

Using Markov chains for HTTP benchmarking - andrewvc
http://blog.andrewvc.com/markov-http-benchmarking

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studobalina
"What Markov chain generation does is give a nice mix between two different
ways of generating load, combining the fuzzing of random request generation
with the feel of replaying logs. I think of it as a happy medium."

Why do we need a medium? Replaying access logs at a high-velocity gets the job
done.

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andrewvc
Well, because there's no one right way to test is why.

Strictly repeating logs doesn't tell you what happens when your access
patterns change. Markov chains give you an idea of how your site acts under
variations on your current traffic.

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harshreality
It looks interesting, but does the added complexity have any tangible benefits
over a benchmark app using a url-frequency table (a 0th-order markov chain)?

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andrewvc
Great question. Maybe, maybe not. As I said, it just depends. Every test
answers its own question.

Here's the thing about orders, they're like a sliding scale of similarity
between source and generated text. Whether that scale is worth toggling for
your data is up to you.

