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  • Part 2&ndash;Load Testing In The Cloud

    - by Tarun Arora
    Welcome to Part 2, In Part 1 we discussed the advantages of creating a Test Rig in the cloud, the Azure edge and the Test Rig Topology we want to get to. In Part 2, Let’s start by understanding the components of Azure we’ll be making use of followed by manually putting them together to create the test rig, so… let’s get down dirty start setting up the Test Rig.  What Components of Azure will I be using for building the Test Rig in the Cloud? To run the Test Agents we’ll make use of Windows Azure Compute and to enable communication between Test Controller and Test Agents we’ll make use of Windows Azure Connect.  Azure Connect The Test Controller is on premise and the Test Agents are in the cloud (How will they talk?). To enable communication between the two, we’ll make use of Windows Azure Connect. With Windows Azure Connect, you can use a simple user interface to configure IPsec protected connections between computers or virtual machines (VMs) in your organization’s network, and roles running in Windows Azure. With this you can now join Windows Azure role instances to your domain, so that you can use your existing methods for domain authentication, name resolution, or other domain-wide maintenance actions. For more details refer to an overview of Windows Azure connect. A very useful video explaining everything you wanted to know about Windows Azure connect.  Azure Compute Windows Azure compute provides developers a platform to host and manage applications in Microsoft’s data centres across the globe. A Windows Azure application is built from one or more components called ‘roles.’ Roles come in three different types: Web role, Worker role, and Virtual Machine (VM) role, we’ll be using the Worker role to set up the Test Agents. A very nice blog post discussing the difference between the 3 role types. Developers are free to use the .NET framework or other software that runs on Windows with the Worker role or Web role. Developers can also create applications using languages such as PHP and Java. More on Windows Azure Compute. Each Windows Azure compute instance represents a virtual server... Virtual Machine Size CPU Cores Memory Cost Per Hour Extra Small Shared 768 MB $0.04 Small 1 1.75 GB $0.12 Medium 2 3.50 GB $0.24 Large 4 7.00 GB $0.48 Extra Large 8 14.00 GB $0.96   You might want to review the Windows Azure Pricing FAQ. Let’s Get Started building the Test Rig… Configuration Machine Role Comments VM – 1 Domain Controller for Playpit.com On Premise VM – 2 TFS, Test Controller On Premise VM – 3 Test Agent Cloud   In this blog post I would assume that you have the domain, Team Foundation Server and Test Controller Installed and set up already. If not, please refer to the TFS 2010 Installation Guide and this walkthrough on MSDN to set up your Test Controller. You can also download a preconfigured TFS 2010 VM from Brian Keller's blog, Brian also has some great hands on Labs on TFS 2010 that you may want to explore. I. Lets start building VM – 3: The Test Agent Download the Windows Azure SDK and Tools Open Visual Studio and create a new Windows Azure Project using the Cloud Template                   Choose the Worker Role for reasons explained in the earlier post         The WorkerRole.cs implements the Run() and OnStart() methods, no code changes required. You should be able to compile the project and run it in the compute emulator (The compute emulator should have been installed as part of the Windows Azure Toolkit) on your local machine.                   We will only be making changes to WindowsAzureProject, open ServiceDefinition.csdef. Ensure that the vmsize is small (remember the cost chart above). Import the “Connect” module. I am importing the Connect module because I need to join the Worker role VM to the Playpit domain. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <ServiceDefinition name="WindowsAzureProject2" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceDefinition"> <WorkerRole name="WorkerRole1" vmsize="Small"> <Imports> <Import moduleName="Diagnostics" /> <Import moduleName="Connect"/> </Imports> </WorkerRole> </ServiceDefinition> Go to the ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.cscfg and note that settings with key ‘Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.%%%%’ have been added to the configuration file. This is because you decided to import the connect module. See the config below. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <ServiceConfiguration serviceName="WindowsAzureProject2" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceConfiguration" osFamily="1" osVersion="*"> <Role name="WorkerRole1"> <Instances count="1" /> <ConfigurationSettings> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Diagnostics.ConnectionString" value="UseDevelopmentStorage=true" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.ActivationToken" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.Refresh" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.WaitForConnectivity" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.Upgrade" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.EnableDomainJoin" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainFQDN" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainControllerFQDN" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainAccountName" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainPassword" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainOU" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.Administrators" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainSiteName" value="" /> </ConfigurationSettings> </Role> </ServiceConfiguration>             Let’s go step by step and understand all the highlighted parameters and where you can find the values for them.       osFamily – By default this is set to 1 (Windows Server 2008 SP2). Change this to 2 if you want the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. The Advantage of using osFamily = “2” is that you get Powershell 2.0 rather than Powershell 1.0. In Powershell 2.0 you could simply use “powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted ./myscript.ps1” and it will work while in Powershell 1.0 you will have to change the registry key by including the following in your command file “reg add HKLM\Software\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\ShellIds\Microsoft.PowerShell /v ExecutionPolicy /d Unrestricted /f” before you can execute any power shell. The other reason you might want to move to os2 is if you wanted IIS 7.5.       