The fundamental goal of load testing is to understand and predict how a system will behave under realistic, anticipated user loads. To achieve accurate and actionable results, the test environment must be a replica of the production environment. This includes identical hardware specifications (CPU, RAM, disk I/O), software versions (OS, Tableau Server, drivers), network configurations, and authentication mechanisms. Any significant deviation would invalidate the test results, as performance bottlenecks could be missed or artificially introduced, making the data unreliable for production capacity planning and tuning.

A. Over-provisioning the test environment is for stress or capacity testing, not representative load testing. It will not reflect the performance of the actual production hardware.

C. Using a simplified dataset fails to simulate the real-world query complexity and data volume that directly impact server performance, leading to overly optimistic results.

D. Disabling security protocols like SSL or specific authentication methods removes a significant source of processing overhead, making the test scenario unrealistic and its results invalid.

1. Tableau Blueprint

"Tableau Testing": In the section on Test Environments

the official guidance states

"The test environment should be a clean room that is a replica of the production environment in hardware

software

and network configuration. For performance testing

the test environment must be scaled to the same size and configuration as the production environment." This directly supports mirroring the production environment.

2. Tableau Server Help

"Create a Performance Test Environment": This official documentation explicitly advises

"To get the most useful results from performance testing

your test environment should mirror your production environment as closely as possible. For example

it should have the same amount of RAM

number of CPU cores

and the same storage configuration."

3. Smith

C. U.

& Williams

L. G. (2002). Performance Solutions: A Practical Guide to Creating Responsive

Scalable Software. Addison-Wesley Professional. In Chapter 11

"Performance Testing

" the authors emphasize the principle of environmental fidelity: "The test environment should be as close to the production environment as possible. This includes the hardware

software

network

and database." This is a foundational principle in performance engineering taught in university-level software engineering courses.