Performance testing in an Alibaba Cloud VPC - Performance Testing

Performance Testing Service (PTS) can run tests entirely within an Alibaba Cloud virtual private cloud (VPC). This mode deploys load generators in the same region as your target servers, directing all test traffic over the internal network. This topic describes how to test single- and multi-instance services.

Limitations

The following limits apply to performance tests within an Alibaba Cloud VPC:

Resource limits: The supported throughput varies by region, ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 TPS.
IP address limits:
- You must select the VPC where your target service is located.
- The test endpoints must be private IP addresses within the Alibaba Cloud VPC. You can use IP addresses directly or domain names that resolve to private IP addresses. For more information about how to bind domain names, see Domain name binding.
- A test scenario can only target a single region. All API endpoints must be for internal services within that region, as cross-region testing is not supported.
- To test services in another cloud or an on-premises data center connected by a leased line, your VPC and the connected networks must share the same address range (for example, 10.0.0.0/8).
Whitelist limits:
- You must manually grant internal network access, which requires familiarity with Alibaba Cloud ECS security groups and SLB.
- The security groups must not restrict outbound traffic. Security groups managed by other cloud services are not supported.
- You must add the vSwitch CIDR block to the target service's internal network whitelist.

Before you start a test, check that your configuration meets these conditions, especially the IP address and whitelist limits. Otherwise, network connectivity issues may occur.

Test a single-instance service

A single-instance service is deployed on one ECS instance.

Log on to the PTS console, choose Performance Test > Create Scenario, and then click PTS.
On the Scene Configuration tab, configure the scene. For more information, see Create a PTS scene.
In the Load Settings area, for Load Source, select Alibaba Cloud VPC Internal Network. Then, select a Region and the VPC Information.

Note
Ensure that the selected vSwitch has enough available IP addresses for the number of load generators.
Click Save and Start to start the test.

Test a multi-instance service

A multi-instance service runs on multiple ECS instances. To test this service from within an Alibaba Cloud VPC, you must place the instances behind a load balancer. After setting up the load balancer, you can configure and run the performance test.

Create a load balancer instance and add ECS instances to it.
1. Log on to the SLB console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances.
2. On the Instances page, click Create Classic Load Balancer and configure the parameters. Set Instance Type to Intranet and Network Type to VPC. For more information, see Create and manage CLB instances.
3. After completing the configuration, click Buy Now.
4. On the Instances page, find the target instance and in the Actions column, click Configure Listener to add a listener. For more information, see CLB listeners.
  Note
  
  In the Advanced Settings section of the Advanced Settings step, the Access Control switch is off by default. Keep it off.
  
  Creating a load balancer instance incurs additional costs.
  
  An undersized load balancer can become a bottleneck during performance testing.
Configure the VPC performance test.
1. Log on to the PTS console, choose Performance Test > Create Scenario, and then click PTS.
2. On the Scene Configuration tab, configure the scene. For more information, see Create a PTS scene.
3. In the Load Settings area, for Load Source, select Alibaba Cloud VPC Internal Network. Then, select a Region and the VPC Information.
Click Save and Start to start the test.