Browser Synthetics Test Types

ThousandEyes Browser Synthetics includes two test types: transaction tests and page load tests.

• Page load tests access a single page from a target URL, and measure the time it takes each page element to load. They also measure the timing of the DOM and page load events, and other metrics.

• Transaction tests simulate complex user journeys such as browsing an online shopping site and making a purchase. Transaction tests provide page load metrics for multiple pages instead of a single page. You can also use the scripting feature of transaction tests to make API calls.

Both page load and transaction tests include lower-level network tests already built in. For example, you’ll see the same network views as you would for an agent-to-server test.

Browser Synthetics tests use an optional ThousandEyes component called BrowserBot. BrowserBot runs on the ThousandEyes Cloud and Enterprise Agents and uses Chromium, an open-source software project created by Google, to emulate complex user journeys across one or more web pages.

An additional web layer test type called API Test Type also uses BrowserBot, but does not use Chromium. The API test type focuses solely on API calls, without the “browser synthetics” portion.