Activation Token – To enable communication between the on premise machine and the Windows Azure Worker role VM both need to have the same token. Log on to Windows Azure Management Portal, click on Connect, click on Get Activation Token, this should give you the activation token, copy the activation token to the clipboard and paste it in the configuration file. Note – Later in the blog I’ll be showing you how to install connect on the on premise machine.                       EnableDomainJoin – Set the value to true, ofcourse we want to join the on windows azure worker role VM to the domain.       DomainFQDN, DomainControllerFQDN, DomainAccountName, DomainPassword, DomainOU, Administrators – This information is specific to your domain. I have extracted this information from the ‘service manager’ and ‘Active Directory Users and Computers’. Also, i created a new Domain-OU namely ‘CloudInstances’ so all my cloud instances joined to my domain show up here, this is optional. You can encrypt the DomainPassword – refer to the instructions here. Or hold fire, I’ll be covering that when i come to certificates and encryption in the coming section.       Now once you have filled all this information up, the configuration file should look something like below, <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <ServiceConfiguration serviceName="WindowsAzureProject2" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceConfiguration" osFamily="2" osVersion="*"> <Role name="WorkerRole1"> <Instances count="1" /> <ConfigurationSettings> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Diagnostics.ConnectionString" value="UseDevelopmentStorage=true" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.ActivationToken" value="45f55fea-f194-4fbc-b36e-25604faac784" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.Refresh" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.WaitForConnectivity" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.Upgrade" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.EnableDomainJoin" value="true" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainFQDN" value="play.pit.com" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainControllerFQDN" value="WIN-KUDQMQFGQOL.play.pit.com" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainAccountName" value="playpit\Administrator" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainPassword" value="************************" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainOU" value="OU=CloudInstances, DC=Play, DC=Pit, DC=com" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.Administrators" value="Playpit\Administrator" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainSiteName" value="" /> </ConfigurationSettings> </Role> </ServiceConfiguration> Next we will be enabling the Remote Desktop module in to the ServiceDefinition.csdef, we could make changes manually or allow a beautiful wizard to help us make changes. I prefer the second option. So right click on the Windows Azure project and choose Publish       Now once you get the publish wizard, if you haven’t already you would be asked to import your Windows Azure subscription, this is simply the Msdn subscription activation key xml. Once you have done click Next to go to the Settings page and check ‘Enable Remote Desktop for all roles’.       As soon as you do that you get another pop up asking you the details for the user that you would be logging in with (make sure you enter a reasonable expiry date, you do not want the user account to expire today). Notice the more information tag at the bottom, click that to get access to the certificate section. See screen shot below.       From the drop down select the option to create a new certificate        In the pop up window enter the friendly name for your certificate. In my case I entered ‘WAC – Test Rig’ and click ok. This will create a new certificate for you. Click on the view button to see the certificate details. Do you see the Thumbprint, this is the value that will go in the config file (very important). Now click on the Copy to File button to copy the certificate, we will need to import the certificate to the windows Azure Management portal later. So, make sure you save it a safe location.                                Click Finish and enter details of the user you would like to create with permissions for remote desktop access, once you have entered the details on the ‘Remote desktop configuration’ screen click on Ok. From the Publish Windows Azure Wizard screen press Cancel. Cancel because we don’t want to publish the role just yet and Yes because we want to save all the changes in the config file.       Now if you go to the ServiceDefinition.csdef file you will see that the RemoteAccess and RemoteForwarder roles have been imported for you. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <ServiceDefinition name="WindowsAzureProject2" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceDefinition"> <WorkerRole name="WorkerRole1" vmsize="Small"> <Imports> <Import moduleName="Diagnostics" /> <Import moduleName="Connect" /> <Import moduleName="RemoteAccess" /> <Import moduleName="RemoteForwarder" /> </Imports> </WorkerRole> </ServiceDefinition> Now go to the ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.cscfg file and you see a whole bunch for setting “Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.RemoteAccess.%%%” values added for you. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <ServiceConfiguration serviceName="WindowsAzureProject2" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceConfiguration" osFamily="2" osVersion="*"> <Role name="WorkerRole1"> <Instances count="1" /> <ConfigurationSettings> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Diagnostics.ConnectionString" value="UseDevelopmentStorage=true" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.ActivationToken" value="45f55fea-f194-4fbc-b36e-25604faac784" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.Refresh" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.WaitForConnectivity" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.Upgrade" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.EnableDomainJoin" value="true" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainFQDN" value="play.pit.com" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainControllerFQDN" value="WIN-KUDQMQFGQOL.play.pit.com" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainAccountName" value="playpit\Administrator" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainPassword" value="************************" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainOU" value="OU=CloudInstances, DC=Play, DC=Pit, DC=com" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.Administrators" value="Playpit\Administrator" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.DomainSiteName" value="" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.RemoteAccess.Enabled" value="true" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.RemoteAccess.AccountUsername" value="Administrator" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.RemoteAccess.AccountEncryptedPassword" value="MIIBnQYJKoZIhvcNAQcDoIIBjjCCAYoCAQAxggFOMIIBSgIBADAyMB4xHDAaBgNVBAMME1dpbmRvd 