Types of Chaos Experiments (+ How To Run Them According to Pros)

Chaos experiments aim to identify hidden vulnerabilities and potential failure points in systems by intentionally introducing controlled disturbances to observe system responses, thereby enhancing resilience and reliability. These experiments form the core of chaos engineering, focusing on testing systems under stress to understand behavior and improve robustness. The process involves hypothesis formation about system behavior, controlled introduction of variables to simulate real-world disturbances, and careful observation and data collection to analyze system performance. Safety mechanisms are crucial to prevent unnecessary impact, with findings from experiments leading to iterative improvements in system design and operations. Various types of chaos experiments, such as dependency failure, resource manipulation, and network disruption, address different aspects of system resilience. The use of tools like Steadybit facilitates the execution of these experiments by providing scenarios, monitoring capabilities, and integrations with cloud services and observability platforms, promoting understanding and preparation for real-world conditions.