Enterprise Software Service Emulation: Constructing Large-Scale Testbeds

Constructing testbeds for systems which are interconnected with large networks of other software services is a challenging task. It is particularly difficult to create testbeds facilitating evaluation of the non-functional qualities of a system, such as scalability, that can be expected in production deployments. Software service emulation is an approach for creating such testbeds where service behaviour is defined by emulate-able models executed in an emulation runtime environment. We present (i) a meta-modelling framework supporting emulate-able service modelling (including messages, protocol, behaviour and states), and (ii) Kaluta, an emulation environment able to concurrently execute large numbers (thousands) of service models, providing a testbed which mimics the behaviour and characteristics of large networks of interconnected software services. Experiments show that Kaluta can emulate 10,000 servers using a single physical machine, and is a practical testbed for scalability testing of a real, enterprise-grade identity management suite. The insights gained into the tested enterprise system were used to enhance its design.