A methodology for detection and estimation of software aging

Abstract

The phenomenon of software aging refers to the accumulation of errors during the execution of the software which eventually results in it's crash/hang failure. A gradual performance degradation may also accompany software aging. Pro-active fault management techniques such as "Software rejuvenation" [9] may be used to counteract aging if it exists. In this paper, we propose a methodology for detection and estimation of aging in the UNIX operating system. First, we present the design and implementation of an SNMP based, distributed monitoring tool used to collect operating system resource usage and system activity data at regular intervals, from networked UNIX workstations. Statistical trend detection techniques are applied to this data to detect/validate the existence of aging. For quantifying the effect of aging in operating system resources, we propose a metric "Estimated time to exhaustion" which is calculated using well known slope estimation techniques. Although the distributed data collection tool is specific to UNIX, the statistical techniques can be used for detection and estimation of aging in other software as well.

Polytechnic engineering mathematics: assessing its relevance to the productivity of industries in Uganda

“…For structural engineering, geometry is important (Kent and Noss 2002). In pure mathematics, basic topics such as numbers, formulae, algebraic and differential equations, vectors, and tensors are vital to engineering (Garg et al 1998). …”

“…Numerous studies demonstrate that engineering students struggle with a wide range of areas of mathematics, including algebra, matrices, logarithms, analytic skills, trigonometry, calculus, proof, logic, modeling, and problem-solving (Bernstein 2005;Garg et al 1998;Shatz 2016). A study by Faulkner et al (2016) found out that students' mathematical competencies had decreased.…”

Program Aging and Service Crash

“…Empirical confirmation demonstrated free space shows most brief Time to Exhaustion (TTE) among computers resources [31], and space administration faults are a noteworthy reason for crashes [32]. Therefore, numerous studies on aging and renewal analyses program aging phenomena influencing free space, by measuring quantity of free physical space and swap space [33], and a few estimation based methodologies apply time arrangement and measurable models to these variables.…”

“…In [31], a system of UNIX workstations was checked to distinguish aging patterns in utilization of a few resources (identified with simulated space, OS portion, file computers, disk, and organize), and critical aging pattern was seen in procedure [52]. These two perspectives are most regular issues happening in non-safety-critical computers and they are considered by an expanding number of SAR studies.…”

“…If subsequent renewals are always conducted at real crash-prone state, renewal cost will tend to be optimal and significant with optimum schedule. But unfortunately, prior detection approaches based upon explicit aging indicators [11] [12], [13], [14], [15] [16], [17]. These approaches don't function well especially in face of dynamic workloads.…”