A protocol sleuthing system according to the present invention for load testing a network server includes a computer configured to interconnect with the network server, a protocol engine stored in and implemented by the computer and operative to generate a plurality of synthetic users, to generate a synthetic transaction in accordance with a specified protocol, and to cause each of the plurality of synthetic users to sequentially implement a plurality of the synthetic transactions with the network sever for load testing thereof, a configuration file connected to the protocol engine that includes variables required to generate the synthetic transaction, information that defines the behavior of the plurality of synthetic users implementing the synthetic transaction, and information that defines the number of synthetic users to be created by the protocol engine, and a module that is operative to monitor each of the plurality of synthetic transactions implemented by each of the plurality of synthetic users with the network server, to detect any error event occurring during any of the plurality of synthetic transactions implemented by any of the plurality of synthetic users, and to report any error event detected during such network testing.