Tutorial: Web Services Loadbalancing in the Amazon Cloud Using Membrane

In this tutorial we will first deploy copies of the same Web service on different instances within the Amazon cloud. We then register another instance with the Membrane Router to act as a loadbalancer. For simplicity we will use pre-configured AMIS images for the instances. The routing will be configured using Membrane's Web Console. Finally we will test the Web services with soapUI.

Starting the Web Service Nodes

1. Login to the AWS console

   https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/

2. Create an EC2 instance. Use the AMIS image with the following id:

   ami-6552940c

   
   

   Figure1: The Membrane LB Node AMIS Image

3. Use an instance type of your choice with default disk settings.

4. Set the tag name to Membrane LB Node 1




Figure2: Membrane LB Node Name Tag

5. Use a security group that has the port 8080 open.

6. After you have started the instance, check if the Web service is running, and open the following URL:

   http://AMIS_PUBLIC_DNS_NAME:8080/prims?wsdl

   Substitute the host name with the public DNS name of the instance.

7. Finally create two additional instances like the one above. Use appropriate tag names like Membrane LB Node 2-3.

Starting the Loadbalancer

1. Create a EC2 instance. Use the AMIS image with the following id:

   ami-f969af90

2. Use an instance type of your choice with default disk settings.

3. Set the tag name to Membrane LB




Figure3: Membrane LB Name Tag

4. Use a security group that has the ports 80, 9000 and 9010 open.

5. After you have started the instance, open the Web console at the following URL:

   http://AMIS_PUBLIC_DNS_NAME:9000/admin

   Substitute the host name with the public DNS name of the instance.

6. Login with username admin and password membrane

   
   

   Figure4: Web Console

Configuring the Default Cluster

1. On the Web console click on the tab Loadbalancer and then on the link Default.

   
   

   Figure5: Web Console Clusters

2. Create a new node. Use the private DNS name of a node instance as host with port 8080.

   
   

   Figure6: Default Cluster

3. Create two additional nodes for the remaining two node instances.

   
   

   Figure7: Default Cluster with 3 Nodes

Testing with soapUI

1. Open soapUI and create a new project with the following WSDL:

   http://AMIS_PUBLIC_DNS_NAME/prims?wsdl

   Use the public DNS name of the instance (E.g Membrane LB) where the membrane router is running.

   
   

   Figure8: SoapUI Project for the Prim Service

2. Create a request like the following:

   					<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" 
   					  				     xmlns:ns="http://membrane-soa.org/lb/1/">
   					   <soapenv:Header/>
   					   <soapenv:Body>
   						  <ns:countPrims>
   							 <n>100000</n>
   						  </ns:countPrims>
   					   </soapenv:Body>
   					</soapenv:Envelope>
   				

   Listing 1: Example Request for the Prim Service

3. Run a load test.

4. Take a look at the call statistics of each node using the Web console.

   
   

   Figure9: Cluster Statistics

Congratulations, you have set up a Web Services cluster in the Amazon Cloud!

Next Steps

You can find a list of all configuration features here.