Peak load testing is placing a load on the server for a short time to emulate the heaviest demand that would be generated at peak user times—for example, credit card verification between noon and 1 PM on Christmas Eve. This type of test requires a significant number of client systems. If you submit complex transactions to the server from each client in your test network, using minimal user setup, you can emulate the typical load of a much larger number of clients.
Your testbed may not have sufficient machines to place a heavy load on your server system — even if your clients are submitting requests at top speed. In this case it may be worthwhile to reconfigure your equipment so that your server is less powerful. An inadequate server configuration should enable you to test the server’s management of peak server conditions.