Breaking down and testing systems
In today’s technology, systems have become highly complex, often reliant on multiple systems, vendor-provided services, and a plethora of data storage and management mechanisms. Checking each independent API, vendor service, and database entry can take time – a rockstar SRE knows a better way! We can segment a system into areas of functionality and test large parts of the system – strategically testing.
When troubleshooting a simple desktop computer or laptop, we might consider testing the hardware separate from the operating system. For larger systems, we may look at database entries or application logs to verify the expected data exists. By breaking the system apart, we can choose middle points to test and then identify which half of the system is broken. Imagine that, with one test, you could validate the functionality of the entire frontend of your website or ensure that half a dozen APIs are working. Then, you can break...
