Step 4: Configure BizTalk Server Environment for Load Testing
This topic provides information for creating the BizTalk Server Receive Locations, Receive Ports, and Send Ports required to run the sample code described in the topics Step 1: Create a Unit Test to Submit Documents to BizTalk Server and Step 3: Create a Load Test to Perform Multiple Unit Tests Simultaneously.
Configure BizTalk Server Environment for Load Tests
As described in the topic Step 3: Create a Load Test to Perform Multiple Unit Tests Simultaneously, the load test BTS_Messaging_Step is configured to execute the unit tests BTSMessaging and BTSMessaging2. In turn, these unit tests load a copy of the message C:\Projects\LoadTest\BTSLoad\TestMessages\TestXmlDocument.xml and send it to the endpoints BTSMessagingEP and BTSMessagingEP2 as defined in the following section of the project’s application configuration (app.config) file:
<!-- BTSMessagingEP --> <endpoint address="net.tcp://BizTalk Server Computer:8123/btsloadtest" binding="netTcpBinding" bindingConfiguration="netTcpBinding" contract="System.ServiceModel.Channels.IRequestChannel" name="BTSMessagingEP" /> <endpoint address="net.tcp://BizTalk Server Computer:8123/btsloadtest" binding="netTcpBinding" bindingConfiguration="netTcpBinding" contract="System.ServiceModel.Channels.IRequestChannel" name="BTSMessagingEP2" />
Note
As noted earlier, BizTalk Server Computer is a placeholder for the actual BizTalk Server computer names or, in the case that the BizTalk Server Computers are configured as members of a Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster; BizTalk Server Computer is a placeholder for the name or address of the corresponding NLB virtual server.
For purposes of this example, two BizTalk Server computers were used and the BizTalk Server Message Box database was on a remote SQL Server computer.
Create BizTalk Server Send and Receive Hosts
Follow the steps in the BizTalk Server Documentation topic How to Create a New Host to create a BizTalk Server “Send” host for Send Ports and Send adapter handlers. Configure the host with the following properties:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | TxHost |
| Type | In-Process |
| Allow Host Tracking | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
| Authentication Trusted | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
| 32-bit only | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
| Make this the default host in the group | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
| Windows group | The Windows group used to control access to this host and associated host instances. The Window group created for the default in-process host is named either <Computer Name>\BizTalk Application Users (for a single server BizTalk Server installation) or <Domain Name>\BizTalk Application Users (for a multiple server BizTalk Server installation, which requires the use of domain groups). Note: <Computer Name> and <Domain Name> are placeholders for the actual computer name or domain name used when the group was created. If a new group is created for this host, then it must have the privileges described in the topic Host Groups. |
Repeat the steps that you followed when creating the “Send” host to create a “Receive” host. Configure the “Receive” host with the following property values:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | RxHost |
| Type | In-Process |
| Allow Host Tracking | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
| Authentication Trusted | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
| 32-bit only | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
| Make this the default host in the group | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
| Windows group | The Windows group used to control access to this host and associated host instances. The Window group created for the default in-process host is named either <Computer Name>\BizTalk Application Users (for a single server BizTalk Server installation) or <Domain Name>\BizTalk Application Users (for a multiple server BizTalk Server installation, which requires the use of domain groups). Note: <Computer Name> and <Domain Name> are placeholders for the actual computer name or domain name used when the group was created. If a new group is created for this host, then it must have the privileges described in the topic Host Groups. |
Create Instances of the BizTalk Server Send and Receive Hosts
Follow the steps in the BizTalk Server Documentation topic How to Add a Host Instance to create and start instances of the BizTalk Server “Send” host. Configure an instance of the “Send” host to run on each BizTalk Server in the BizTalk Server group and configure each host instance with the following property values:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Host name | Select TxHost from the drop-down list next to Host name. |
| Server | Select the BizTalk Server that will run this host instance from the drop-down list next to Server. |
| Logon | 1. Click the Configure button to display the Logon Credentials dialog box. 2. In the Logon Credentials dialog box enter the following values for the specified properties: Property Logon: Name of user account that is a member of the Windows group associated with this BizTalk Server host. Password: Password for the user account specified in the Logon textbox. 3. Click OK to close the Logon Credentials dialog box. |
| Disable host instance from starting. | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
After creating the host instance, right-click on the host instance and select Start from the context menu.
