Software design often behaves just fine when confronted with "normal" loads of inputs of stimuli. The true test of software is whether it can stay operational when faced with severe loads. These severe loads are often stated in the requirements as "maximum of x simultaneous widgets" or "maximum of x new widget arrivals per hour."
If the requirements state that the software shall handle up to x widgets per hour, you must verify that the software can do this. In fact, not only should you test that it handles x widgets, you should also subject the software to x+1 or x+2 (or more) widgets to see what happens and determine when environment violates "acceptable" behavior. After all, the system may not be able to control its environment, and you do not want the software to crash when the environment "misbehaves" in an unexpected manner.
Reference:
Myers, G., The Art of Software Testing, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1979.
