VCR: Virtual Capture and Replay for performance testing

This paper proposes a novel approach to performance testing, called Virtual Capture and Replay (VCR), that couples a capture-and-replay technique with the checkpointing capabilities provided by the latest virtualization technologies. VCR enables software performance testers to automatically take a snapshot of a running system when certain critical conditions are verified, and to replay the scenario that led to those conditions. Several separate in-depth analyses can be carried out in the laboratory just by rewinding the scenario and replaying it using different probes and analysis tools.