Foundations
This section builds the mental model you need to run, read, and act on load tests in MaxoPerf. Every concept here is illustrated with examples from the MaxoPerf console — not abstract theory.
What you will learn
Section titled “What you will learn”The Foundations section covers the building blocks of performance testing in the order you need them: what performance testing is, how it differs from other testing disciplines, what the key metrics mean, and how to interpret a finished run.
Reading order
Section titled “Reading order”Work through the pages in order the first time. Later you can jump to any page as a reference.
| Order | Page | What you will learn |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What is performance testing? | The goal of performance testing and when to use it. |
| 2 | Performance vs other testing | How load testing fits alongside functional, integration, and security tests. |
| 3 | Core metrics explained | Latency, throughput, RPS, error rate, concurrency — what they are and how to read them. |
| 4 | Latency percentiles deep dive | Why averages mislead and how p50/p90/p95/p99 give a true picture. |
| 5 | Virtual users and concurrency | The difference between VUs, concurrency, and request rate. |
| 6 | Open vs closed workload models | Arrival-rate (open) vs VU-count (closed) — when each fits. |
| 7 | Ramp-up, think time, and pacing | How to shape a realistic load profile. |
| 8 | Baselines, SLOs, and error budgets | Reliability framing — what “good” looks like and how to defend it. |
| 9 | How much load do you need? | Sizing and estimation math: from traffic data to VU count. |
| 10 | Choosing safe test environments | Staging vs production — authorization, blast radius, and test isolation. |
| 11 | Anatomy of a load test result | A full tour of a MaxoPerf run-detail page and what every panel tells you. |
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”No prior performance-testing experience is required. You should be comfortable with HTTP request/response basics (status codes, headers, payloads). If you have not yet run your first test in MaxoPerf, Run your first test is a ten-minute guided walk-through — come back here once the first run has finished.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”After completing this section, move on to:
- Test types — the taxonomy of load tests (smoke, load, stress, spike, soak) and which to reach for in each situation.
- By engine — Taurus YAML, JMeter JMX, and k6 scripts in MaxoPerf.
- Cookbook — step-by-step recipes for common performance-testing scenarios.