Measuring the Maximum Throughput
of a Download Server
In this test we are trying to find the maximum bandwidth a web server can serve.
We run a ramp test with up to 100 users. Each of them downloads an 8 megabyte ZIP file every 2 seconds.
In the graph we can see that the server's bandwidth (blue line) rises until it reaches 900 Mbit/s (for 30 users) and stays at this value regardless of how many users try to download the file. So 900-950 Mbit/s seems to be the maximum throughput for the server, which was the expected value in a gigabit LAN
When we look at the red line we can see that while we were running the test with only a few users, each users was able to get up to 800 Mbit/s of bandwidth for itself while later in the test the users must share the server's bandwidth and fall to 50kbit/s and less. Again, this behavior is expected for a web server.
Testing Maximum Throughput for a Download Server
Test Results
| Test Type | RAMP (number of users increases during the test time) |
| Number of Users | 100 |
| Click Delay | 2 sec. |
| Tested Web Server | DELL Optiplex 7010, one cpu, 4 cores, Intel Core i5-3550S @ 3 Ghz, 8 GB RAM, Windows 7 |
| Test Client | DELL R710 Server with two cpus, 24 cores, Intel Xeon X5650 @2.67 Ghz, 128 GB RAM, Windows 2008 R2 (running Webserver Stress Tool) |