Docker硒网格或Saas解决方案（Sauce Labs）

Question

Why are devops setting up their own selenium grid over simply using a Saas solution like Sauce Labs?

I'm trying to set up my own CI/CD pipeline and I'm not quiet sure which route to take.

Pros/cons maybe?

Answer 1

It all depends on the level of simplicity involved in the implementation of infrastructure. Newbie users know little about OS virtualisation and containerisation . They are already carrying the load of managing different browsers and OS combinations. Hence , in order to avoid the complexity of setting up custom OS capabilities, newbie users prefer services like Saucelabs or Browserstack . They do all the lower level OS configuration and ask you for only Browser information (version/platform).Its a quick route to setup a CI pipeline. Hence, this type of solution is more expensive than the other one.

Docker system is for advanced users who prefer more control on their OS/containers configuration and prioritise cost optimisation. The architect can control the performance parameters of base machine on top which containers are build. Cost of operation is comparatively less in this kind of solution. However , implementation complexity is high. This route will consume time. Users with right knowledge should follow this route.

For a month ,At $199 , Saucelabs provides, 12000 minutes of automated testing minutes for 2 parallel sessions and 2 parallel users. You get instant access to 800+ OS/browser combinations . Pro point : you get instant access to mobile emulators and simulators as well. Via rest APIs , you can capture session videos also.

Comparatively , at $165.12 , AWS provide you a windows EC2 instance with 16Gigs of RAM and 4 CPU cores , any-time access for a month , at on demand contract. You will setup the containers, establish connections between them and configure the capabilities , all by yourself. That's an overhead , which DevOps teams has to take care. The only pro is you can optimise cost of infrastructure at every possible layer by analysing the resource utilisation.As the tests scales up, this key feature becomes the major factor in cost savings.

PS You can even lower the $165 value by choosing pay per hour usage plan instead of on-demand access plan.