Load testing a HTTP end-point from different geo-locations

Question

Is it possible to simulate a load test on a HTTP endpoint from different geo-locations. e.g. I want to simulate requests to http endpoint from US, Canada, Mexico, China...

Answer 1

Yes. You'll either need to employ a testing service for this (either full-service or self-service) or obtain your own computing resources to do this. One of the cloud providers can give you the short-term resources you need a minimal cost. For example, Amazon EC2 has datacenters in 7 (8?) parts of the world. We use it in our testing services and it is integrated into our load testing software and it works great. The testing software you choose (and your site's performance requirements) will determine the kind and quantity of resources you'll need.

Answer 2

Are you interested on having the actual requests coming from the different geo-locations or your interest is related to the latency associated with having requests coming form those locations?

If you real need is the second one, then you have a couple of options:

• Software based network emulation: E.g. Visual Studio load testing allows you to simulate latency during load tests.
• Hardware based network emulation: solutions to simulate latency, also called WAN Emulators. E.g. SHUNRA

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

I saw that it's possible to specify geographical location in Load Testing Cloud which is compatible with JMeter. Use parameter 'Load Origin Location' when create load test.