Beyond all question, a virtual testing environment is the perfect place to test applications, operating systems and hardware before you place them into production. Virtual testing environments are segregated from production and often use free, simple virtualization tools. So it provides a safe, efficient and cost-effective way to test apps and other services. However, there are some frequently asked questions about virtualization test envirnments and their answers:
1. How can I use a virtual test lab for software testing?
You can make a virtual test lab as large or small as you want. To test applications, you can emulate different computers with different Oses on a single physical server. You can also test them on various platforms and using different configurations.
2. Should I use clustering in a virtual testing environment?
You can increase availability by creating a virtual server cluster in your virtualization test lab. But remember, building a server cluster can incur extra costs if you need more hardware, licenses or shared storage.
3. Can I run test servers and production servers on the same host?
You should never colocate virtual testing and production servers. Separating the virtual test lab makes it easier to manage test VMs and build clusters. Also, you can set rules to separate production and nonproduction VMs at the hypervisor level.
4. What are some challenges I’ll face with virtual testing?
When you virtualize a test environment, you need to make sure you have virtual testing management tools that integrate with your existing infrastructure. You may also have to upgrade hardware to work with a virtual testing environment.
5. What are some good tools for virtual testing environments?
Oracle VM VirtualBox 4, Vmware Lab Manager, and Vmware Workstation are all good tools for virtual testing environmetns.
6. How do I build a Vmware lab for virtual testing?
You can use hosted hypervisors to creat a Vmware lab, and you can run ESX or ESXi as guest VMs on a home computer while still using it for others tasks.
7. What is Vmware Labs, and how does it facilitate virtual testing?
Vmware Labs is the company’s online test and development site. Vcenter Mobile Access is a virtual appliance that provides a webpage-like interface for a mobile phone. And a fling called XVP Manager lets vCenter manage Microsoft Hyper-V hosts and VMs. Some of Vmware’s flings may turn into real products or features.
Source: http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/tutorial/FAQ-Virtual-testing-and-development-environments
