A Simulation-Based Approach for Scalable Cloud Orchestration Testing: Emulating the VMware vCloud Director API
Abstract
The growing complexity of multi-cloud environments has intensified the need for reliable, scalable, and secure orchestration testing frameworks. This study presents a simulation-based approach for evaluating the performance, scalability, and reliability of cloud orchestration systems by emulating the VMware vCloud Director (VCD) API. The proposed framework replicates core orchestration operations—such as virtual machine provisioning, network configuration, and resource scheduling—within a controlled, simulated environment, allowing testers to validate automation workflows without depending on live infrastructure. Using Python-based API emulation and containerized microservices, the model enables parallel execution of simulated requests to assess concurrency behavior, latency, and fault tolerance across distributed systems. Benchmarking results demonstrate significant improvements in test coverage and execution efficiency compared to traditional manual or environment-dependent testing. The study further integrates CI/CD pipeline automation and zero-trust security validation to ensure realistic orchestration behavior in multi-tenant architectures. The findings highlight that API-level simulation not only accelerates testing cycles but also mitigates risks related to cost, scalability constraints, and system downtime, offering a repeatable and cost-effective methodology for large-scale cloud orchestration testing.