Smoke testing is a type of load testing that applies minimal load to a system to verify its functionality and gather baseline performance metrics. Typically conducted with a small number of virtual users (VUs) and over a short duration, smoke tests are useful whenever a test script or application code is created or updated. They help identify errors in test scripts and assess system performance under minimal load, serving as a preliminary check before more extensive testing. Using tools like Grafana k6, smoke tests can monitor the availability and performance of production environments. It's recommended to run these tests with 2 to 5 VUs for durations ranging from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, ensuring scripts run error-free before progressing to more comprehensive testing. If any issues are detected, they should be corrected before other test types are conducted. Grafana Cloud offers accessible options for conducting smoke tests, with a free tier available for users.