Summary
Meltdown is a hardware vulnerability affecting Intel x86 microprocessors, IBM POWER processors, and some ARM-based microprocessors. It allows a rogue process to read all memory, even when it is not authorized to do so. This article gives a summary of the Meltdown and Spectre Patch Impact on LoadRunner 12.55
Question
Meltdown and Spectre Patch Impact on LoadRunner 12.55 and future versions.
The testing was done with LoadRunner12.55, but it is relevant for future versions as well (LoadRunner12.55 and up)
Answer
Meltdown is a hardware vulnerability affecting Intel x86 microprocessors, IBM POWER processors, and some ARM-based microprocessors. It allows a rogue process to read all memory, even when it is not authorized to do so.
Meltdown affects a wide range of systems. This include all devices running any versions of Linux or Windows among others. Accordingly, many servers and cloud services were impacted as well as a majority of smart devices, embedded devices using ARM based processors (mobile devices, smart TVs, printers and others)and a wide range of networking equipment. A purely software workaround to Meltdown has been assessed as slowing computers between 5 and 30 percent in certain specialized workloads, although companies responsible for software correction are reporting minimal impact from general benchmark testing.
Refer to the document : Meltdown and Spectre Patch Impact on LoadRunner 12.55 Load Generator
This document gives a summary of the Meltdown impact on LoadRunner12.55 after applying the recommended patches. The response time of most of the transactions stayed the same. A few transactions had a degradation of up to 3%. No impact was found on memory footprint.