About Load Testing on Cloud Computers

Video Tutorial

Support for Amazon Elastic Computer Cloud

Configuring Load Tests

Simulating Traffic on Cloud Computers

Estimating the Cloud Test Price

Tags That LoadComplete Adds to Instances

Important Note

Watch this video to see how to create load tests on cloud computers with LoadComplete:

LoadComplete provides special support for cloud computing services provided by Amazon. You can configure your load test project to access Amazon cloud computing services and use Amazon cloud computers (instances) as load stations.

SmartBear provides a public Amazon machine image you can use for load testing. This image has the Remote Agent utility installed and is configured and fully prepared for load testing. We recommend that you use this image to launch load instances where your traffic will be simulated.

In your LoadComplete projects, you use Amazon Images to configure Amazon could computers (instances) that you want to launch and use to simulate virtual users. The project stores your Amazon Images in the Cloud collection:

Click the image to enlarge it.

For each Amazon Image, you specify –

• The Amazon machine image (AMI) from which LoadComplete will launch load instances. You can use the SmartBear LoadComplete Remote Agent Image, which is a free public image that SmartBear provides.

• The type of instances.

• The Virtual Private Cloud in which LoadComplete will launch instances.

• The availability zone or a subnet.

• The geographical region in which the instance will work.

• The maximum number of virtual users that can be simulated on the instance (from 1 to 2000).

• (Optional) A placement group. A placement group is a group of instances for which Amazon EC2 provides enhanced network performance. To benefit from running load tests in an environment with enhanced network performance, make sure that either your master station (the one from which you control the load test), or your tested web server is in the same placement group where the instances are.

• (Optional) If your instances will work in a subnet that does not provide public IP addresses for instances, disable the Use public IP property. LoadComplete will use private IP addresses to access the instances and simulate traffic on them. Make sure that the master computer (the one from which you will control the test run) has access to the instances. For example, you can use a VPN connection to access the subnet. To learn more about IP addressing in Amazon EC2, see the Amazon EC2 documentation.

For detailed information on the parameters you set in the editor, see the editor description.

You assign created Amazon images to virtual users in your load tests the same way you assign remote stations:

Click the image to enlarge it.

Unlike the Master workstation and ordinary remote workstations to which you can assign no more than 2000 virtual users, you can assign any number of virtual users to Amazon images in your tests. When you start the test, LoadComplete will automatically launch one or several cloud instances from the specified Amazon Images and simulate virtual users on them.

The total number of virtual users you can simulate during a single load test cannot exceed the number of users your license allows.

When you start a load test, LoadComplete –

1. For each group of virtual users that has an Amazon Image assigned:

   • Calculates the number of cloud instances required to simulate those virtual users.

   • Checks whether there are running instances launched from the assigned Amazon Images. If the number of virtual users is greater than the number of virtual users LoadComplete can simulate on those running instances, it calculates the number of additional instances to launch.

2. (Optional) Estimates the approximate cost of the load test run. See Estimating Cloud Resource Costs.

3. If the SmartBear LoadComplete Security Group is not yet added to your Amazon account, LoadComplete creates it. The group includes only one rule that allows traffic through ports 0 - 65535. The Remote Agent utility uses those ports to communicate with LoadComplete and with the tested web sites.

4. Launches new instances, if needed.

5. Connects to cloud instances and simulates virtual users on them.

6. Copies the test results from the instances to your project’s Log folder.

7. If the Tools > Options > Simulating > General > Terminate cloud instances option is enabled, terminates the cloud instances it launched automatically at the beginning of the test run.

   The instances you launched manually will continue running until you terminate them. See Terminating Cloud Instances.

Cloud resources are payable. To control your expenses, you can estimate the cost of using cloud machines in your LoadComplete tests. To learn how to estimate the test price, see –

Estimating Cloud Resource Costs

The price that LoadComplete estimates is approximate. The actual price will be different.

You can find complete information on cloud resource prices on the Amazon web site –

http://aws.amazon.com/windows/

To simplify instance management, LoadComplete adds the following tags to the instances it launches:

Cloud resources are payable. Make sure to shut down all the cloud computers you no longer need in your tests. If your cloud computers are running, your account will be charged.