Lerna is a Ruby tool based on the Typhoeus gem that allows you to easily simulate multiple, concurrent web requests to test server load. Setting up a script is as simple as a few lines of code.

First install Typhoeus:

gem install typhoeus

Then make a ruby script or run from irb:

require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'lerna', 'lerna.rb')
Lerna.new("http://test.mysite.com").run

You can pass options to Lerna for more complex tests:

urls = %w(
  http://test1.mysite.com
  http://test2.mysite.com
  http://test3.mysite.com
)
options = {
  userpwd: "username:password",
  followlocation: true
}
lerna = Lerna.new(urls, url_options: options, concurrency: 100, number_of_requests: 10)
lerna.run

Specifying a log file will silence terminal output and print to a chosen file location:

lerna.log_file = 'lerna.log'

You can follow the ouput using tail:

tail -f lerna.log

To completely silence all terminal or log file output, pass in the silent option to Lerna.new:

Lerna.new("http://test.mysite.com", silent: true).run