Use Computation Server with Right Hardware

By default Conformiq Creator is configured in a “Local Computation Server” configuration, i.e., both the Creator Workbench as well as test generation run on the machine or laptop the user is using. Use of underpowered machines in this configuration may lead to slow Workbench performance, long model loading times, long test generation times, and even the computation server running out of memory during test generation (which leads to the loss of tests generated up to that point). Generally it is the number of processor cores that can speed up test generation whereas addition of memory prevents the available cores to run out of memory.

Note that “hyper threading” may double the amount of processors visible to software on your machine. Run a test generation once, e.g., on any Example model, and check the Progress Panel view for the message “Allocated <n> Conformiq Computation Slaves” to see the cores available for Conformiq Creator. This number includes both physical and logical processors.

Note that processor cores generally do not consume memory evenly. During a test generation a single processor core may consume significantly more than 2 GB - at the same time test generation may not always use all available processor cores. Complex models (see section Model Complexity) may require significantly more main memory and/or cores than stated in this recommendation to complete test generation in reasonable time.

Hardware used for test generation is important but not the only component in preventing test generation issues. It is also important that hardware and software bitness are properly matched, and that (in particular advanced) modelling constructs are used as intended in models loaded for test generation.

For more information on configuration and use of a remote computation server see in Conformiq manual Chapter 3. Testing with Conformiq Creator > How to Configure Conformiq Eclipse Client

> Remote computation server and Chapter 2. Installing Conformiq Creator with Conformiq Transformer > Running Conformiq Computation Server. Note that use of a remote server does not resolve slowness in Workbench performance.