The document discusses the challenges of big data in testing, highlighting an increased demand for application development skills in 2015. It emphasizes the importance of scalability, performance testing, and the need to adapt testing strategies to accommodate the complexity and volume of big data systems. The content underlines that traditional non-functional characteristics must now be central to testing approaches in big data environments.

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Adam Knight
Teradata RainStor
@adampknight
www.a-sisyphean-task.com
Big Data – A New Challenge for Testing

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Cloud
Testing
Web
Testing
Mobile App
Testing
Big Data
Testing
Big Data – a Niche Market?

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Cloud
Testing
Web
Testing
Mobile App
Testing
Big Data
Testing
Big Data – a Niche Market?

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Big Data – a Niche Market?
Demand for application development skills in big data
positions increased 396% in the first 6 months of 2015
as compared to the previous year
Source: Wanted analytics/Forbes – figures based on jobs quoting ‘Big Data’

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Big Data is Coming
The Internet of Things is the term used to describe
network connectivity and communication between
machines and devices

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Big Data is Coming
Gartner, Inc. forecasts that 4.9 billion connected
things will be in use in 2015, up 30 percent from 2014,
and will reach 25 billion by 2020 Source: Gartner (November 2014)
These are all connecting to share data

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Big Data is Coming
There is an expectation in modern devices and systems of :-
• Connectivity with other systems
• Data collection
• Exposure to Analytic capability
Business
Asset
Insight
Business
Data

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Big Data is Coming
Connected
devices
Activity data
capture
Data
collecting
monitors
Storage
Technology
Analytical
Technology
Management
and Control
Systems
Inevitably we’ll
see an increase
in….
…and the need
to test them.

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So what makes it Big Data?
Data that is “Too Big”
…but “Too Big” for what?

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Too Big to…..?
Back Up?
Manipulate?
Comprehend?
Count the Individual?
No… but too big to test every individual
No… but too big to manipulate the whole dataset
No… but too big to duplicate production for testing
No… but too big to consider scale at all levels at
once

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Too Big to Test…..?
No… But we need a
Change of
Perspective…

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Scalability Layers
From To
Records Partitions
Data Metadata
Machines Clusters

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Scalability Layers

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Non-Functional?
What we may previously have described as ‘non-
Functional’ characteristics are the cornerstone of Big
Data technologies
• Scalability is a function of a Big Data system
• Performance is a function of a Big Data system

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Non-Functional?
User stories/requirements are often focussed around “non-
functional” characteristics
“As a query user I want my lookup queries to run in 50% of the
time as they do at present.”
“As a cluster administrator I want to store over 1 million data
files with no loss of import performance”
We can’t leave testing of performance and scalability until
‘later’. Our everyday testing must focus on these.

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Capturing/Checking
Capturing

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Capturing/Checking
Capturing
Checking

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Parallelise
Randomise
Iterate
Automation Approaches

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Parallelise
Randomise
Iterate
Parameterise
Parameterized Test Output
Automation Approaches

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Parallelise
Randomise
Iterate
Parameterise
Automation Approaches

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Parallelise
Randomise
Iterate
Parameterise
Automation Approaches

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Hadoop
Cutting edge Hard to get experience
Evolving Volatility
Varied Interfaces Complexity
Open Source/
Multiple Vendors
Inconsistency

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Thank You
Adam Knight
Teradata RainStor
@adampknight
www.a-sisyphean-task.com
Big Data – A New Challenge for Testing

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Images
Fractal Mountain http://www.miqel.com/fractals_math_patterns/visual-math-natural-fractals.html
Everest - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Everest_kalapatthar_crop.jpg
Too Big to Count - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colony_of_aptenodytes_patagonicus.jpg Too Big Spoon -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/426004828 ;
Too Big to Back Up - http://ratien.livejournal.com/205294.html ; Quasar:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar#/media/File:Artist%27s_rendering_ULAS_J1120%2B0641.jpg
Trees: https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/3437773221 https://www.flickr.com/photos/brian-m/167546353/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/728649489 acorn https://www.flickr.com/photos/randihausken/2881856339/ http://www.state-
journal.com/6043637966
Teracotta army: https://www.flickr.com/photos/3708564147 https://www.flickr.com/photos/11523510726
https://www.flickr.com/photos/11523510726
https://www.flickr.com/photos/4550658574
Whurlitzer - http://www.flickr.com/photos/27485954@N07/5431975868 : ZoeTrope - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zoetrope.jpg
Roulette - http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/banks-kicking-gambling-addiction.html
Stopwatch - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stopwatch2.jpg GPS - https://www.flickr.com/photos/vikapproved/13950372514/
Seeds - http://www.flickr.com/photos/yimhafiz/5035250840/ ; Segments - http://www.flickr.com/photos/beta-j/4432637412
Hadoop Elephant: Publicly available
Rest : Me