Hosting the website under load
Generally, you have these options when it comes to hosting the test site:
Use a second hosting account. If your production site is hosted externally by a hosting company, than you could pay for a second hosting account, or for the use of additional servers with the same specs as the production servers. That way, there is no restriction on testing and you would have a testing environment that approximates your production environment.
Use spare servers. Likewise, if you host the production site on your own servers and you have spare servers with the same specs, then you could use the spare servers. If you use an external load-generating service, make sure that the extra traffic doesn’t overload your Internet connection.
Use the production server. This would be the most realistic test and it wouldn’t require additional hardware. On the other hand, you would have to restrict testing to quiet periods, such as the middle of the night, to minimize the impact on your...
