Service Virtualization :

It is the process of emulating the behavior of a software component which is unavailable due to some reasons. The reasons might be anything like

  • The System is not developed yet.
  • The system is down due to some reason.
  • The system is handled by the third party
  • Every interaction (transaction) with a system cost some amount of penny.
  • To provide continuous environments to the different team like test team, development, performance to check the development of script/test data etc.

There could be many reasons apart from listed ones. By designing the virtual system, we remove the dependencies of real systems.

Let’s analyze a real system. During the course of complete analysis, you will see how virtualization plays a vital role in this current world.
real-system-arc

Let say due to any of the reasons which are listed above, any one or more reals servers are unavailable. The whole operations of the system will stop. It is a BIG worry for the client.

think-image
Where is the solution?????? 
 
Service virtualization is the solution. Let’s discuss Service virtualization. How it works and replaces real system dependencies.
 Lets, due to same reasons any of the systems 2 and System 3 are not present or not Developed. Both the systems depend on each other to give a response. If we know the request/response criteria, structure, we can create a mock system for each system and link the mock systems to each system like it is done in the below image.
The scenario can be like this, We are creating one new enterprise application. We have many systems which talk to each other. For developing each system, we have a team of developers and testers.
But, development of System 2 depends on the response from System 3. If we can make a system which can send the responses like real System 3, It can solve our problem of development of System 2. We can create virtualized image/mock of System 3 and link it to System 2. The right half of the below image describes the scenario which I have explained.  
system-replacement
The left half of the image tells about how the System 3  can remove the dependencies of the System 2 and do the development. The test team also can create their automation pack and run them instantly when the real system is ready.
This way it helps different teams and increases the productivity. It helps in on time delivery.
Hope this article might help you to understand Service Virtualization concepts.
Please share your comments.