A test farm is a way to make a large number of systems easily available over a network to any number of users for manual or automated testing. Users can connect to any of the boards in the test farm over the network and it is possible to control power, download firmware, run, debug, and test software on multiple devices simultaneously.
Users are also able to access devices from anywhere in the world using the J-Link Remote Server software or through remote access to the LAN, typically using a VPN tunnel.
Automated build systems can run tests on the same standard setup, which is suitable for regression testing, continuous integration, compiler tests, and more. Test farms can also be set up to offer access to the same hardware in different configurations or to allow users to connect to a variety of completely different boards and with a variety of toolchains.
SEGGER’s J-Link PRO with Ethernet interface, combined with the test farm adapter, provides a foundation for any fully-scalable mass testing and debugging solution for embedded systems.
Devices under test can be turned off as a power saving measure if no test is running. They can also be power cycled and rebooted, which can be very useful in the testing process.
"Automated testing is a very important part of quality assurance,” explained Rolf Segger, founder of SEGGER. "There is no replacement for a test farm. It makes it possible to verify things that can’t be tested in simulation, such as the performance and stability of hardware. It is also the only way to eliminate concerns about the correctness of the simulator itself. We use test farms internally in our J-Link and Flasher departments as well as for compiler performance and regression testing.”
