A descriptive approach for the lifecycle support of distributed web-based systems

Abstract

Through the advancement in technology and the spreading of the internet, a wide range of different application types has evolved. To cope with the increased complexity of today's Web-based systems, approaches facilitating development, operations and evolution of these heterogeneous and distributed systems are vital. The approach, presented in this contribution, is based on a dedicated information model allowing the description of the overall system and its components characteristics. At runtime, the relevant model information is processed and provided to different in the system's lifecycle involved stakeholders and supports them to fulfill their activities. Due to this use in terms of orientation and guidance, our approach is called the Integrated Information Map (i2map). Furthermore, the descriptive information regarding the nominal status and behavior of the components is used for automated monitoring and testing to assure the quality of the overall system at deployment and throughout operations.