Repeat the steps that you followed when creating the “Send” host instances to create “Receive” host instances. Configure an instance of the “Receive” host to run on each BizTalk Server in the BizTalk Server group and configure each host instance with the following property values:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Host name | Select RxHost from the drop-down list next to Host name. |
| Server | Select the BizTalk Server that will run this host instance from the drop-down list next to Server. |
| Logon | 1. Click the Configure button to display the Logon Credentials dialog box. 2. In the Logon Credentials dialog box enter the following values for the specified properties: Property Logon: Name of user account that is a member of the Windows group associated with this BizTalk Server host. Password: Password for the user account specified in the Logon textbox. 3. Click OK to close the Logon Credentials dialog box. |
| Disable host instance from starting | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
After creating the host instance, right-click on the host instance and select Start from the context menu.
Create a BizTalk Server Receive Port
Follow the steps in the topic How to Create a Receive Port in the BizTalk Server documentation to create a One-Way Receive Port. When creating the Receive port, leave all properties at default values except as noted in the table below:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| General\Name | BTSLoadTestMessaging.OneWay.ReceivePort |
| General\Port Type | One-Way |
| General\Authentication | No authentication |
| General\Enable routing for failed messages | Ensure that this box is un-checked. |
| General\Description | Leave blank |
| Inbound Maps | None |
| Tracking | Ensure that all boxes are un-checked. |
| Receive Locations | Click New, this will display the Receive Location Properties dialog box which should be configured as described in the following section, Create a BizTalk Server Receive Location. |
Create a BizTalk Server Receive Location
In the Receive Location Properties dialog box displayed while creating the BizTalk Server Receive port, apply the specified property values:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Name: | BTSLoadTest.Messaging.OneWay.WCF-Customer.ReceiveLocation |
| Receive handler: | RxHost |
| Receive pipeline: | PassThruReceive |
| Description: | Leave this blank |
| Type: | Select WCF-Custom from the drop-down list and then click the Configure button, this will display the WCF-Custom Transport Properties dialog box which should be configured as described in the following section, Configure the WCF-Custom Receive Transport. |
Configure the WCF-Custom Receive Transport
In the WCF-Custom Transport Properties dialog box displayed while creating the BizTalk Server Receive location, leave all properties at default values except as noted in the table below:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| General\Address (URI) | net.tcp://localhost:8123/btsloadtest |
| Binding\Binding Type | netTcpbinding |
| Binding\NetTcpBindingElement\listenBacklog | 400 |
| Binding\NetTcpBindingElement\maxConnections | 400 |
| Binding\Security\NetTcpSecurityElement\mode | None |
| Behavior\ServiceBehavior\serviceThrottling\ServiceThrottlingElement Note: To add the serviceThrottling behavior to the list of behaviors, right-click ServiceBehavior, click Add Extension, select serviceThrottling from the list of behavior extensions and then click OK. | Set the ServiceThrottlingElement properties to the following values: - maxConcurrentCalls 400 - maxConcurrentInstances 400 - maxConcurrentSessions 400 |
| Behavior\ServiceBehavior\serviceDebug\ServiceDebugElement Note: To add the serviceDebug behavior to the list of behaviors, right-click ServiceBehavior, click Add Extension, select serviceDebug from the list of behavior extensions, and then click OK. | Leave the list of ServiceDebugElement properties at their default values (empty) except for the following properties, which should be changed to a value of True: - httpHelpPageEnabled True - httpsHelpPageEnabled True - includeExceptionDetailInFaults True |
Click OK to close the WCF-Custom Transport Properties dialog box and then click OK again to close the Receive Location Properties dialog box.