3MgQXp1cmUgVG9vbHMCEGa+B46voeO5T305N7TSG9QwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQAEggEABg4ol5Xol66Ip6QKLbAPWdmD4ae ADZ7aKj6fg4D+ATr0DXBllZHG5Umwf+84Sj2nsPeCyrg3ZDQuxrfhSbdnJwuChKV6ukXdGjX0hlowJu/4dfH4jTJC7sBWS AKaEFU7CxvqYEAL1Hf9VPL5fW6HZVmq1z+qmm4ecGKSTOJ20Fptb463wcXgR8CWGa+1w9xqJ7UmmfGeGeCHQ4QGW0IDSBU6ccg vzF2ug8/FY60K1vrWaCYOhKkxD3YBs8U9X/kOB0yQm2Git0d5tFlIPCBT2AC57bgsAYncXfHvPesI0qs7VZyghk8LVa9g5IqaM Cp6cQ7rmY/dLsKBMkDcdBHuCTAzBgkqhkiG9w0BBwEwFAYIKoZIhvcNAwcECDRVifSXbA43gBApNrp40L1VTVZ1iGag+3O1" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.RemoteAccess.AccountExpiration" value="2012-11-27T23:59:59.0000000+00:00" /> <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.RemoteForwarder.Enabled" value="true" /> </ConfigurationSettings> <Certificates> <Certificate name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.RemoteAccess.PasswordEncryption" thumbprint="AA23016CF0BDFC344400B5B82706B608B92E4217" thumbprintAlgorithm="sha1" /> </Certificates> </Role> </ServiceConfiguration>          Okay let’s look at them one at a time,       Enabled - Yes, we would like to enable Remote Access.       AccountUserName – This is the user name you entered while you were on the publish windows azure role screen, as detailed above.       AccountEncrytedPassword – Try and decode that, the certificate is used to encrypt the password you specified for the user account. Remember earlier i said, either use the instructions or wait and i’ll be showing you encryption, now the user account i am using for rdp has the same password as my domain password, so i can simply copy the value of the AccountEncryptedPassword to the DomainPassword as well.       AccountExpiration – This is the expiration as you specified in the wizard earlier, make sure your account does not expire today.       Remote Forwarder – Check out the documentation, below is how I understand it, -- One role in an application that implements a remote desktop connection must import the RemoteForwarder module. The two modules work together to enable the remote desktop connections to role instances. -- If you have multiple roles defined in the service model, it does not matter which role you add the RemoteForwarder module to, but you must add it to only one of the role definitions.       Certificate – Remember the certificate thumbprint from the wizard, the on premise machine and windows azure role machine that need to speak to each other must have the same thumbprint. More on that when we install Windows Azure connect Endpoints on the on premise machine. As i said earlier, in this blog post, I’ll be showing you the manual process so i won’t be scripting any star up tasks to install the test agent or register the test agent with the TFS Server. I’ll be showing you all this cool stuff in the next blog post, that’s because it’s important to understand the manual side of it, it becomes easier for you to troubleshoot in case something fails. Having said that, the changes we have made are sufficient to spin up the Windows Azure Worker Role aka Test Agent VM, have it connected with the play.pit.com domain and have remote access enabled on it. Before we deploy the Test Agent VM we need to set up Windows Azure Connect on the TFS Server. II. Windows Azure Connect: Setting up Connect on VM – 2 i.e. TFS & Test Controller Glad you made it so far, now to enable communication between the on premise TFS/Test Controller and Azure-ed Test Agent we need to enable communication. We have set up the Azure connect module in the Test Agent configuration, now the connect end points need to be enabled on the on premise machines, let’s have a look at how we can do this. Log on to VM – 2 running the TFS Server and Test Controller Log on to the Windows Azure Management Portal and click on Virtual Network Click on Virtual Network, if you already have a subscription you should see the below screen shot, if not, you would be asked to complete the subscription first        Click on Install Local Endpoints from the top left on the panel and you get a url appended with a token id in it, remember the token i showed you earlier, in theory the token you get here should match the token you added to the Test Agent config file.        Copy the url to the clip board and paste it in IE explorer (important, the installation at present only works out of IE and you need to have cookies enabled in order to complete the installation). As stated in the pop up, you can NOT download and run the software later, you need to run it as is, since it contains a token. Once the installation completes you should see the Windows Azure connect icon in the system tray.                         Right click the Azure Connect icon, choose Diagnostics and refer to this link for diagnostic detail terminology. NOTE – Unfortunately I could not see the Windows Azure connect icon in the system tray, a bit of binging with Google revealed that the azure connect icon is only shown when the ‘Windows Azure Connect Endpoint’ Service is started. So go to services.msc and make sure that the service is started, if not start it, unfortunately again, the service did not start for me on a manual start and i realised that one of the dependant services was disabled, you can look at the service dependencies and start them and then start windows azure connect. Bottom line, you need to start Windows Azure connect service before you can proceed. Please refer here on MSDN for more on Troubleshooting Windows Azure connect. (Follow the next step as well)   Now go back to the Windows Azure Management Portal and from Groups and Roles create a new group, lets call it ‘Test Rig’. Make sure you add the VM – 2 (the TFS Server VM where you just installed the endpoint).       Now if you go back to the Azure Connect icon in the system tray and click ‘Refresh Policy’ you will notice that the disconnected status of the icon should change to ready for connection. III. Importing Certificate in to Windows Azure Management Portal But before that you need to import the certificate you created in Step I in to the Windows Azure Management Portal. Log on to the Windows Azure Management Portal and click on ‘Hosted Services, Storage Accounts & CDN’ and then ‘Management Certificates’ followed by Add Certificates as shown in the screen shot below        Browse to the location where you saved the certificate earlier, remember… Refer to Step I in case you forgot.        Now you should be able to see the imported certificate here, make sure the thumbprint of the certificate matches the one you inserted in the config files        IV. Publish Windows Azure Worker Role aka Test Agent Having completed I, II and III, you are ready to publish the Test Agent VM – 3 to the cloud. Go to Visual Studio and right click the Windows Azure project and select Publish. Verify the infomration in the wizard, from the advanced settings tab, you can also enabled capture of intellitrace or profiling information.         