WEBMETRICS' LOAD TESTING READIES XPRIZE.ORG FOR LAUNCH

San Diego - October 12, 2004 - Webmetrics, a provider of web site testing, monitoring and analytics services, today announced that the Company is providing load testing and performance monitoring services to XPRIZE.org, the official web site of The X PRIZE Foundation. An official provider partner, Webmetrics' delivered load testing services to XPRIZE.org in preparation for the anticipated web traffic following the two successful launch events of SpaceShipOne, for which the team was recently awarded the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE purse. Webmetrics is also providing external monitoring services to ensure ongoing web site performance and availability.

 

"With plans to webcast the SpaceShipOne launch events live from the Mojave Desert, we anticipated significant spikes in online traffic at XPRIZE.org," states Amye Rita Osti of DEEPBLU Studios for XPRIZE.org. "Webmetrics' SiteStress assessed how the site would perform under increased user loads, while helping identify potential issues that left unresolved, may have hindered page load performance and/or web site accessibility. Load testing with Webmetrics provided peace of mind that XPRIZE.org would deliver the speed online users expect."

 

In advance of the SpaceShipOne launches on September 29 and October 4, Webmetrics' SiteStress service was used to load test XPRIZE.org, challenging the sites' ability to support the millions of hits anticipated during and in response to the launch events. Webmetrics tested the web site and infrastructure by executing a thousand concurrent virtual users and capturing page and image download performances as traffic scaled. During the last of four load tests conducted, SiteStress generated more than 900,000 hits in 30 minutes - with a peak throughput of 55 Mbps. Performance enhancement measures executed throughout the course of testing, including increasing the number of simultaneous connected supported by web servers, optimizing configurations of data center switches and reducing web page sizes, helped decrease download times and further optimize performance for site visitors during peak traffic.

 

On September 29th, XPRIZE.org experienced more than 14 million hits as SpaceShipOne completed its successful launch, making history as the first privately- funded space travel endeavor. The site experienced 97.9 percent uptime and an average performance of 2.83 seconds. During the second launch event on October 4th, XPRIZE.org supported more than 21 million hits with an average load time of 2.96 seconds. When compared to the WM100 index, a page load performance average compiled by Webmetrics and based on 100 of most trafficked web sites, XPRIZE.org performed between 30 and 35 percent faster than the WM100 page load performance average. Web hosting for XPRIZE.org is provided by Hostirian.

 

About The X PRIZE Foundation

The X PRIZE Foundation is a not-for-profit educational organization with headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. Supported by private donations and the St. Louis community, the Foundation's mission is to create educational programming for students and space enthusiasts as well as provide incentives in the private sector to make space travel frequent and affordable for the general public. Several additional sponsorships for the ANSARI X PRIZE competition remain available to corporations or individuals who wish to support the X PRIZE Foundation and associate themselves with space, speed and high technology.

 

To learn more about the ANSARI X PRIZE competition, please visit www.ansarixprize.org. To find out how individuals, educational organizations or corporations can join the efforts of the X PRIZE Foundation, please visit www.xprize.org or contact the office at +1 636 519 9449.

 

Webmetrics is a leading provider of web site testing, monitoring and analytics services for e-business. The Company sells and promotes services through its direct sales force, as well as via developer, hosting and system integrator channels. Using Webmetrics services, SMBs and enterprise customers can test, monitor and measure the performance of web sites, transactions and supporting systems to ensure 24/7 uptime and performance integrity. Webmetrics' GlobalWatch network spans more than 21 cities worldwide, with POPs throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. The Company's customers include Bloomberg, DHL, GMAC, Hewlett-Packard, ING Direct, Petco, Symantec and Virgin.

 

Founded in 1999, Webmetrics is a privately held company headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, call 877-524-8299 or visit us at www.webmetrics.com.