The tab enables you to configure how agents are assigned to a workload profile to deliver required load, including static or dynamic assignment to specific project agents and dynamic assignment to Silk Central agent clusters.
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Agents | Lists the agents that are currently available for workload assignment along with the maximum virtual-user capacity that each
agent can drive for each capability type (Java, ODBC, SAPGUI, etc.)
Maximum virtual-user capacity depends on the Agent Resource Utilization setting. This list can assist you with error handling in cases of failed dynamic workload-assignment by displaying agents that can not be connected via the Silk Performer launcher service or are currently locked by other load tests. When logged in to the cloud, this list displays the available cloud agents side-by-side to other available agents. |
| Assignment type: Static assignment to project agents | Use this method to statically assign specific agent computers (rather than clusters of agents) to your project. No agent-availability check is performed with this method and agent locking is disabled. Select this method if you want to use Agents deployed in the cloud. |
| Assignment type: Dynamic assignment to project agents | With this method, workload is delivered using dynamic agent-assignment at execution time against the project's agents. Workload delivery is enhanced with agent-capability specifications to create optimized workload-to-agent assignments based on the capabilities of each agent. Agent locking at execution time is enabled with this method. Only responding agents that are not currently used by another controller are used with this method. |
| Assignment type: Dynamic assignment to Silk Central agent cluster | Silk Performer workload delivered by way of Silk Central can also use dynamic workload-to-agent assignment. Within Silk Performer you choose the name of the agent cluster (from the drop list) that should deliver your test's workload. Silk Central then provides the list of agent computers that are assigned to the cluster. Workload is then assigned to specific agents at the moment of execution based on the capabilities of the individual agents. After you connect to Silk Central, you are presented with the list of available agent clusters. In the right-most window, you can view the agents that are currently associated with the selected agent cluster. With this approach, the agents of a cluster can be changed without requiring modification of your Silk Performer project. Download of the agent clusters list from Silk Central requires Silk Central logon credentials. If your Silk Performer project is already associated with a Silk Central test definition, login is not required. Agent locking at execution time is enabled with this method. Only responding agents that are not currently in use by another controller are used with this method. If your project is not associated with a test definition in Silk Central, the Silk Central connection parameters from Silk Performer's system settings are used. When neither approach is successful, the Download agent clusters from Silk Central dialog appears. This dialog features the same values as those found at , Silk Central. Specify appropriate connection parameters and click Finish. |
| Even user distribution | This option is enabled when Static assignment to project agents is selected. Use this option to distribute all existing user types evenly across all agents, depending on each agent's general replay capabilities. For example, if you have 50 VUsers and 5 agents, each agent runs ten VUsers. If this option is not enabled, the first agent would run all 50 VUsers if replay capabilities permit. The other agents would rest idle, taking over the workload only if one agent reaches its maximum replay capability. |
| Use cloud agents | This option is enabled when Static assignment to project agents is selected. Use this option if you want to deploy agents that run as virtual machines in the cloud. When checking this checkbox, the cloud Login dialog box opens, asking for your user credentials (check Save Credentials to not be asked for your credentials again). Contact your sales representative to retrieve valid credentials. |
| Cloud Agent Manager | Click here to launch the Cloud Agent Manager, which allows you to manage your agents in the cloud. |
| Agent resource utilization | Check the Agent resource utilization check box to assign a maximum percentage of total virtual users that each agent can run based on the agent's replay capabilities. For example, if an agent can run 50 users of SAPGUI capability, then an Agent resource utilization value of 50% results in 25 available SAPGUI virtual users for the test. This value is reflected in the Agents table. |
| Balance load across agents |
This option is especially desirable for increasing or dynamic workloads. Note that this setting does not come into effect
until the moment of execution.
|
| UserType/Agents | This portion of the tab enables you to edit the users-to-agents assignments that are associated with your project. A roll-over tooltip on each usertype shows the capabilities that are required for the usertype. This is useful for error handling in cases when workload assignment fails. |
| User Distribution Overview | Click the User Distribution Overview button to view a summary of the users-to-agent assignments in your project. |