Bachelor Thesis BCLR-2021-98

BibliographyWagner, Lion: Simulating scenario-based chaos experiments for microservice architectures.
University of Stuttgart, Faculty of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Information Technology, Bachelor Thesis No. 98 (2021).
70 pages, english.
Abstract

Context. With the growing popularity of microservice-based architectures, the need for effective resilience testing of such architectures occurred. In a preceding case study, we showed that transforming resilience scenarios to formalized scenario-based chaos tests, and executing those is a feasible way to do so. Problem. While producing very representative results, chaos testing can require a not insignificant expenditure of time and stresses the system under test. Simulating such experiments reduces these problems. Unfortunately, there are currently no simulators available that fulfill the requirements for simulating such scenarios to an acceptable level. Objective. Therefore, this thesis examines which simulators are suitable for which types of scenarios. Furthermore, the most promising of these simulators is extended to support a common scenario description and other features. Method. To properly elicit the requirements for such a simulator, stakeholders conduct a requirements analysis. Existing simulators are searched and evaluated based on these requirements. The simulator that looks the most promising is then extended. To verify the accuracy of the simulator, the scenarios from the preceding case study are utilized. They are transposed to models and simulated. The result data of the simulation is compared to the results of the case study. Result. This thesis presents five microservice simulators and which scenarios they currently potentially support best in a structured overview. Further, a re-engineering of the MiSim simulator results in better support of scenario-based chaos experiments and others of the aforementioned requirements. Conclusion. MiSim 3.0 is evaluated as a simulator that is capable of accurately simulating scenario-based chaos tests. Specifically, the newly implemented resilience patterns and chaos injections behave as expected. However, an inaccurate calibration may harm its accuracy. Conclusion. Previously existing microservice simulators could not simulate all types of scenariobased chaos experiments. In the context of this thesis MiSim 3.0 is created and evaluated as a simulator capable of correctly simulating many types of scenario-based chaos tests. In particular, the newly implemented resilience patterns and chaos injections behave as expected. However, inaccurate calibration can significantly affect its accuracy.

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Department(s)University of Stuttgart, Institute of Software Technology, Software Quality and Architecture
Superviser(s)Hoorn, Dr.-Ing. Andre; Frank, Sebastian; Hakamian, Mir Alireza
Entry dateOctober 24, 2022
   Publ. Computer Science