Table 1 lists and describes the basic tests provided with WCAT.
Table 1 Basic WCAT Tests
| Name of test | Description |
| 1K | Tests the response of the server to repeated requests for the same 1 kilobyte (K) file. This test can be used to monitor how the server uses the Internet Information Server (IIS) Object Cache and the file system cache. |
| Clntload | Tests the response of the server to an increasing number of clients. The test begins with the minimum number of client computers requesting a single 1K file. As the test progresses, more client computers are added, each requesting the same 1K file, until the maximum number of client computers is reached. The minimum and maximum numbers of client computers and the number of client computers added in each increment of this test are specified in the Clntload test’s configuration file, Clntload.cfg. By default, Clntload begins with 4 client computers and increases the number of clients by 4 in each successive run until the maximum of 24 clients is reached. Each client computer runs five virtual clients. |
| 1ktest01 | Tests the response of the server to a typical workload. In this test, clients request 12 files ranging in size from 256 bytes to 256K. The average page size for this test is about 10K, which is commonly observed on most servers on the Internet. The size of the test files and the pattern and frequency of requests for them (that is, their distribution) were chosen by surveying actual client workloads on proxy servers. |
| 1ktest01.50m | Tests the response of the server to a typical moderately large workload. In this test, clients request 14 files residing in multiple directories and ranging in size from 256 bytes to 1 megabyte (MB). The total workload is approximately 50 MB. The size of the test files and frequency of requests for them were chosen by surveying actual workloads on proxy servers. If the file system cache on the server computer cannot contain all the files in this workload, the server spends more time reading the files from disk. Increase the server memory or adjust your performance expectations accordingly. For more information on analyzing Internet Information Server performance, see Chapters 5 through 9 of the Microsoft Windows NT Server Resource Kit Version 4 Supplement 1 book. |
Table 1 Basic WCAT Tests (Continued)
| Name of test | Description |
| 1ktest01.200m | Tests the response of the server to a typical very large workload. In this test, clients request 14 files from 200 different directories. The files range in size from 256 bytes to 1 MB. The total workload is approximately 200 MB. The size of the files and frequency of requests for them were chosen by surveying actual workloads on proxy servers. If the file system cache on the server computer cannot contain all the files in this workload, the server will be occupied with reading files from disk. Increase the server memory or adjust your performance expectations accordingly. |
| Sample | Tests the response of the server to a variety of different tasks. The workload consists of a set of files that are retrieved by using different types of requests, including standard GET requests, HTTP keep-alive connections, and SSL encryption requests. |
| WebStone | Tests the response of the server to the workload used in the WebStone version 1.1 benchmark test. In this test, clients request 18 files ranging in size from 1K to 200K. WebStone is an open benchmark developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc., to measure Web server performance. For more information about WebStone, see: http://www.sgi.com/Products/WebFORCE/WebStone/ |