In the previous blog of this series,Testing-as-a-Service -Part 2 ,I talked about the types of TaaS and when it is recommended.In this concluding snippet, I skim over TaaS over the cloud.This term appears to be a misnomer since “as -a –Service” or “On Demand” automatically goes hand in glove with anything Cloud .To simplify things,let us mention it as Testing on the Cloud for some time .
What is Cloud Testing?
Cloud Testing is yet another boggling term adding to the "good-to-know" and "critical-to know" jargon and makes us ask several questions like
1) Do we need to test differently for cloud?
2) Is “Cloud Testing” same as “Testing a cloud”?
3) What are the various tools that can be used?
4) What are the pros and cons?
Probing for some answers resulted in:
1) Do we need to test differently for cloud?
Yes and No!
“No” because like any other software or artifact, testing cloud should and must incorporate thorough functional testing .Testing cloud will include testing in a cloud (infrastructure, functionality and software), testing across clouds (private, public and hybrid clouds) and Testing of a cloud as a whole (the various features and potential)
“Yes “because there are certain other non-functional aspects also to be validated like Scalability and elasticity, Security, Performance, Round the clock availability, Resource management which are a must for a cloud set up.
2) Is “Cloud Testing” same as “Testing a cloud”?
‘Testing a cloud’ is an activity to verify, validate and examine either or all of the following-
- Any application or software running/planning to run on the cloud
- Any environment hosted on the cloud
- Any infrastructure, landscape available on demand
“Cloud testing “is an activity which makes use of cloud infrastructure for testing. It takes care of various functional as well as non-functional (security, performance, availability etc.) testing needs by simulating the test objects on the cloud (e.g. simulating real user traffic using cloud environment)instead of the traditional on premise practice.
3) What are some of the popular tools that can be used?
Some well received tools for cloud testing are depicted below. They are mainly used for performance, load, stress and security testing .
There are scores of other tools as well and can be analyzed.
4) What are the benefits and the pitfalls?
The good things about Cloud Testing are siphoned from the now well-known advantages of cloud computing which are mainly –
- Low cost efficient alternative in terms of environment, staffing, maintenance, licensing and so on (Because of effective usage of virtualized resources and cloud infrastructure)
- Scalability and flexibility taken into consideration
- Reduced time for set up
- Usage of automation to further reduce expenses
- Enhanced availability of the testing territory
Some of the demerits include the following –
- A question mark still looms over Security in the public cloud
- And also on Privacy
- There still aren’t universally accepted standards for cloud
- How to optimize usage, planning and performance
- How to guarantee near flawless fool proof integration testing
In simple terms , TaaS over the cloud is heading towards becoming a favored alternative, however before jumping the gun ,it is critical for organizations to understand the implications, run smaller projects first , formulate a working blueprint ,educate the people involved ,buckle up for risk and challenges apropos and then make a confident dive .
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