Click Next and Click Publish! From the view menu bar select the Windows Azure Activity Log window.       Now you should be able to see the deployment progress in real time.             In the Windows Azure Management Portal, you should also be able to see the progress of creation of a new Worker Role.       Once the deployment is complete you should be able to RDP (go to run prompt type mstsc and in the pop up the machine name) in to the Test Agent Worker Role VM from the Playpit network using the domain admin user account. In case you are unable to log in to the Test Agent using the domain admin user account it means the process of joining the Test Agent to the domain has failed! But the good news is, because you imported the connect module, you can connect to the Test Agent machine using Windows Azure Management Portal and troubleshoot the reason for failure, you will be able to log in with the user name and password you specified in the config file for the keys ‘RemoteAccess.AccountUsername, RemoteAccess.EncryptedPassword (just that enter the password unencrypted)’, fix it or manually join the machine to the domain. Once you have managed to Join the Test Agent VM to the Domain move to the next step.      So, log in to the Test Agent Worker Role VM with the Playpit Domain Administrator and verify that you can log in, the machine is connected to the domain and the connect service is successfully running. If yes, give your self a pat on the back, you are 80% mission accomplished!         Go to the Windows Azure Management Portal and click on Virtual Network, click on Groups and Roles and click on Test Rig, click Edit Group, the edit the Test Rig group you created earlier. In the Connect to section, click on Add to select the worker role you have just deployed. Also, check the ‘Allow connections between endpoints in the group’ with this you will enable to communication between test controller and test agents and test agents/test agents. Click Save.      Now, you are ready to deploy the Test Agent software on the Worker Role Test Agent VM and configure it to work with the Test Controller. V. Configuring VM – 3: Installing Test Agent and Associating Test Agent to Controller Log in to the Worker Role Test Agent VM that you have just successfully deployed, make sure you log in with the domain administrator account. Download the All Agents software from MSDN, ‘en_visual_studio_agents_2010_x86_x64_dvd_509679.iso’, extract the iso and navigate to where you have extracted the iso. In my case, i have extracted the iso to “C:\Resources\Temp\VsAgentSetup”. Open the Test Agent folder and double click on setup.exe. Once you have installed the Test Agent you should reach the configuration window. If you face any issues installing TFS Test Agent on the VM, refer to the walkthrough on MSDN.       Once you have successfully installed the Test Agent software you will need to configure the test agent. Right click the test agent configuration tool and run as a different user. i.e. an Administrator. This is really to run the configuration wizard with elevated privileges (you might have UAC block something's otherwise).        In the run options, you can select ‘service’ you do not need to run the agent as interactive un less you are running coded UI tests. I have specified the domain administrator to connect to the TFS Test Controller. In real life, i would never do that, i would create a separate test user service account for this purpose. But for the blog post, we are using the most powerful user so that any policies or restrictions don’t block you.        Click the Apply Settings button and you should be all green! If not, the summary usually gives helpful error messages that you can resolve and proceed. As per my experience, you may run in to either a permission or a firewall blocking communication issue.        And now the moment of truth! Go to VM –2 open up Visual Studio and from the Test Menu select Manage Test Controller       Mission Accomplished! You should be able to see the Test Agent that you have just configured here,         VI. Creating and Running Load Tests on your brand new Azure-ed Test Rig I have various blog posts on Performance Testing with Visual Studio Ultimate, you can follow the links and videos below, Blog Posts: - Part 1 – Performance Testing using Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate - Part 2 – Performance Testing using Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate - Part 3 – Performance Testing using Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate Videos: - Test Tools Configuration & Settings in Visual Studio - Why & How to Record Web Performance Tests in Visual Studio Ultimate - Goal Driven Load Testing using Visual Studio Ultimate Now that you have created your load tests, there is one last change you need to make before you can run the tests on your Azure Test Rig, create a new Test settings file, and change the Test Execution method to ‘Remote Execution’ and select the test controller you have configured the Worker Role Test Agent against in our case VM – 2 So, go on, fire off a test run and see the results of the test being executed on the Azur-ed Test Rig. Review and What’s next? A quick recap of the benefits of running the Test Rig in the cloud and what i will be covering in the next blog post AND I would love to hear your feedback! Advantages Utilizing the power of Azure compute to run a heavy virtual user load. Benefiting from the Azure flexibility, destroy Test Agents when not in use, takes < 25 minutes to spin up a new Test Agent. Most important test Network Latency, (network latency and speed of connection are two different things – usually network latency is very hard to test), by placing the Test Agents in Microsoft Data centres around the globe, one can actually test the lag in transferring the bytes not because of a slow connection but because the page has been requested from the other side of the globe. Next Steps The process of spinning up the Test Agents in windows Azure is not 100% automated. I am working on the Worker process and power shell scripts to make the role deployment, unattended install of test agent software and registration of the test agent to the test controller automated. In the next blog post I will show you how to make the complete process unattended and automated. Remember to subscribe to http://feeds.feedburner.com/TarunArora. Hope you enjoyed this post, I would love to hear your feedback! If you have any recommendations on things that I should consider or any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment. See you in Part III.   Share this post : CodeProject

