Test multiple web role instances in the Azure emulator

Question

I have a web role that will run on multiple instances on Azure. It is an MVC3 app that allows users to upload multiple image files. I'm using Plupload (http://www.plupload.com/) for uploads and the files are sent on chunks to the server.

I would like to test how this works on multiple instances. So I configured my cloud service to start 2 instances of my web role and put a breakpoint in my Upload action. The problem is that all my requests are served by the first instance of the web role. I would like the requests to be balanced (but this could be an issue with how Plupload handles the upload). Is there any way to simulate that behavior?

When you say all requests are handled by one instance, do you mean all uploaded chunks for a single file, or do you mean you tried uploading 10 files and connected to the same instance 10 times? — David Makogon

Shaun Xu Shaun Xu · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-27T14:42:53

I have to say that the load balance of the local emulator was not that "balanced". You need to try many times to ensure that it does route your request to all instances. My experience is that, even though just have 2 instances and press F5 to refresh the same page, you need about 10 - 15 times to make sure it's balanced to another instance.

Test multiple web role instances in the Azure emulator

1 Answers