Runtime Testability in Dynamic High-Availability Component-Based Systems

Runtime testing is emerging as the solution for the integration and assessment of highly dynamic, high availability software systems where traditional development-time integration testing cannot be performed. A prerequisite for runtime testing is the knowledge about to which extent the system can be tested safely while it is operational, i.e., the system's runtime testability. This article evaluates RTM, a cost-based metric for estimating runtime testability. It is used to assist system engineers in directing the implementation of remedial measures, by providing an action plan which considers the trade-off between testability and cost. Two testability case studies are performed on two different component-based systems, assessing RTM's ability to identify runtime testability problems.