How can you ensure your new software system will not break once you launch it for real? You need to run tests that simulate real user scenarios and monitor the software performance under different loads.
In other words, you need to run reliability testing. Reliability testing makes sure that each system component is able to handle a specific load without breaking or becoming inaccessible.
It is one of the most important software testing techniques that also poses significant challenges when it comes to selecting the right metrics and making sure the test setup is realistic enough. Read on to learn more about what reliability testing is and why it should be among your top priority if you’re launching a new product or feature with new code.
What Is Reliability Testing?
Reliability testing is a testing technique used to assess the reliability of a system or software. In other words, it is a type of quality assurance testing aimed at checking a product’s ability to function under real-world conditions.
Ideally, it should be part of an organization’s standard software testing process as it helps to provide assurance that a system or application will perform as expected in the long run.
As a rule, you should include reliability testing as part of your software testing process whenever you launch a new system or a new feature with new code. It is a great way to make sure the system is ready for real-world use, even though it might not be as glamorous as other types of software testing.
Why is reliability testing important?
Reliability testing is, perhaps, one of the most important software testing techniques. It is all about simulating real user scenarios and monitoring the system response. Ideally, it should uncover potential bottlenecks in the system design and highlight places where the system might break once it is used for real.
As such, reliability testing is critical for any company launching a new system or a new feature with a new code base. It allows you to test the system response to different load levels without having to wait for real users to use it.
When done right, reliability testing can uncover potential bottlenecks in the system design, spot performance issues and help you to estimate how much capacity is needed to handle a given load.
How to run reliable software tests?
Reliability testing can be used to test any kind of software. However, you need to pick the right combinations of metric, load and source of user input to get meaningful results. Let’s review the most common types of reliability tests to understand how to run reliable software tests.
Capacity testing – A capacity test checks how many users a system can handle at a time. It is the most traditional type of reliability testing used to determine whether a system is capable of handling a given load.
A typical capacity test simulates the expected user load and assesses whether the system can handle it without breaking. – A capacity test checks how many users a system can handle at a time.
It is the most traditional type of reliability testing used to determine whether a system is capable of handling a given load. A typical capacity test simulates the expected user load and assesses whether the system can handle it without breaking.
Break/fix testing – Break/fix testing is a type of capacity testing used to test availability of a system. – Break/fix testing is a type of capacity testing used to test availability of a system. Stress testing – Stress testing is a type of reliability testing used to test the scalability of a system.
3 types of software reliability tests
Capacity testing – In capacity testing, you load a system with a specific load and check whether it can handle it without breaking.
You can choose a single metric to load the system with, or use a combination of metrics. Break/fix testing – Break/fix testing is a type of capacity testing used to test the availability of a system.
During such a test, you attempt to break the system and then fix it again to see how long it takes to respond to the breakage. Break/fix testing is commonly used to test availability of a system.
Stress testing – Stress testing is a type of reliability testing used to test the scalability of a system. During such a test, you load the system with a high load and see how the system performs with respect to the available resources. Stress testing is commonly used to test scalability.
Conclusion
Reliability testing is often overlooked as part of software testing process. However, it is critical to make sure that the system can handle a real-world load without breaking. Ideally, all software engineers should include reliability testing as part of their daily routine.
When it comes to reliability testing, the more metrics you load and simulate, the more realistic the test setup is. While reliability testing is important, remember that it is not the same thing as load testing.
Load testing focuses on finding out how long it takes for the system to respond to unexpected user behavior. It is good to run both types of tests to make sure your new software system can handle a real-world load.
