If you want to know if your application can scale before it actually gets the traffic spike, then you need to learn how to do Load Testing. Thankfully I just released Load Testing – Part 2 of the Scaling Rails screencast series. If you haven’t seen the first video on Load Testing, you should probably start there.
Summary
In this second Load Testing Screencast we pickup where we left off with the first load testing screencast and learn how to use httperf load testing with sessions, how to automate our httperf testing using autobench, how to graph the results from autobench, and lastly we talk briefly about a few other load testing tools you might want to be aware of.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the screencast RSS feed or grab it on ITunes to avoid missing any of these episodes. FYI, These videos look great on an iPhone / iPod if you want something to watch on the go.
Recently I put together a video for the guys over at Webbynode. Webbynode is a very affordable VPS host (256 RAM for $15) which has great support for Rails applications. Why should you consider using Webbynode? Just watch the video.
Back in the early days of Rails you could find cheap hosting plans that gave you great Rails support. Since then it’s become harder to find middle ground between shared hosting on Dreamhost and managed hosting on Rails Machine or Engine Yard. A few months ago I was lucky enough to run into Carlos Taborda, who was just launching the beta of Webbynode. I decided to give Webbynode a try to run the Ruby Hero Awards.
Since then I’ve been really impressed by the progress made by the Webbynode team, and I think they’ve created an awesome product for the Rails community. Why have they impressed me?
- Rails Support – I love the idea that if I run into trouble on my Webbynode VPS, I can go direct to a Campfire room or IRC and get helpful support. This is so important when you find yourself troubleshooting an issue for hours, and need a little extra help.
- Readystacks – Readystacks allow developers who don’t have experience with system administration to very quickly get up and running with a Rails server. Just like Rails scaffolding is a great starting point for an app, Readystacks serve as a great starting point for a VPS setup. Back in the day RailsMachine had their “5 minute deploy” script which was cool, but Webbynode did it one step better by providing an easy to use web interface that kicks ass.
- Full Access – Like I said before, Readystacks are great starting points, but nothing beats having full and complete (root) ssh access to configure your servers. I just can’t imagine deploying a client’s application on a production box without it, and Webbynode gives you the keys to the castle.
So, check out the video, and maybe next time you need another VPS, give Webbynode a try.
I’ve got another Scaling Rails screencast out today, this one the first of two episodes on learning about Load Testing.
Summary
In this first Load Testing Screencast we learn what exactly load testing is, why it’s useful, and learn how to properly use Apache Bench and httperf. These tools are very useful to gauge how your application handles under a heavy load.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the screencast RSS feed or grab it on ITunes to avoid missing any of these episodes. FYI, These videos look great on an iPhone / iPod if you want something to watch on the go.
Episode 84. This week Nathan Bibler joins me to talk about bug fixes of bug fixes, new libraries, video podcasts, Duke Nukem, and Zelda.
Subscribe via iTunes - iTunes only link.
Download the podcast ~11:00 mins MP3.
Subscribe to feed via RSS by copying the link to your RSS Reader
Runway is a GTD-style action management web application made by geeks for geeks. Created by the folks at Cogent, try a free demo at http://www.runwayapp.com.
NewRelic not only provides rails performance monitoring with RPM, but they also produce Rails Lab, a website dedicated to advice on tuning and optimizing Rails apps.
Show Notes
Episode 83. It's a double feature this week, folks! This week, Obie Fernandez from Hashrocket (check out that snazzy new site) joins me as a co-host. This is both the longest Rails Envy podcast ever and the most bleeped out. It's also full of the usual great Ruby and Rails news and gems.
Subscribe via iTunes - iTunes only link.
Download the podcast ~39:00 mins MP3.
Subscribe to feed via RSS by copying the link to your RSS Reader
Runway is a GTD-style action management web application made by geeks for geeks. Created by the folks at Cogent, try a free demo at http://www.runwayapp.com.
NewRelic not only provides rails performance monitoring with RPM, but they also produce Rails Lab, a website dedicated to advice on tuning and optimizing Rails apps.
Show Notes
Also mentioned in this episode is BizConf. Gregg will be speaking and it looks like a great event. Check it out and listen to the podcast for more info.
Just published a new Scaling Rails screencast, this one covering Rack, Metal, and some of the Rails Middleware internals. By the end of this screencast you should know how to use Metal to help Scale your Rails apps, and how to write Rails Middleware.
Summary
Rails 2.3 now uses the Rack. In this screencast I give a quick introduction to Rack & Rack Middleware. Once we get familiar with the syntax of these libraries we move into a tutorial that walks through the Rails Middleware stack, so that we can gain a better understanding of what middleware can be used for, and how we can use it to help Scale our application. Lastly we learn how to use Rack Metal to take certain actions in your Rails application and make them snappy.
I hope you find these videos useful. Don’t forget to subscribe to the screencast RSS feed or grab it on ITunes to avoid missing any of these episodes. FYI, These videos look great on an iPhone / iPod if you want something to watch on the go.
RSS
iTunes
Archive