10 Best Service Virtualization Tools in 2021: Microservices and Mocking

What is Service Virtualization?

Service Virtualization is a method that helps you to emulate (virtual services) the behaviors of the component in a Service Oriented Architecture (Microservice). Practically the software development, testing, and operations teams do not work in synch, and each team has to wait for others to have components ready. This causes delays in workflows and may deliver an inferior product. With Service Virtualization, DevOps teams use virtual services instead of production services, so they can test the system even when key components are not ready. With Service Virtualization, integrating of applications takes place early in the development cycle thereby reducing time and cost to fix errors.

Here, is the list of top Service Virtualization tools with popular features and download links-

1) Traffic Parrot

Traffic Parrot makes it easy for developers and testers to do service virtualization, mocking, and simulation. It helps create tests faster and with less effort by providing simulators and mocks of backend APIs and third-party systems. Both junior and senior developers and testers find it easy to get started by following the tutorials available online.

Management and architects favor Traffic Parrot because it allows for time to market reduction and delivering DevOps and Agile transformations due to flexible licensing model, support for many protocols and compatibility with Continuous Integration tools.

Features:

• Support for HTTP(S), JMS, IBM MQ and File transfers
• For developers and testers (both manual and automated testing)
• Compatible with Docker, Kubernetes, and OpenShift. It is ideal for testing microservices.

2) UP9

UP9 provides an out-of-the-box test automation for microservices, kubernetes and cloud-native, replacing the need for developers to constantly build and maintain tests, while providing comprehensive service test-coverage.

Features:

• Automatic generation and maintenance of CI-ready test-code, based on service traffic
• Observability into API-contracts, business-logic and service architecture
• Automatic reliability, test-coverage and root-cause analysis
• Machine generated tests include functional, regression, performance and edge-case test-cases, covering all services and all service-endpoints

UP9 offloads the microservice testing workload from developers giving them precious time back

3) Wiremock

WireMock is simulator tool for HTTP based API. It allows you stay test even when an API does not exist or is incomplete. It allows checking of an edge case and failure modes that the real API may not able to produce.

Features:

• Robust and power API URL request matching.
• Record and Playback tool
• Hosted Mock API service. No need to configure servers and set SSL certificates.

Learn More: http://wiremock.org/

4) Mountebank

Mountebank is an open source tool which can execute multi-protocol tests. The codebase is Node JS. It is easy to create stubs and mocks.

Features:

• Mountebank tool aims to be fully cross-platform, with native language bindings
• It is non-modal and multi-protocol solution. It can test SMTP, HTTP, TCP, and HTTPS
• This tool provides service virtualization service free of cost without any platform constraints
• Frequently updated, mature, and stable tool.

Learn More:http://www.mbtest.org/

5) Hoverfly cloud

Hoverfly cloud is an integrated service virtualization solution. It is designed from the ground up for integration, automation, and performance. You can optimize virtualized services to efficiently handle the load from the system under test.

Features:

• Easily deployable on Google, AWS, Google & Azure cloud
• Virtualized services are automatically provisioned as part of the test setup
• You can scale on demand based on the performance requirements of your tests
• Allows for reporting using existing test tools

Learn More:https://hoverfly.io/

6) MicroFocus Data Simulation Software

MicroFocus Data simulation software allows developers and QA testers to virtualize micro service's behavior. The tool does not delay delivery regardless of access to production systems.

Features:

• Helps to create simulation of application behavior
• Allows modifying data, network, and performance models. Without doing changes in test conditions and performance needs
• Service Virtualization features integrated with Performance Center, ALM, LoadRunner, and Unified Functional Testing
• Model the functional network and checks the behavior of virtual services by using step-by-step wizards

Learn More: https://www.microfocus.com/en-us/products/service-virtualization/overview

7) CA service Virtualization

CA Service Virtualization tool simulates unavailable systems across the software development lifecycle. The tool helps developers, QA testing team to work together for faster delivery and higher application quality and reliability.

Features:

• It simplifies the management of development and testing processes.
• Helps to streamline development by virtualizing dependent systems including mainframes, and external service providers
• Allows project to be developed in parallel instead of waterfall model
• Reduce demand for development environments

Learn More: https://www.broadcom.com/products/software/continuous-testing/service-virtualization

8) Mocklab

Mocklab is service virtualization tool with user-friendly UI. It allows easy copy, paste or record stubbed HTTP responses. It helps for easy sharing among the team.

Features:

• Helps organization to remain productive even when a dependent API doesn't exist
• Test edge case and failure modes which the real API never able to produce
• Helps to recognize issues faster and find key issues with the feature of help of visual request log

Learn More: http://get.mocklab.io/

9) Rational Test Virtualization Server

IBM Rational Test Virtualization offers fast and quick testing in the development lifecycle. It helps to reduce dependencies by simulating part or an entire application. This helps software testing teams as they need not wait for the availability of those applications to begin their work.

Features:

• Virtualize services, software, and applications.
• Reuse and share virtualized environments
• Offers support for middleware technologies
• Allows integration with other tools

Learn More: https://www.ibm.com/in-en/marketplace/rational-test-virtualization-server

10) Tricentis Tosca

Tricentis Tosca allows steady access to dependent systems so that tests can be execute reliably, and continuously. It simulates the dependent component behavior need to run your tests

Features:

• Helps testers to test highly interconnected systems with many components evolving in parallel
• Simulate Interactions necessary for Testing
• Automated Message Validation process

Learn More: https://www.tricentis.com/orchestrated-service-virtualization/

Why Service Virtualization?

Here, are prime reasons for using service Virtualization for your business:

• Helps you to accelerate Application Delivery while mitigating business risks
• It helps you to simulates the behavior of select components within an application to enable end-to-end testing of the application as a whole.
• Allows the teams to work in parallel
• Allows you to Test Early and often which expose defect when they are faster, easiest and least costly to resolve
• Facilitates better test coverage
• Virtual services offer rich tools for editing and managing which help you improve productivity, cut down on maintenance time and development costs.
• It is useful for anyone involved in developing and delivering software applications.
• Access to more systems and services
• It supports test-driven development.
• Gives you an isolated environment for testing