SmartBear and Virtualization
Q: SmartBear software already works fine for me. Why virtualize?
A: Most software quality projects can be improved using virtual PCs and servers. You should be able to speed up provisioning and deployment, improve test system configuration management, reduce hardware requirements and more.
Q: Do I need VMware or other virtualization software to use SmartBear software?
A: No, SmartBear software runs great on its own. You don't need virtualization software to use SmartBear products. Virtualization software is more like a hardware upgrade. You may not require it but you can always use more power.
Q: My organization is virtualizing our servers and workstations. Does SmartBear software work with VMware and other virtual PCs and servers?
A: Yes, SmartBear products are compatible with all major virtualization software like VMware
®, VirtualBox
®, XenServer
® and Microsoft
® virtualization software products.
Q: Does SmartBear Software work with cloud hosting services like Amazon® EC2, Microsoft® Windows Azure, SkyTap® and RackSpace®?
A: Yes, SmartBear products are compatible with all major cloud hosting services.
Q: Does SmartBear Software work with software and websites that run on virtual computers/servers and cloud services?
A: Yes, SmartBear products work with software and websites that run on virtual machines and cloud services.
Software Quality and Virtualization
Q: What is virtualization?
A: Virtualization is emulating a physical thing using only software. A virtual machine is a complete computer emulated in software. This allows one computer to emulate several computers, which has many practical applications in computing and in software quality.
Q: How does virtualization help software quality projects?
A: Virtualization is a broad area with many advantages. Here are some highlights related to software quality:
-
Virtualizing workstations reduces setup time and makes it easier to provision a new computer.
-
Virtualization makes it easier to create and manage multiple configurations for test with different OSs, applications, settings and data. A new test configuration is just a set of files instead of a physical computer. And, multiple configurations can be run on one server.
-
Virtual machines can be paused, versioned, copied and easily backed up.
-
Virtualization makes it easy to duplicate test conditions by starting with an exact snapshot of the baseline configuration.
-
Running multiple applications on a virtual server allows you get more use from existing hardware resources since a dedicated server normally uses just 20% of available processing power.
Q: What are the hardware requirements for virtualization?
A: Workstation virtualization software will run on most modern PCs without any special hardware. Multi-core CPUs are recommended. 4GB RAM is the practical minimum, 8GB RAM is preferred for running virtualization on a desktop PC.
Server hardware requirements are much greater for virtualization. Moving to virtual servers usually requires an analysis of the current server workload and virtualization plans before a recommendation can be made.
Q: How much does virtualization cost?
A: Basic server and workstation virtualization software is now free from VMware, Microsoft, Citrix
® and Oracle
®. These products are very powerful and useful. More sophisticated workstation virtualization software costs around $200 US per computer. Full featured enterprise server virtualization software costs many thousands of dollars.
Q: How long does it take to install virtualization on a local PC?
A: Virtualization software for a local workstation can be downloaded and installed in minutes. Free versions of VMware, VirtualBox and Microsoft Virtual PC are available online. Preparing and configuring a virtual machine involves installing a full operating system like Windows or Linux, installing application software, installing drivers, configuring settings and installing data. The installation and configuration process can take many hours for a complex setup, however once it's complete the virtual machine can be copied and used many times resulting in an overall time savings.
Q: How long does it take to convert servers to virtualization?
A: Converting servers to a virtual setup is more time consuming than configuring local workstations and varies based on your requirements and the virtualization software you choose. Some servers can be converted quickly from a physical to a virtual server using special software from VMware, Microsoft and others. Try searching for "converting servers to" or "convert physical to virtual."
Q: What software quality job positions use virtualization?
A: Since a virtual PC acts just like a physical computer, any user can run virtualized applications without needing to interact with the virtualization software. Software quality teams generally have more direct interaction with virtualization software since they are configuring, running and managing virtual machines as testing resources. These roles often work closely with virtualization software: developer, performance specialist, automated tester, web tester and build manager.
Q: Can virtualized desktop applications (app streaming) be tested?
A: It depends on the display method. If the application display is being streamed then testing will be impractical since the controls are being painted as pixels on the screen rather than being treated as named, discrete objects. Some level of interaction is possible but precise automated control is not robust. You may be able to install testing software on the server to work around this issue.