State machine simulator for testing computer systems

A method for simulating running a software application having a plurality of processes on a computer system being tested. The method includes providing a number of work daemons on the test system, with the number being chosen to be substantially equal to the number of processes in the simulated software application. The method continues with configuring each of the work daemons with a static portion that performs functions on or exercises memory of the test system when the work daemon is run. Each of the work daemons is also configured with a dynamic portion including text segments that are selectively executable when the work daemon is run. The static and dynamic portions simulate operations performed by a corresponding one of the modeled software application processes. The method includes running at least a portion of the configured work daemons on the test system and monitoring performance of the test system.