load disappears.
Setting Up K6 for Spike Testing
Installing K6
# macOS brew install k6 # Ubuntu/Debian sudo apt install k6 # Using Docker docker pull grafana/k6
Choosing the Right Test Scenario
K6 provides different executors to simulate load patterns. For spike testing, we use
- ramping-arrival-rate โ Gradually increases the request rate over time.
- constant-arrival-rate โ Maintains a fixed number of requests per second after the spike.
Example 1: Basic Spike Test
This test starts with low traffic, spikes suddenly, and then drops back to normal.
import http from 'k6/http'; import { sleep } from 'k6'; export let options = { scenarios: { spike_test: { executor: 'ramping-arrival-rate', startRate: 10, // Start with 10 requests/sec timeUnit: '1s', preAllocatedVUs: 100, maxVUs: 500, stages: [ { duration: '30s', target: 10 }, // Low traffic { duration: '10s', target: 500 }, // Sudden spike { duration: '30s', target: 10 }, // Traffic drops ], }, }, }; export default function () { http.get('https://test-api.example.com'); sleep(1); }
Explanation
- Starts with 10 requests per second for 30 seconds.
- Spikes to 500 requests per second in 10 seconds.
- Drops back to 10 requests per second.
- Tests the systemโs ability to handle and recover from traffic spikes.
Example 2: Spike Test with High User Load
This test simulates a spike in virtual users rather than just requests per second.
import http from 'k6/http'; import { sleep } from 'k6'; export let options = { scenarios: { user_spike: { executor: 'ramping-vus', stages: [ { duration: '30s', target: 20 }, // Normal traffic { duration: '10s', target: 300 }, // Sudden spike in users { duration: '30s', target: 20 }, // Drop back to normal ], }, }, }; export default function () { http.get('https://test-api.example.com'); sleep(1); }
Explanation:
- Simulates a sudden increase in concurrent virtual users (VUs).
- Helps test server stability, database handling, and auto-scaling.
Example 3: Spike Test on Multiple Endpoints
In real-world applications, multiple endpoints may experience spikes simultaneously. Hereโs how to test different API routes.
import http from 'k6/http'; import { sleep } from 'k6'; export let options = { scenarios: { multiple_endpoint_spike: { executor: 'ramping-arrival-rate', startRate: 5, timeUnit: '1s', preAllocatedVUs: 200, maxVUs: 500, stages: [ { duration: '20s', target: 10 }, // Normal traffic { duration: '10s', target: 300 }, // Spike across endpoints { duration: '20s', target: 10 }, // Traffic drop ], }, }, }; export default function () { let urls = [ 'https://test-api.example.com/users', 'https://test-api.example.com/orders', 'https://test-api.example.com/products' ]; let res = http.get(urls[Math.floor(Math.random() * urls.length)]); console.log(`Response time: ${res.timings.duration}ms`); sleep(1); }
Explanation
- Simulates traffic spikes across multiple API endpoints.
- Helps identify which API calls suffer under extreme load.
Analyzing Test Results
After running the tests, K6 provides key performance metrics
http_req_duration......: avg=350ms min=150ms max=3000ms http_reqs..............: 10,000 requests vus_max................: 500 errors.................: 2%
Key Metrics
- http_req_duration โ Measures response time impact.
- vus_max โ Peak virtual users during the spike.
- errors โ Percentage of failed requests due to overload.
Best Practices for Spike Testing
- Monitor application logs and database performance during the test.
- Use auto-scaling mechanisms for cloud-based environments.
- Combine spike tests with stress testing for better insights.
- Analyze error rates and recovery time to ensure system stability.
Spike testing is crucial for ensuring application stability under sudden, unpredictable traffic surges. Using K6, we can simulate spikes in both requests per second and concurrent users to identify bottlenecks before they impact real users.