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  • SyncToBlog #12 Windows Azure and Cloud Links

    - by Eric Nelson
    Some more “syncing to paper” :) Steve Marx wrote a very interesting article about using Hosted Web Core in an Azure Worker Role. Hosted Web Core is a new feature in IIS 7 that enables developers to create applications that load the core IIS functionality. Wade Wegner is a new Technical Evangelist for Windows Azure platform AppFabric Example from Wade (and how I found him) Host WCF Services in IIS with Service Bus Endpoints Google and vmware “get engaged” over cloud http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2010/05/enabling-cloud-portability-with-google.html A new cloud comparison site – slick but limited coverage (it is not at Azure level, rather BPOS level) www.cloudhypermarket.com  The Rise of NoSQL Database (devx free registration required) Moe Khosravy talks about Codename "Dallas"  to my colleague David G (14min video) New videos Calculating the cost of Azure and Calculating the cost of SQL Azure Related Links: Previous SyncToBlog posts My delicious bookmarks

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  • Devfish Joe Healy in Fort Lauderdale - Cloud Computing and Azure - 03/11/2010 MSDN Tiki Hut

    - by Rainer
    Devfish Joe Healy, Brian Hitney, and Herve Rogero presented excellent sessions on today's MSDN Tiki Hut Event about  Cloud Computing and Azure. This was an developer focused event, starting out with an overview about structure and platform, followed by working code samples running on the platform, and all needed information to get developers started on development for cloud applications. Participants had Q&A opportunities after each session and made good use of it. I am sure that a lot of developers will jump on the Azure train. Azure is on top of my dev project list after that great event! This platform offers endless opportunities for development and businesses. The cloud environment in general is safer, scales better, and is far more cost effective compared to run and maintain your own data center. Posted: Rainer Habermann

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  • Google I/O 2012 - Cloud Support

    Google I/O 2012 - Cloud Support Robert Pufky, Zach Szafran, James Meador Google's Support Organization migrated applications from traditional web stacks to a cloud platform. See a real-world case study on one team's successful effort to move to the cloud, and their experiences from it. This includes providing crowdsourced real-time information for technicians, maintenance cost reductions, syncing data for corporate-wide usage and general tips and tricks we've learned along the way. For all I/O 2012 sessions, go to developers.google.com From: GoogleDevelopers Views: 1154 12 ratings Time: 43:58 More in Science & Technology

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  • Oracle Announces General Availability of Oracle Database 12c, the First Database Designed for the Cloud

    - by Javier Puerta
    Oracle Announces General Availability of Oracle Database 12c, the First Database Designed for the Cloud REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. – July 1, 2013 News Summary As organizations embrace the cloud, they seek technologies that will transform business and improve their overall operational agility and effectiveness. Oracle Database 12c is a next-generation database designed to meet these needs, providing a new multitenant architecture on top of a fast, scalable, reliable, and secure database platform. By plugging into the cloud with Oracle Database 12c, customers can improve the quality and performance of applications, save time with maximum availability architecture and storage management and simplify database consolidation by managing hundreds of databases as one. Read full press release

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  • Oracle Announces General Availability of Oracle Database 12c, the First Database Designed for the Cloud

    - by Javier Puerta
    Oracle Announces General Availability of Oracle Database 12c, the First Database Designed for the Cloud REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. – July 1, 2013 News Summary As organizations embrace the cloud, they seek technologies that will transform business and improve their overall operational agility and effectiveness. Oracle Database 12c is a next-generation database designed to meet these needs, providing a new multitenant architecture on top of a fast, scalable, reliable, and secure database platform. By plugging into the cloud with Oracle Database 12c, customers can improve the quality and performance of applications, save time with maximum availability architecture and storage management and simplify database consolidation by managing hundreds of databases as one. Read full press release  

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  • Redehost Transforms Cloud & Hosting Services with MySQL Enterprise Edition

    - by Mat Keep
    RedeHost are one of Brazil's largest cloud computing and web hosting providers, with more than 60,000 customers and 52,000 web sites running on its infrastructure. As the company grew, Redehost needed to automate operations, such as system monitoring, making the operations team more proactive in solving problems. Redehost also sought to improve server uptime, robustness, and availability, especially during backup windows, when performance would often dip. To address the needs of the business, Redehost migrated from the community edition of MySQL to MySQL Enterprise Edition, which has delivered a host of benefits: - Pro-active database management and monitoring using MySQL Enterprise Monitor, enabling Redehost to fulfil customer SLAs. Using the Query Analyzer, Redehost were able to more rapidly identify slow queries, improving customer support - Quadrupled backup speed with MySQL Enterprise Backup, leading to faster data recovery and improved system availability - Reduced DBA overhead by 50% due to the improved support capabilities offered by MySQL Enterprise Edition. - Enabled infrastructure consolidation, avoiding unnecessary energy costs and premature hardware acquisition You can learn more from the full Redehost Case Study Also, take a look at the recently updated MySQL in the Cloud whitepaper for the latest developments that are making it even simpler and more efficient to develop and deploy new services with MySQL in the cloud

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  • Oracle Developer Day: Provisioning und Patching mit Cloud Control

