Using the cloud for product testing

Back when I toiled in the fields of IT for Megasurance Corp. we had a simple process for testing new hardware and software: Step 1:Get the latest PC from our IBM rep. Step 2: insert 3270 mainframe terminal emulation board. Step 3: Insert floppy from software vendor and see if it ran properly. It wasn’t too intellectually challenging, and DOS meant that we could only run one program at a time (plus connect to the mainframe).

Then we had memory managers (remember Quarterdeck?) and early Windows, and all of a 10 MB hard drive to store programs on, and life became difficult. I remember I had one user that kept experimenting with the FORMAT C: command in DOS, and didn’t understand that it would wipe his drive clean. Ah, those simpler times.

When I started my freelance business back in 1992, I had a whole lab filled with various PCs of different shapes and sizes, running Netware (RIP Novell), OS/2, and Windows 3. Whenever I had to test something, I needed a new PC to try it out on. Keeping a virgin copy of the OS was difficult until Ghost and other imaging products were invented to help return your computer back to its pristine state.

Back then, Novell had its superlab of 1,000 PCs that it used to beat up its network servers. The guys that started that lab left the company about the same time I started my own business to form Keylabs which eventually became parts of Applabs and Symantec. In the process of building out their huge lab, they developed test tools to help automate deployment of new computers.

Then virtualization was created, and the ability to run multiple instances or different OS on the same PC, and life became even more complex in one way, but easier in another: Now instead of having a room full of PCs, you could have one or two machines with huge hard drives to store the copies of the virtual ones. And returning any of these virtual PCs to a pristine state is even easier than dealing with imaging products.

But just like everything else, product testing is moving into the cloud, and I have taken a look at two different cloud providers that are leading the way.

The first one is dirt cheap, and makes it easy to setup and run a new computer. Like other cloud providers, you don’t need to install anything, just your browser and some other programs that you probably already have. You connect to a Web site, and in a few clicks you are looking at a Windows 7 desktop, or a Linux machine, or whatever. The PC runs at some hosting provider somewhere out there, and you don’t have to worry about upgrading it, or anything. When you are finished, you close your browser and the state of the machine is preserved so that you can get back to what you were doing in a few seconds. And it is free. The service is called Cloudshare.com.

In a matter of minutes, you can set up to three virtual PCs running a range of operating systems, including various Windows, Ubuntu, and CentOS. That’s right – free. Yes, you have some limits on your free account, which is why they want you to upgrade and where you will spend some cash, but still the price isn’t a lot for what you get. There are lots of other cloud computing competitors who will charge hundreds or thousands of dollars a month for equivalent services, such as Skytap and Terremark.

On the other end of the complexity spectrum is Hatsize.com. They specialize in very sophisticated lab environments that can span the virtual and physical universes, and get involved in rolling out all sorts of equipment such as expensive tape libraries and threat management appliances. They can dynamically provision resources between your on-premises and cloud computers, and run on various hypervisors and OSs. They have their own custom browser applet that can control remote access and file transfers to the cloud environment. They start at $40/user/day for pay as you go. If you are trying to showcase a product for several hundred people across the globe and don’t want a lot of network latency, this is the place to go.

Cloudshare and Hatsize will be game changers in terms of product testing. And I think there will be other providers in the future that will offer similar arrangements. We have come a long way from merely sticking a floppy disk into our PCs!

0 thoughts on “Using the cloud for product testing

  1. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane, those were fun times. As one who has tested products, software, networking etc, I can see where the virtual PCs in the cloud would help with testing a lot of things. Of course, we now have many more platforms to test on and some of those are devices and some are just browser or plug-in versions.

    I must admit though, having the option of a bank of various OS’s available for testing would be awesome and adding in the “free” cost makes it a no brainer.

    Thanks for the tip!

  2. The cloud is also creating a lot of opportunities for Software vendors who can now offer their prospects a way to try out the software without having to install it.

    Imagine you have a big and complex product that is usually installed in a data-center server (not a SaaS offering). Asking a website visitor to download hundreds of Mb, spend 30 minutes installing the whole thing, filling up the laptop’s hard drive and messing up 50% of the computer’s configuration… doesn’t sound like a good proposition!

    With the cloud, vendors can quickly set-up a trial sandbox where their prospects can try out the whole product, without installing anything. In some cases they might need to install a small desktop app, the the bulk of the software is in the cloud, ready to be tested, with no cost and no overhead.

    This will change the way companies can evaluate complex software products, creating new opportunities for self-service evaluation of software.

    It is good for vendors and good for people evaluating… a win-win deal made possible by the power of the cloud!

  3. Pingback: Using the cloud for product testing

  4. Pingback: Using the cloud for product testing | Hatsize

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.