Create a BizTalk Server Send Port
Follow the steps in the topic How to Create a Send Port in the BizTalk Server documentation to create a Static One-Way Send Port. When creating the Send port, leave all properties at default values except as noted in the table below:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| General\Name | BTSLoadTest.Messaging.Send.WCF-Custom |
| General\Send handler | TxHost |
| General\Send pipeline | PassThruTransmit |
| Filters\Name | BTS.ReceivePortName |
| Filters\Operator | == |
| Filters\Value | BTSLoadTest.Messaging.OneWay.ReceivePort |
| Filters\Group by | And Note: If these properties are configured with the correct values, the filter should be displayed as BTS.ReceivePortName == BTSLoadTest.Messaging.OneWay.ReceivePort as seen toward the bottom of the Filters page of the Send Port Properties dialog box. As a result of applying this filter, this Send port subscribes to any messages received by BizTalk Server via the Receive Port named BTSLoadTest.Messaging.OneWay.ReceivePort. |
| Tracking | Ensure that all boxes are un-checked. |
| General\Type | Select WCF-Custom from the drop-down list and then click the Configure button, this will display the WCF-Custom Transport Properties dialog box which should be configured as described in the following section, Configure the WCF-Custom Send Transport. |
Configure the WCF-Custom Send Transport
In the WCF-Custom Transport Properties dialog box displayed while creating the BizTalk Server Send Port, leave all properties at default values except as noted in the table below:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| General\Address (URI) | net.tcp://<Computer Name>:2001/TCP1 Important: <Computer Name> is a placeholder for the actual computer name used to host IndigoService.exe, which is designed to consume messages sent via WCF. Because IndigoService.exe requires very little resources, it is often perfectly acceptable to run IndigoService.exe on the SQL Server computer used for the BizTalk Server group databases. |
| Binding\Binding Type | customBinding |
As with most of the WCF-Custom Binding Types, the customBinding Binding type exposes several properties, which should be set to the following values:
Under the Binding section there is a CustomBindingElement property with an associated Configuration section. Leave all of the values in the Configuration section for the CustomBindingElement property at their default values.
Then under CustomBindingElement right-click textMessageEncoding and select Remove extension (Del). Likewise, right-click httpTransport and select Remove extension (Del).
Now right-click CustomBindingElement and select Add extension Ins to display the Select Binding Element Extension dialog box.
Select binaryMessageEncoding and click OK to add the binaryMessageEncoding element extension. Repeat the steps to display the Select Binding Element Extension dialog box and scroll down the list of available element extensions until you see the tcpTransport element extension, select tcpTransport and click OK.
Under CustomBindingElement select the tcpTransport element and in the Configuration section for tcpTransport, leave all properties at default values except as noted in the following table:
Property Value connectionBufferSize 2097152 maxBufferSize 2097152 maxPendingAccepts 400 maxPendingConnections 400 listenBacklog 400 maxBufferPoolSize 2097152 maxReceivedMessageSize 2097152 Under the tcpTransport element select the ConnectionPoolSettings element and leave all properties at default values except for the maxOutboundConnectionsPerEndpoint property, which should be changed to a value of 400.
Click OK to close the WCF-Custom Transport Properties dialog box, then click OK again to close the BTSLoadTest.Messaging.Send.WCF-Custom – Send Port Properties dialog box.