    - by Ralf Durben (DBA Community)
    Mit Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Cloud Control und dem Lifecycle Management Pack können Sie Ihren Aufwand in den Bereichen Erstellung und Wartung von Oracle Datenbanken erheblich senken und so Ihre wertvolle Zeit wieder anderen Aufgaben widmen. Dieser Oracle Developer Day zeigt in einer halbtägigen Veranstaltung, wie Sie die Provisionierungs- und Patchinglösungen in Cloud Control für sich nutzen und so viel Zeit einsparen können. Dabei wird die Nutzung anhand von praktischen Beispielen erläutert. Themen dieser Veranstaltung sind: Grundlagen des Provisionings in Cloud Control Datenbank Provisioning Patching und Migration von Datenbanken Sicherheitsmodell rund um Deployment Prozeduren Provisionierung sonstiger Software Weitere Nutzungsmöglichkeiten von Deployment Prozeduren Veranstaltungszeit: 12:00 Uhr Networking Lunch13:00 Uhr Beginn der Präsentationen17:00 Uhr Ende der Veranstaltung Veranstaltungen: 08.10.2012  München10.10.2012  Frankfurt25.10.2012  Hamburg Die Teilnahme zu dieser Veranstaltung ist kostenlos. Anmelden können Sie sich mit einem Klick auf den Veranstaltungsort.

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  • OOW2012 Session: Identity Management and the Cloud

    - by Darin Pendergraft
    Cloud architecture and the agility and cost savings it provides are compelling reasons for companies to consider this alternative deployment option.  However, concerns about security keep customers from making the investment. If you are at Oracle Openworld 2012, please join us for a discussion about IDM and the Cloud - Wednesday,  October 3 @ 1:15 pm - 2:15 pm in Moscone West 3008. Mike Neuenschwander and Melody Liu from Oracle will host special guests John Houston from UPMC, Tim Patterson from CONAGRA Foods Inc., and John Hill from SaskTel as they discuss how customers are addressing security and identity issues in the cloud. Click the link for a full session description: session description

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  • Oracle Developer Day: Provisioning und Patching mit Cloud Control

    - by A&C Redaktion
    Mit Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Cloud Control und dem Lifecycle Management Pack können Sie Ihren Aufwand in den Bereichen Erstellung und Wartung von Oracle Datenbanken erheblich senken und so Ihre wertvolle Zeit wieder anderen Aufgaben widmen. Dieser Oracle Developer Day zeigt in einer halbtägigen Veranstaltung, wie Sie die Provisionierungs- und Patchinglösungen in Cloud Control für sich nutzen und so viel Zeit einsparen können. Dabei wird die Nutzung anhand von praktischen Beispielen erläutert. Themen dieser Veranstaltung sind: Grundlagen des Provisionings in Cloud Control Datenbank Provisioning Patching und Migration von Datenbanken Sicherheitsmodell rund um Deployment Prozeduren Provisionierung sonstiger Software Weitere Nutzungsmöglichkeiten von Deployment Prozeduren Veranstaltungszeit: 12:00 Uhr Networking Lunch13:00 Uhr Beginn der Präsentationen17:00 Uhr Ende der Veranstaltung Veranstaltungen: 08.10.2012  München10.10.2012  Frankfurt25.10.2012  Hamburg Die Teilnahme zu dieser Veranstaltung ist kostenlos und Oracle Partner sind herzlich eingeladen. Anmelden können Sie sich mit einem Klick auf den Veranstaltungsort.

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  • Amazon S3 supporte CORS, la spécification ouvre les ressources de la plateforme Cloud aux applications Web

    Amazon S3 supporte CORS la spécification ouvre les ressources de la plateforme Cloud aux applications Web Amazon Web Services (AWS) a ajouté le support de la spécification CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) à sa plateforme Cloud Amazon S3. CORS est une norme qui offre aux développeurs la possibilité de créer des applications Web qui effectuent des demandes à des domaines autres que celui qui a fourni le contenu principal. L'intégration de CORS à Amazon S3 permet désormais de créer plus facilement des applications Web qui accèdent aux données stockées sur la plateforme Cloud. Les développeurs peuvent utiliser la spécification CORS pour créer des applications Web en JavaScript et ...

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  • Google I/O 2010 - Cloud computing for geospatial apps

    Google I/O 2010 - Cloud computing for geospatial apps Google I/O 2010 - Unleash your map data: Cloud computing for geospatial applications Geo 101 Tom Manshreck The Google Maps API made geospatial development accessible to all but hosting your data remains complex and time consuming. This session will detail the services Google offers for storing your geospatial data in the cloud, illustrate the ways in which that data can be accessed and visualized, and walk through development of a retail store finder using these technologies. For all I/O 2010 sessions, please go to code.google.com From: GoogleDevelopers Views: 322 0 ratings Time: 40:22 More in Science & Technology

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  • Featured partner: Avnet To Supply Oracle Enterprise Cloud Management Solutions In Middle East & North Africa Region

    - by Javier Puerta
    "Global IT solutions distribution leader, Avnet Technology Solutions have been approved to distribute Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c, a complete, integrated and business-driven enterprise cloud management solution, in the Middle East & North Africa region. This will help Avnet which serve customers and suppliers in more than 70 countries to accelerate partners’ business growth in the region while providing support and enablement services to help them quickly address local opportunities. Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c creates business value from IT by leveraging the built-in management capabilities of the Oracle stack for traditional and cloud environments. Using this solution, customers have reported 12 times faster achievement of IT-business alignment. According to Senior Director Oracle business MENA, Avnet Technology Solutions, Hani Barakat, “Enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa region can increase their efficiency and responsiveness while reducing costs and complexity for traditional data centers, virtualised, and cloud computing environments with the help of Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c.” See full press release in "Ventures Africa"

