--- author: '' category: '' date: 2013/02/25 17:34:16 description: '' link: '' priority: '' slug: load-testing-nikola tags: python, nikola title: Load Testing Nikola type: text updated: 2013/02/25 17:34:16 url_type: '' --- `Nikola `_ generates static sites, so load testing it is not very interesting, except as a benchmark for the difference between static and dynamic sites. Today I was told about `blitz.io `_ and since a quick test is free, I thought, why not? The result is quite impressive: a cheap VPS, using `gatling `_ as a web server, which is almost configuration-free and not meant for extremely high loads, can handle roughly 9 million daily hits. Let me say that again: **9 million hits**. On a unconfigured $5 server. Here's `the report `_ How much tuning does it take for a wordpress instance to serve that? On what hardware? And that's only half the picture. Not only are Nikola's static pages incredibly light on your server, we have also spent a lot of effort trying to make individual pages load fast, for a better user experience. Some of the techniques used for fast-loading sites are: * Using `webassets `_ to bundle CSS and JS into single files. * Automatic support for CDNs for the common JS libraries * Support for transparently using HTML/CSS/JS/Image compression tools So, if you try something like `YSlow! `_ on a Nikola site, it will give you a score of roughly 93 up to 98 (out of 100) depending on your webserver configuration. BTW: I really want to get that up to 100. *Really want it* So, remember, if your site can be served statically, it's going to be cheaper, faster, safer. And if you ever get 9 million hits a day, it will be *available*. Disclaimer: Blitz.io is sending me a t-shirt ;-)