1. A cloud based performance testing system comprising: a test creation and management interface in a cloud; an execution mechanism on an application server which receives requests from the test creation and management interface in the cloud, processes the requests and generates load responsive to a timer control and traffic model logic in cooperation with an elastic load balancer based on parameters specified in the test creation and management interface and directed against an Application under Test in the cloud; a results mechanism that collects, processes and stores performance measurements of the Application under Test in response to the load generated by the execution mechanism; and a display mechanism that presents the performance measurements collected by the results mechanism and recommendations for optimizing performance of the Application under Test.