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  • WebLogic & Coherence & Cloud presentations for customer meetings

    - by JuergenKress
    We updated the WebLogic Community Workspace with the latest customer facing presentations: WebLogic 12c.pptx Oracle Coherence.pptx CAF WebLogic Server 12c, Coherence and Java EE.pptx Cloud Your Strategy Your Cloud Your Choice.pptx For all presentation, please visit the WebLogic Community Workspace (WebLogic Community membership required). WebLogic Partner Community For regular information become a member in the WebLogic Partner Community please visit: http://www.oracle.com/partners/goto/wls-emea ( OPN account required). If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center. Blog Twitter LinkedIn Mix Forum Wiki Technorati Tags: WebLogic,Coherence,Cloud,presentations,ppt,sales,WebLogic presentation,WebLogic Community,Oracle,OPN,Jürgen Kress

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  • Google I/O 2012 - Gaming in the Cloud

    Google I/O 2012 - Gaming in the Cloud "Fred Sauer Many games developers are finding the easy development and deployment experience of Google App Engine ideal for building cloud based state-storage, matching making services and collaborations services. When you have a hit game, the last thing you want to do is worry about your server provisioning. App Engine has an always-free tier to get you started and then scales seamlessly to any size of usage. Game developers also use Google Cloud Storage to easily store and quickly deliver media files to clients around the world. For all I/O 2012 sessions, go to developers.google.com From: GoogleDevelopers Views: 1 0 ratings Time: 01:02:17 More in Science & Technology

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  • FMW Cloud Forum: Chicago

    - by kellsey.ruppel
      The increasing popularity of cloud computing is changing how enterprise systems are managed and organized--and that change does not stop at the datacenter. Cloud computing is also changing how enterprises develop and build business applications, a shift that will require unprecedented collaboration across the enterprise, from developers to the user community. Are you currently building applications in the Cloud? What concerns or challenges do you forsee in doing so? Oracle experts will be discussing these topics and how with a user experience platform you can leverage new collaborative practices to design and build applications that deliver business value and meet exacting user requirements. Join us in Chicago on June 29th to learn more and hear from Oracle experts. Not located in Chicago? We're coming to a city near you!

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  • Forbes.com: Oracle's message is Loud & Clear – “We’ve Got The Cloud”

    - by Cinzia Mascanzoni
    In a two-part series on Oracle's cloud strategy, Bob Evans reports on the October 4 meeting where Wall Street analysts questioned Mark Hurd and Safra Catz about the company's positioning for the shift to cloud computing. Access the article and read the Q&A exchanges between the analysts and Hurd and Catz. And then check out Bob's related Forbes.com piece "The Dumbest Idea of 2013," in response to the preposterous chatter that Larry Ellison and Oracle don't "get" the cloud. His powerful six-point argument unravels our competitors' spin. Go to the two-part strategy article. Read the "Dumbest Idea." Follow Bob on Twitter as he frequently updates his Oracle Voice column on Forbes.com.

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  • Cloud Migration Lifecycle

    - by llaszews
    The first step in migrating to the cloud is the set up phase. This phase includes: 1. Plan Cloud Setup - Create a project plan. 2. Set up infrastructure - The IaaS and PaaS environments need to be installed and configured. This includes databases, network, hardware, disk and application servers. 3. Set up shared components - Are applications, database objects or other components going to be made accessible in the cloud ? These shared components need to be configured and made accessible. 4. Set up self-service portal - Customer self service provisioning, management and monitoring.

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  • Cloud consolidation handling multi databases

    - by llaszews
    I have spoken about virtualization and the different types of virtualization. Which includes OS zones, application server domains, database schemas, VLANS and other approaches. Another approach is to create a virtually federated database in the cloud. DBSpaces is a company that has a technology to created a virtually federated database in the cloud. DBSpaces is a Virtual Database technology that allows an organisation thru a single Virtual Database access multiple data sources (or database spaces) in real-time. Additionally dbSpaces can be configured to access an organisations data internally using a remote gateway so that their dbSpace is seamless across the Public and Private cloud.

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  • Oracle RightNow Cloud Service Roadmap - Live Webcast, Nov 13, 6pm CET

    - by Richard Lefebvre
    Did you miss out on Oracle OpenWorld this year? Then make sure you don’t miss out on this Webinar.  The Oracle RightNow development team shares the latest innovations and integrations, including future roadmap, for the Oracle RightNow Service Cloud platform.  Find out how these innovations will help you deliver exceptional customer service to your customers.Join our live Webcast on Wednesday, November 13, 2013, 09:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET (18:00 p.m. CET) to get up to speed with the latest updates and future capabilities, and learn how you can: Provide a more engaging Web experience Increase the effectiveness of assisted service Deliver the right answer at the right time - all the time Agenda Topics How RightNow fits into Oracle's vision for Oracle Service The latest updates to the Oracle RightNow Cloud Service platform Oracle's key investment areas and roadmap for Oracle RightNow Cloud Service Don’t miss this chance to learn how you can delight your customers while improving cost and efficiency.Register Now

