For the moment we are attending the O’Reilly Velocity Conference in Santa Clara, where we have launched our brand new report “The State of Web Readiness 2012”. In short the report covers how robust sites are based on 8,522 load tests executed in 132 countries. We found out that the average site was load tested at up to 3.4 times the actual capacity. What does that mean? Well the short summary is that a large part of the websites in the world might not stand up to what site owners expect of them.
This is actual data from actual load tests conducted with our own cloud-based online load test tool and frankly, we were a bit concerned with the findings of our study. Not that we are surprised that websites go down when we need them the most. Even though web sites have been a mainstream occurrence for over 15 years, we don’t lift an eyebrow when Apple Store crashes when a new iPhone-model is released. And if even the largest company in the world isn’t able to provide a premium sales channel that performs reliably, then who is, right? It almost seems unavoidable that websites go down. Like a natural disaster you can’t prepare for.
Our analysis indicates something else. After going through 8,522 actual tests we believe that you can be prepared with the right knowledge. The analysis shows that an important factor in the unreliable web is simply overconfidence about how many visitors websites can really handle. If you haven’t done the tests and you still think your website will continue to work unaffected during a hot product launch, a seasonal peak in interest or if you are luckily beeing “slashdotted”, think again!
Have a look at our report here. And we’re looking forward to hear more about what you think about the state of web readiness.
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