Virtualization Technology for Test Automation

EXTENT Conference 2011 - Test Automation for Trading Systems

Presentation by Mark Zhitomirski, Head of IT Infrastructure, Exactpro Systems LLC

Transcript

1. Mark Zhitomirski
   ITS-EXPERT LLC
   Virtualization Technology
   for Test Automation
   

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2. The purpose of computing is insight,
   not numbers.
   Richard Hamming, 1915-1998
   In preface to
   Numerical Methods for Scientists and Engineers, 1962
   

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3. Dictionary
   Virtual, adj: being such in essence or effect though not formally recognized or admitted.
   From Medieval Latin virtualis, from Latin virtus (virtue). First known use: 15th century.
   VM: see Virtual Memory; Virtual Machine
   VFS: ...
   VLAN: ...
   VNC: see VDI
   VPN: ...
   VPS: ...
   See also: Hyper-V, Cloud, AWS, GAE, Microsoft Azure
   

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4. VLAN: Virtual LAN
    isolation, confidentiality
    policy enforcement, authentication (optional)
    partitioning (broadcast domains), equipment re-use = better ROI
   Alternatives?
    less flexible
    more expensive in terms of equipment and labor cost, space used
   

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5. VPN: Virtual Private Network
    isolation (from i-net, from each other), confidentiality
    policy enforcement, authentication
    partitioning, authorization, private address spaces
   Alternatives?
    yes, but .. let's face e.g. “IP authentication” shortcomings
    It's “nice to have” public IP on each device, but what do you do with security?
   

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6. What else can be virtualized?
    memory – VM and Paging pioneered by Ferranti Atlas in 1952 (with University of Manchester and Plessey)
    runtime (library functions) or Virtual Machine – Java VM, .Net CLR, Dalvik (Android JVM)
    filesystem - chroot in Unix – same kernel, network stack, CPU
    filesystem (in user-mode) (SSHFS, Windows “share” mapping, here and above VFS is in game)
    filesystem+network (sandbox, FreeBSD jail, Google Chrome sandbox)
    sandbox + resource slice management/accounting – OpenVZ/Virtuozzo (specific shortcomings – no IPSec, memory
   management/accounting granularity); Solaris containers, AIX WPARs
    OS – UML (StrongSWAN IPSec testing), colinux – same CPU
    Desktop – VDI
    Periphery – virtual CD / Printer / LAN adapter (common case for VPN)
    Hardware – also called emulation or simulation
    Running legacy OS/ Apps – Hercules – run VM/370 or zSystem Linux on PC, MAME, virtualII
    modelling / verifying future hardware / system products
    Full (system) virtualization
    CPU
    HDD, other storage e.g. CD, tape
    Network
    Graphics / video
    Input – keyboard, mouse
    USB, whatever is specific to emulated platform (HPET)
   

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7. What suggests System
   Virtualization?
    desire for a well defined state
    “clean”, “initial”, “fully configured” and ready to go etc.
    necessity to run incompatible environments
    legacy apps/OS
    IE6/7/8/9
    Unix/Windows/MacOS X
    security concerns and security research (sandboxing)
    computing as utility
    manageability, accountability requirements
    equipment / resource re-use to increase efficiency and reduce manual labor
   

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8. Notable system virtualization
   products
    Early players:
    Connectix: Virtual PC for (PowerPC) Mac 1997
    VMware – founded 1998
    Xen research project; public release 2003; offsprings: Sun xVM, Oracle VM, VirtualIron
    Ascending
    kvm (qemu-kvm) runs on Linux, also ported to Illumos (ex-OpenSolaris), FreeBSD
    Hyper-V
   Caveat: “paravirtualization”, hypervisor type 1 vs 2 – skip it and forget
   

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9. VM and VDI – not unlike hand
   and glove
    Precursors:
    Text (and later “graphics”) terminals
    X11 protocol and terminals
    RFB: VNC – UK Olivetty (& Oracle) Research Lab ca. 1997, before that – Acorn, later AT&T
    Teleconferencing systems (who knows TELEX? WRU?)
    Current:
    Xen – Citrix ICA
    Hyper-V – RDP(+RemoteFX)
    Sun xVM (Oracle VM) – ALP  AIP. Before Sun – IXI Ltd, Cambridge, UK + Visionware, Leads,
   UK; then SCO Tarantella, bought by Sun in 2005.
    kvm – SPICE (and a legacy VNC)
    VMware – PcoIP (Teradici)
    Future:
    HTML 5 ? or 6 ?
   

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10. What’s the catch?
    what can go wrong with system virtualization?
     Additional complexity, layer of indirection
     Performance overhead
     Licensing issues and costs (besides costs of VM Host solution and management tools, e.g. You
    are not allowed to run W7HB in VM)
     Hard-to-virtualize architecture (PC and x86, high-speed systems)
     i/o is always a bottleneck
     Temporal characteristics (non-linear time in VM, TSC on Pentium+, timekeeping)
     Not obvious, hard to track problems, e.g. snapshots vs. “rich state” - do not snapshot AD
    controller!
    

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11. Personal success story
    and a use case
    2009H2 Kind of cross-platform development – development machine -
    Windows XP, target – RHEL5. Work cycle: check-out code - rebuild C++ pre-
    requisites from XML templates - index code. Sun VirtualBox 3.0 chosen over
    Vmware Workstation 6 on performance points. Not to mention cost,
    acquisition/licensing concerns. Oops, that was not testing.
    Use case - demo:
     fire two pre-configured VMs: Windows and Linux
     deploy “new version of application” under test to both platforms
     “test” them and display result
    

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12. Contacts
    Thank You
    Mark Zhitomirski
    Email: mz@its-expert.com
    EXTENT Conference – October 2011
    Test Automation for Trading Systems
    Marriot Renaissance Moscow Hotel, 29-30 October
    Тел: +7 (495) 640 2460
    Email: extent@exactprosystems.com
    

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