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  • Quels sont les avantages du Cloud Computing pour votre entreprise ? Google lance "Go Google Cloud Ca

    Quels sont les avantages du Cloud Computing pour votre entreprise ? Google lance "Go Google Cloud Calculator" pour en appréhender les bénéfices Le cloud computing intéresse de plus en plus d'entreprises, et des millions d'entre elles se sont tournées vers Google en migrant vers les Google Apps. Une décision encore audacieuse, tant il est difficile d'imaginer ce que le travail « dans le nuage » signifie vraiment et quels en sont les véritables avantages. Quel est l'impact de la collaboration en ligne sur votre lieu de travail ? Comment une capacité de stockage d'email accrue ou une messagerie instantanée intégrée et le chat vidéo pourraient avoir un impact sur la productivité de votre entreprise ?

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  • Why Deliver Customer Service in the Cloud?

    - by Charles Knapp
    In volatile, competitive markets, delivering exceptional service across channels is essential. But delivering world-class service on tight budgets, and deliving improvements quickly, is a tough challenge. That's why so many of the world's most successful organizations choose to deliver customer service in the cloud. Example: Michele Watson, VP of Global Customer Care at Match.com, says Oracle's service in the cloud "helps our customer receive the support they need in real time, our contact center agents be more productive and helpful, and our executive and product development teams receive detailed feedback to continue our improve our customers' experience." Learn more here about why you should consider delivering customer service in the cloud

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  • How to minimize the risk of employees spreading critical information?

    - by Industrial
    Hi everyone, What's common sense when it comes to minimising the risk of employees spreading critical information to rivalling companies? As of today, it's clear that not even the US government and military can be sure that their data stays safely within their doors. Thereby I understand that my question probably instead should be written as "What is common sense to make it harder for employees to spread business critical information?" If anyone would want to spread information, they will find a way. That's the way life work and always has. If we make the scenario a bit more realistic by narrowing our workforce by assuming we only have regular John Does onboard and not Linux-loving sysadmins , what should be good precautions to at least make it harder for the employees to send business-critical information to the competition? As far as I can tell, there's a few obvious solutions that clearly has both pros and cons: Block services such as Dropbox and similar, preventing anyone to send gigabytes of data through the wire. Ensure that only files below a set size can be sent as email (?) Setup VLANs between departments to make it harder for kleptomaniacs and curious people to snoop around. Plug all removable media units - CD/DVD, Floppy drives and USB Make sure that no configurations to hardware can be made (?) Monitor network traffic for non-linear events (how?) What is realistic to do in a real world? How does big companies handle this? Sure, we can take the former employer to court and sue, but by then the damage has already been caused... Thanks a lot

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  • How does the Cloud compare to Colocation? And development too

    - by David
    Currently I/we run a SaaS web application where each subscriber has their own physical instance of the application in addition to their own database. The setup has each web application instance deployed on two different IIS boxes both for load-balancing and redundancy (the machines have their Windows Update install times 12 hours apart, for example). Databases are mirrored on two different SQL Server 2012 machines with AlwaysOn for uptime. I don't make use of SQL Server clustering (as it doesn't provide storage-level failover: we don't have a shared storage box). Because it's a Windows setup it means there are two Domain Controllers (we cheat: they're both Mac Minis, 17W each, which keeps our colo power costs low). Finally there's also an Exchange server (Mailbox, Hub Transport and Client Access). One of the SQL Servers also doubles-up as an Exchange Hub Transport. Running costs are about $700 a month for our quarter-rack colocation (which includes power and peering/transfer), then there's about $150 a month for SPLA licensing, so $850 a month in total. Then there's the hard-to-quantify cost of administration, but I reckon I spend a couple of hours a week checking-in on the servers: reviewing event logs, etc. I keep getting bombarded by ads and manufactured news stories about how great "the cloud" is. Back in 2008 when the cloud was taking off I was reading up about the proper "cloud" services like Google AppEngine, where you write in Python against Google's API and that's how they scale your application across servers and also use their database provider for scaling storage. Simple enough to understand. Then came along Amazon, and I understand how Amazon Storage works, but I'm not sure how Amazon Compute works: web application pages don't take much CPU time to compute, how do you even quantify usage anyway? Finally, RackSpace gets in the act and now I'm really confused. RackSpace advertise "Cloud" SQL Server 2012 available for about "$0.70 per hour", going by how they advertise it I thought the "hour" meant the sum of CPU time, IO blocking time, maybe time spent transferring data, so for a low-intensity application that works out pretty cheap then? Nope. I went on to a Sales Chat window and spoke to one of their advisors. They told me the $0.70/hour was actually for every hour the SQL Server is running... but who wants a SQL Server for only a few hours? You're going to need it available 24 hours a day for months on end. $0.70 * 24 * 31 works out at $520 a month, which is rediculously expensive for SQL Server. An SPLA license for SQL Server is only $50 a month or so. That $520 a month does not include "fanatical support", and you also need to stack on top the costs of the host Windows server instance too. From what I can tell, Rackspace's "Cloud" products seem like like an cynical rebranding of an overpriced VPS service, but priced by the hour. I have the same confusion about Windows Azure which uses similar terms to describe the products available, but I think that's because Azure offers both traditional shared webhosting in addition to their own APIs you can target for scalable applications.

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