A Formal Model of Distributed Systems For Test Generation Missions
This work addresses the problem of automated test generation for distributed systems, which is incremental as it builds on existing modeling techniques.
The paper tackles the challenge of testing complex distributed systems by introducing a formal four-layered model based on component-based approaches and layered networks, with interlayer mapping to represent technologies like virtualization and clustering.
Nowadays, deployment of distributed systems sets high requirements for procedures and tools for the complex testing of these systems - virtualization and cloud technologies make another level of system complexity. As a possible solution, it is necessary to determine a formal list of control objectives - checklists. The automated generation of checklists involves analyzing system models (with the analysis covering paths in a model). But complex distributed systems are usually a set of coexisting topologies which interact and depend on each other and it is necessary to use several models in order to cover different aspects. This work introduces a formal four layered model for test generation missions on the basis of the component-based approach and the concept of layered networks. The interlayer mapping determines how the topological properties on different layers affect each other and, as a consequence, represents technologies (virtualization, clustering, etc.) used to build distributed systems