Load Runner

Server Monitors
NT/UNIX/Linux monitors - Provide hardware, network and operating system performance metrics, such as CPU, memory and network throughput.

§ NT server resources
§ UNIX / Linux server monitor

Load Appliances Performance Monitors

§ Antara.net

Application Deployment Solutions

§ Citrix MetaFrame (available only for LoadRunner)

Network Monitors

§ Network delay monitor - Provides a breakdown of the network segments between client and server, as well as network delays.
§ SNMP monitor - Provides performance data for network devices such as bridges and routers.

Web Server Performance Monitors
Web server monitors - Provide performance data inside the Web servers, such as active connections, hits per second, etc.

§ Apache
§ Microsoft IIS
§ iPlanet (NES)

Web Application Server Performance Monitors
Web application server monitor - Provides performance data inside the Web application server, such as connections per second, active database connections, etc.

§ Allaire ColdFusion
§ ATG Dynamo
§ BEA WebLogic (via JMX)
§ BEA WebLogic (via SNMP)
§ BroadVision
§ IBM WebSphere
§ iPlanet Application Server
§ Microsoft COM+ Monitor
§ Microsoft Active Server Pages
§ Oracle 9iAS HTTP Server
§ SilverStream

Streaming Media Performance Monitors (available only for LoadRunner)
Streaming specific monitors for measuring the end user quality on the client side, and isolate performance bottlenecks on the server-side.

§ Microsoft Windows Media Server
§ Real Networks RealServer

Firewall Server Resource Monitors

§ CheckPoint FireWall-1

Database Server Resource Monitors
Database monitor - Provides performance data inside the database, such as active database connections, etc.

§ SQL Server
§ Oracle
§ DB2
§ Sybase (available only for LoadRunner)

ERP Performance Monitors (available only for LoadRunner)

§ SAP R/3 Monitor

Middleware Performance Monitors

§ Tuxedo - Provides performance data inside a BEA Tuxedo application server, such as current requests in queue.
§ IBM WebSphere MQ (MQSeries) (available only for LoadRunner)

In addition to these monitors, LoadRunner also supports user defined monitors which allows you to easily integrate the results from other measurement tools with LoadRunner data collection.

How many users can I emulate with LoadRunner on a PC?
This greatly depends on the configuration of the PC (number of CPUs, CPU speed, memory and operating system), the protocol(s) used, the size and complexity of the script(s), the frequency of execution (iteration pacing and think times) and the amount of logging.

How much memory is needed per user?
You can get some approximation of the memory needs by looking at the \"LR 7.02 footprints.pdf\" file located on the LoadRunner discussion group at groups.yahoo.com/group/LoadRunner/files.
Product
Can I get a evaluation copy of LoadRunner?
No. Mercury does not ship evaluation copies of LoadRunner. You can contact Mercury or a Mercury reseller to get a demo at your site or via Webex.

What is the current shipping version of LoadRunner?
7.8

What is the difference between LoadRunner and Astra LoadTest?
Astra LoadTest is another load test tool from Mercury Interactive built specifically for testing web applications. Relative to LoadRunner it:
§ Supports only HTTP and HTTPS protocols.
§ Has less functionality.
§ Uses the VBScript scripting language.
§ Has a larger footprint (~ 5 MBytes).
§ Costs less.
§ Is easier to learn.

In that LoadRunner supports web applications plus much more, it is the preferred tool for load testing web applications. The exception is if the load testers are non-technical (bad idea) or the load test project\'s budget is too limited to afford LoadRunner.