Open In App

Cloud Testing – Software Testing

Improve
Improve
Like Article
Like
Save
Share
Report

Cloud Testing is one type of software testing in which the software applications are tested by using cloud computing services. Cloud testing intends to test the software based on functional and non-functional requirements using cloud computing services that ensure faster availability, scalability, and flexibility that saves time and cost for software testing. Here, we will discuss the following points:

Let’s start discussing each of these topics in detail.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud Computing is the new age technology for accessing and storing data and other computing services over the internet. It does not store data on your personal computers. It provides on-demand availability of computer services like servers, data storage, networking, databases, etc. The main purpose of cloud computing is to give access to data centers to many users at any time. 

The cost-saving potential is the major reason for cloud services adoption by many organizations. Cloud computing gives the freedom to use services based on your requirements and pay only for that which you are using. Here are some examples of Cloud Computing Services: AWS, Azure, Google, etc.

Cloud-Computing

Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing Models

There are 3 models of Cloud Services:

  1. Saas: Software as a service (or SaaS) is a cloud model that delivers applications over the internet as a service. Users need not install and maintain the software in their devices, they can simply access it via the internet, rather managing the complex software and hardware by themselves.
    It is also called Web-based software, hosted software. It runs on SaaS service provider servers and manages application access, including security, availability, and performance.
  2. Paas: Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud model where a third-party vendor delivers hardware and software resources to users over the internet. These tools are required for application development. A PaaS service provider hosts the hardware and software on its infrastructure and frees developers from having to install in-house hardware and software to develop or run a new application.
  3. Iaas: Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a cloud model that provides virtual computing resources over the internet. A user can get a completely new virtual system with the required configurations using Iaas without spending extra cost.

Types of Cloud

There are three types of cloud:

  1. Public Cloud: Public cloud provides on-demand computing services and infrastructure that will be managed by the third-party vendor and shared with multiple user organizations using the public internet.
  2. Private Cloud: A Private Cloud provides cloud computing where the services like infrastructure, and software are dedicated to a single user organization.
  3. Hybrid Cloud: Hybrid cloud is a cloud solution that combines both private clouds with public cloud services, with proprietary software enabling communication between each distinct service. A hybrid cloud provides businesses with greater flexibility by transferring workloads between cloud solutions as per fluctuation of needs and costs.

Forms of Cloud Testing

There are four forms of Cloud Testing performed:

  1. Testing of the whole cloud: In this, the cloud is taken as a whole entity, and based on its features, testing is carried out.
  2. Testing within a cloud: This is the testing that is carried out internally inside the cloud by testing each of its internal features.
  3. Testing across the clouds: In this, the testing is carried out based on the specifications on the different types of clouds-like public, private and hybrid clouds.
  4. SaaS testing in the cloud: In this, functional and non-functional testing takes place based on requirements.

Types of Cloud Testing

There are three types of cloud testing:

  1. Cloud-Based Application Tests over Cloud: These types of tests help determine the quality of cloud-based applications concerning different types of clouds.
  2. Online-Based Application Tests on a Cloud: Online application supervisors/vendors perform these tests to check the functions and performance of their cloud-based services. This testing takes place with the help of Functional Testing. Online applications are connected with a legacy system and the connection quality between the application and the legacy system is tested.
  3. SaaS or Cloud Oriented Testing: These tests are performed by SaaS or Cloud vendors. The objective of these tests is to evaluate the quality of individual service functions that are offered in SaaS or cloud programs.
Types-of-Cloud-Testing

Types of Cloud Testing

Cloud Testing Environment

There are three main cloud testing environments:

  1. Public or Private environment: The applications deployed inside these cloud environments are tested and validated in terms of quality.
  2. Hybrid environment: The applications deployed in this cloud environment are tested and validated in terms of quality.
  3. Cloud-based environment: The applications deployed on Saas, and Paas models are tested and validated in terms of quality.

Testing Performed within the Cloud

Testing in a cloud should not solely make sure that the functional necessities are met, but a robust emphasis needs to be set on non-functional testing also. Let’s explore the various types of testing that are performed.

1. Functional Testing: Functional Testing should be performed to make sure that the offering provides the services that the user is paying for. Functional tests ensure that the business needs are being met.

  • System Verification Testing: This testing ensures that the various modules work properly with one another.
  • Interoperability Testing: Any application must have the flexibility to work without any problems not only on different platforms, and it should conjointly work seamlessly when moving from one cloud infrastructure to a different one.
  • Acceptance Testing: Here the cloud-based resolution is handed over to the users to make sure it meets their expectations.

2. Non-Functional Testing: Non-functional tests primarily specialize in web application-based tests ensuring that they meet the required needs. Here are a few types of non-functional tests mentioned below-

  • Performance Testing: In this testing, the response time to any user request must be verified to ensure that everything is intact even when there are loads of requests to be satisfied. Network latency is additionally one of the crucial factors to evaluate performance. Also, workload balancing must be done once there’s a reduction in load, by decommissioning resources. 
  • Stress testing: This testing helps to determine the ability of cloud applications to function under peak workloads while staying effective and stable.
  • Load testing: This testing helps to measure the cloud application’s response concerning user traffic loads.
  • Latency testing: In this testing the latency time between action and responses within an application with respect to a user request.
  • Availability Testing: This testing determines the cloud must available all the time round the clock. As there might be any mission-critical activities that can happen, the administrator i.e., cloud vendor should ensure that there’s no adverse impact on the customers.
  • Multi-Tenancy Testing: In this cloud testing, multiple users use a cloud offering as a demo. Testing is performed to confirm that there’s adequate security and access control of the data when multiple users are working in a single instance.
  • Scalability Testing: This testing is performed to make sure that the offerings provided can scale up or scale down as per the customer’s need.
  • Browser Performance testing: In this testing performance of a cloud-based application i.e., the applications deployed over the cloud is tested across different web browsers.
  • Security Testing: As Cloud provides everything at any time, it is very important that all user-sensitive data must be secured and has no unauthorized access to maintain users’ privacy. 
  • Disaster Recovery Testing: In availability testing, the cloud has to be available at all times, if there are any types of failures occur like network outages, breakdown due to high load, system failure, etc. this testing ensures how fast the failure can be captured and if any data loss occurs during this period.

