# First public deployment coming up. How to load test?

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/first-public-deployment-coming-up-how-to-load-test/161856>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [March 3, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/first-public-deployment-coming-up-how-to-load-test/161856 "2009-03-03T04:54:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Raphael\_Lee](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Raphael\_Lee](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Raphael_Lee)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/first-public-deployment-coming-up-how-to-load-test/161856/1 "2009-03-03T04:54:51Z")

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So I’ve been working on a project for a while with some friends, and  
we’re  
getting ready to launch the beta.

I’ve never built a website on this scale, especially not in Rails, and  
in  
the two weeks I have to prepare I need to figure out how to predict and  
optimize for when traffic (hopefully) hits.

What sort of tools are commonly used for load testing and analytics?  
How  
can I predict what I’ll need in two weeks, and what should I do then if  
we’re lucky enough to be pounded by traffic? How much traffic do you  
think  
a 256MB Slicehost slice with Passenger behind Apache could support?  
Should  
I use Rails’s built-in caching?

Thanks! Any advice, even if anecdotal, is welcome.  
Raph

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Raphael\_Lee](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Raphael\_Lee](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Raphael_Lee)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/first-public-deployment-coming-up-how-to-load-test/161856/2 "2009-03-03T05:04:12Z")

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siege - if you have time but not money -  
[http://www.joedog.org/index/siege-manual](http://www.joedog.org/index/siege-manual)

Soasta - if you have money but not time - [http://soasta.com](http://soasta.com)

Cheers,

m