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Running multiple packages at once

Overview

The ability to run multiple test packages in parallel has been added to CDRouter 13.0. To enable this feature, additional test instances must be purchased and installed on the system. The number of simultaneous test runs is limited by the number of test instances and physical interfaces that are available. For more information regarding test instances, please refer to the QA Cafe license FAQ.

After clicking the Launch button for a package, CDRouter will do one of three things:

  • Run the package, if no other packages are currently running.
  • Run the package, if the interfaces used by the package do not overlap with those of any currently running package and if there is an available test instance.
  • Add the package to the Job Queue, if the package uses interfaces that overlap with any currently running packages or if there are no more available test instances.

When a test instance becomes available and there are packages in the Job Queue, CDRouter will select the next package that uses interfaces that do not overlap with any currently running package. Therefore, the Job Queue does not necessarily reflect the order in which packages will be run.

Scheduling packages using the package scheduler will result in the above behavior at the time the package is scheduled to start.

If a CDRouter system includes only one test instance, packages will be run sequentially in the order they are launched or scheduled.

Viewing Test Interfaces

The Configurations page, Packages page, and Results page now display the test interfaces that are enabled or that were used.

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Note, results that were run on versions of CDRouter older than 13.0 will not display the interfaces that were used.

Hardware Support

Running packages in parallel is supported for hardware versions NTA1000v5 and above.

Considerations

There are a few limitations to CDRouter’s parallel testing feature:

  • Multiple packages using an ICS interface may be run in parallel, but they must use non-overlapping WAN ISP networks.

  • Multiple packages using the same ICS interface may be run in parallel, so long as all of their non-ICS interfaces are available.

  • CDRouter uses physical interfaces when determining if interfaces overlap. Therefore when using VLAN’s, devices must use unique physical ports on the system in order to run testing in parallel.

When planning for high-volume testing using multiple packages running in parallel, it is important to consider if any package might block other packages from running for the reasons listed above. Those packages should be queued last or separately in order for parallel tests to finish running on all available test instances. Packages that could cause inadvertent blockages include packages that use multiport, wireless, ICS, or VLAN’s.