Configure a Computer to Consume Messages Sent by the BizTalk Server Send Port
As described earlier, the IndigoService.exe is designed to consume messages sent via WCF. It includes the following 4 files, and they should be on the computer that you would like to run IndigoService.exe:
\IndigoService\bin\Release\IndigoService.exe
\IndigoService\bin\Release\IndigoService.exe.config
\IndigoService\bin\Release\Response.xml
\IndigoService\bin\Release\StartIndigoService.bat
Then, start IndigoService.exe by double-clicking on StartIndigoService.bat. IndigoService.exe consumes messages sent to the endpoint specified in the IndigoService.exe.config file:
<endpoint address="net.tcp://localhost:2001/TCP1" binding="netTcpBinding" bindingConfiguration="Binding1" name="endpoint1" contract="IndigoService.IServiceTwoWaysVoidNonTransactional" />
This is why the Send Port Address is configured with an Address (URI) of net.tcp://<Computer Name>:2001/TCP1
Because IndigoService.exe requires very little resources, it is often perfectly acceptable to run IndigoService.exe on the SQL Server computer used for the BizTalk Server databases.
Disable Tracking and Throttling for the BizTalk Server Group
In order to determine the absolute maximum sustainable throughput of the system, both message Tracking and Throttling should be disabled before beginning load testing. This can be done using the BizTalk Server Administration console by following these steps:
Launch the BizTalk Server Administration console. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to BizTalk Server 2010 and then click BizTalk Server Administration.
Under BizTalk Server Administration, select your BizTalk Group if it is listed or if it is not listed, right-click BizTalk Server Administration, select Connect to Existing Group, enter the SQL Server name that houses the BizTalk Group’s BizTalk Server Management database next to SQL Server name:, enter the name of the BizTalk Group’s management database name next to Database name: and then click OK.
Right-click the BizTalk Group node and select Settings to display the BizTalk Settings Dashboard.
Click to select Hosts in the left hand pane of the BizTalk Settings Dashboard.
Click the dropdown list next to Host to select one of the hosts that will be used during performance testing.
Leave properties at their default values except as noted in the following table:
Property Value General\Move tracking data to DTA DB Uncheck this box if it is checked. General\32-bit only Uncheck this box if it is checked. General\Polling Intervals\Messaging Set to a value of 20000000 General\Polling Intervals\Orchestrations Set to a value of 20000000 Resource-Based Throttling\In-process messages Set to a value of 10000 Resource-Based Throttling\Internal message queue size Set to a value of 10000 Resource-Based Throttling\Message count in DB Set to a value of 0 Resource-Based Throttling\Memory Usage\Process virtual Set to a value of 0 Rate-Based Throttling\Publishing\Throttling override Set to Do Not Throttle Rate-Based Throttling\Delivery\Throttling override Set to Do Not Throttle Repeat the process outlined in step 6 for every host that will be used during the course of performance testing.
Click to select Host Instances in the left hand pane of the BizTalk Settings Dashboard.
Click the dropdown list next to Host Instance: to select one of the host instances that will be used for performance testing.
Leave property values at their default setting except change the .NET CLR Maximum worker threads to a value of 100 and change the .NET CLR Minimum worker threads to a value of 25.
Repeat the process outlined in step 10 for every host instance that will be used during the course of performance testing.
Even though disabling Tracking and Throttling does not in any way represent what should be done in a production scenario, because these operations are so expensive from a performance perspective it makes sense to disable them to find out the true Maximum Sustainable Throughput (MST) of a BizTalk Server Environment. This allows testers to clearly see the impact of any performance tweaking that has been applied to the environment. Certainly an argument could be made that tracking should not be disabled and if you know from the outset that your BizTalk Server application will require tracking then you should enable tracking. With that said, every effort should be made to disable throttling for purposes of performance testing. Throttling is very useful for preventing a BizTalk Server from “falling over” due to excessive load in a production environment. However, you don’t want throttling enabled during performance testing because it is expensive from a performance standpoint and because if throttling kicks in during a load test then you will have a very difficult time determining what level of performance your BizTalk Server application can actually achieve. The next topics describe how to perform step load testing to push your BizTalk Server environment beyond MST and then scale back to actual MST with constant load testing. If throttling is enabled then it will become nearly impossible to push your BizTalk environment beyond MST so that you could in turn discover what the true MST is.