The neophyte test planner is often overwhelmed by the complexity and scope of test planning. This paper presents several practical methods for dividing the testing into manageable pieces, based on the author's experience over ten years of testing a wide variety of products.

This paper focuses on the strategies and challenges of testing real-world, large and complex, highly available clustered systems in the following areas: Test planning, Strategies and methodologies; Defect tracking processes; System Configuration tests; Cluster and storage fault injection tests; Effective testing practices.

The information provided in this paper is aimed at helping test engineers understand many of the quality assurance issues involved in testing large and complex systems.

A great many companies today are currently running numerous legacy (character-based or "green screen") applications on a variety of platforms (Mainframe, AS/400, Tandem, Stratus, etc.). Furthermore, there is an increasing trend toward integrating these systems with front-end GUI, Internet, and intranet applications, and using the Mainframe and AS/400 type computers for back office processing. Some companies are using AS/400s as Internet and Network servers. Most companies are opting to access their Mainframe (etc.) computers via Terminal Emulation from PC Workstations, rather than use "dumb terminals."

Engineers in other specialties have adopted the FMEA to analyze all sorts of manufacturing processes and products. The FMEA process allows a development team to identify potential product related process failure modes and assess the effects these failures might have.