Debugging Software using Virtual Networks

gunnk writes "In today's large intertwined networks it is awfully easy for a bug in one piece of software to have far-flung ramifications that may be horribly difficult to track down. For example, think about the chaos that could ensue if Cisco had a subtle routing bug in it's next generation of internet switches. Unfortunately, it is too expensive to build a test environment anywhere near the scale of the real environment, so the final "testing" occurs in the real world. A new idea has come along, however, that might just help: creating a virtual world in the real world network to test the software (with the added bonus of being able to step backwards through the process to analyze bugs). Sciencedaily is running an article on this method entitled "New Computer System Solves Problems by Tricking Computers"."