Tools for Functional Testing in Cloud

There are many tools used for testing performance, load, stress testing in or of cloud. Some of these testing tools are mentioned below:

  1. AppPerfect: AppPerfect is a software development company located in Sunnyvale, CA. It markets supports and develops a set of testing and monitoring products that are used to analyze, test, and monitor web and windows-based applications.
  2. Jmeter: Apache JMeter is an open-source, Java-based application software designed to load testing tools to analyze and monitor the performance of the services and web applications.
  3. SOASTA CloudTest: SOASTA cloud test is a cross-platform test management tool with a user-friendly design.
  4. LoadStorm: It is a tool to manage and monitor the performance of the entire cloud infrastructure and produces a real-time graph for performance analysis.

Tools for Security Testing in Cloud

The following are the tools for security testing in the cloud:

  1. Nessus: Nessus is a remote security scanning tool that scans the system and raises an alert if any vulnerability is discovered that hackers could use to get unauthorized access to sensitive data.
  2. Wireshark: Wireshark is an open-source packet analyzer used for network troubleshooting and monitoring, software, and communications protocols development. 
  3. Nmap: Nmap is a network scanner that is used to discover hosts and services on a network by sending packets and analyzing the response.

Benefits Of Cloud Testing

The following are some of the benefits of cloud testing:

  1. Availability of Required testing environment: In cloud testing, testing teams can easily replicate the customer’s environment for effective testing of the cloud without investing in the additional hardware and software resources for testing. These resources can be accessed from any device with a network connection. 
  2. Less expensive: Cloud testing is more cost-efficient than traditional methods of testing, as there is no need of investing in additional hardware and software resources. Customers, as well as the testing team, only pay for what they use.
  3. Faster testing: Cloud testing is faster than the traditional method of testing as most of the management tasks like physical infrastructure management for testing are removed.
  4. Scalability: The cloud computing resources can be increased and decreased whenever required, based on testing demands.
  5. Customization: Cloud testing can be customized as per the usage, cost and time based on the variety of users and user’s environment.
  6. Disaster recovery: Disaster recovery is easily possible as the data backup is taken at the cloud vendors as well as at the user’s end also.

Challenges in Cloud Testing

The following are some challenges faced in cloud testing:

  1. Privacy and Data Security: As cloud computing provides services on-demand to all users, data privacy and security becomes a primary concern. Cloud applications are multi-tenant, so the risk of unauthorized data access remains unsolved.
  2. Environment Configuration: Different applications require specific infrastructures like server, storage, etc. for deployment and testing, it becomes difficult to manage the environment for cloud testing and leads to issues.
  3. Use of Multiple-Cloud models: As there are multiple cloud models like public, private and hybrid, based on customer requirements the applications are deployed. It becomes challenging to manage them which can lead to complications, security, and synchronization issues.
  4. Data migration: Migration of data from one cloud service provider to another becomes a challenging task as that may have different database schema that can require lots of time to understand.
  5. Upgradation in Cloud: The biggest challenge of cloud testing is to do up-gradation in the cloud and ensure it does not impact the existing users and data. And the cloud providers give a very short notice period to existing customers about upgrades.
  6. Testing of all components: While performing cloud testing requires to test all the components related to an application must be tested like server, storage, network, and also validate them in all layers.

Cloud Testing vs Conventional Testing

 

Parameters                                          

Cloud Testing

Conventional Testing

Definition

Cloud Testing is one type of software testing in which the software applications are tested by using cloud computing services.

Cloud testing intends to test the software based on functional and non-functional requirements using cloud computing services that ensures faster availability, scalability, and flexibility that saves time and cost for software testing.

Conventional testing is a type of testing in which software is tested based on pre-defined testing standards as per the quality management system to maintain standards.
Test Environment Cloud testing provides test environment-based application as well as on user and usage of application i.e. test environment can be customized as per need. It provides a distributed test environment by leveraging the resources. Conventional testing has a pre-defined environment for testing any application. This testing was performed in a test lab with limited resources.
Cost of Testing The cost of testing in cloud testing is less compared to conventional testing as there is no need to maintain physical infrastructure for testing. Users and customers only pay what they are using.  The cost of testing in conventional is higher as we need to maintain physical infrastructures and software as well required for testing.
Test cases Testing of application is done in all the aspects of usage by the user. End-to-End applications is tested with real-time data also. Testing of applications is done based on fixed test cases.
Testing execution Time Cloud testing is done online in the cloud with a customized environment that leads to faster test execution. Conventional testing is done offline in a pre-configured test lab that takes more time.


Last Updated : 08 Dec, 2023
Like Article
Save Article
Previous
Next
Share your thoughts in the comments
Similar Reads