Conditions and Web traffic are simulated at different levels of scale to help developers fine-tune code, firewalls, or load balancers Soasta is offering developers a cloud service for testing Web applications under simulated conditions, with hits coming from globally distributed locations.Available on Wednesday, the company’s CloudTest Global Platform simulates Web traffic and conditions by leveraging cloud platforms, such as Amazon EC2, Rackspace, 3Tera AppLogic, and Enormally. Real-world Web conditions are simulated from different geographies and time zones at different levels of scale, Soasta said.[ Cloud computing is shaping up to be a big trend for 2009. ] Load generation is produced from virtually thousands of servers from more than 15 locations worldwide, according to Soasta. This provides the most accurate representation of real-world Web traffic and usage, the company said.Developers can simulate customers coming from places like London, Los Angeles, or Hong Kong, said Soasta CEO Tom Lounibos. “It gives them a more real-world feel to how traffic is coming in,” he said.With the growing importance of Web sites, performance has become more critical, he stressed. “Web performance is kind of the new version of customer service,” Lounibos said. Using CloudTest Global Platform, online music company Qtrax recently completed a test simulating more than 500,000 concurrent users from around the world hitting its Web site, Soasta said.Through Web application testing, developers can find errors at certain stress levels and make adjustments to code, firewalls, or load balancers, Lounibos said.Previously, Soasta CloudTest was limited to generating traffic from a single location. “Now, what’s happening is the ability to generate it from multiple, physical locations around the world,” said Lounibos. Soasta Global CloudTest Platform is available as an on-demand service starting at $1,000 per test hour. Software Development