A study on performance measures for auto-scaling CPU-intensive containerized applications

Autoscaling of containers can leverage performance measures from the different layers of the computational stack. This paper investigate the problem of selecting the most appropriate performance measure to activate auto-scaling actions aiming at guaranteeing QoS constraints. First, the correlation between absolute and relative usage measures and how a resource allocation decision can be influenced by them is analyzed in different workload scenarios. Absolute and relative measures could assume quite different values. The former account for the actual utilization of resources in the host system, while the latter account for the share that each container has of the resources used. Then, the performance of a variant of Kubernetes’ auto-scaling algorithm, that transparently uses the absolute usage measures to scale-in/out containers, is evaluated through a wide set of experiments. Finally, a detailed analysis of the state-of-the-art is presented

Benchmarking Hadoop Performance in the Cloud - An in Depth Study of Resource Management and Energy Consumption

International audienceVirtual technologies have proven their capabilities to ensure good performance in the context of high performance computing (HPC). During the last decade, the big data tools have been emerging, they have their own needs in performance and infrastructure. Having a wide breadth of experience in the HPC domain, the experts can evaluate the infrastructures used to run big data tools easily. The outcome of this paper is the evaluation of two technologies of virtualization in the context of big data tools. We compare the performance and the energy consumption of two technologies of virtualization (Docker containers and VMware) and benchmark the software Hadoop (JoshBaer, 2015) using these environments. Firstly, the aim is the reduction of the Hadoop deployment cost using the cloud. Secondly, we discuss and analyze the assumptions learned from the HPC experiments and their applicability in the big data context. Thirdly, the Hadoop community finds an in-depth study of the resource consumption depending on the deployment environment. We come to the point that the use of the Docker container gives better performance in most experiments. Besides, the energy consumption varies according to the executed workload

MaxHadoop: An Efficient Scalable Emulation Tool to Test SDN Protocols in Emulated Hadoop Environments

AbstractThis paper presents MaxHadoop, a flexible and scalable emulation tool, which allows the efficient and accurate emulation of Hadoop environments over Software Defined Networks (SDNs). Hadoop has been designed to manage endless data-streams over networks, making it a tailored candidate to support the new class of network services belonging to Big Data. The development of Hadoop is contemporary with the evolution of networks towards the new architectures "Software Defined." To create our emulation environment, tailored to SDNs, we employ MaxiNet, given its capability of emulating large-scale SDNs. We make it possible to emulate realistic Hadoop scenarios on large-scale SDNs using low-cost commodity hardware, by resolving a few key limitations of MaxiNet through appropriate configuration settings. We validate the MaxHadoop emulator by executing two benchmarks, namely WordCount and TeraSort, to evaluate a set of Key Performance Indicators. The tests' outcomes evidence that MaxHadoop outperforms other existing emulation tools running over commodity hardware. Finally, we show the potentiality of MaxHadoop by utilizing it to perform a comparison of SDN-based network protocols

A Comparative Study on the Performance Isolation of Virtualization Technologies

abstract: Virtualization technologies are widely used in modern computing systems to deliver shared resources to heterogeneous applications. Virtual Machines (VMs) are the basic building blocks for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and containers are widely used to provide Platform as a Service (PaaS). Although it is generally believed that containers have less overhead than VMs, an important tradeoff which has not been thoroughly studied is the effectiveness of performance isolation, i.e., to what extent the virtualization technology prevents the applications from affecting each other’s performance when they share the resources using separate VMs or containers. Such isolation is critical to provide performance guarantees for applications consolidated using VMs or containers. This paper provides a comprehensive study on the performance isolation for three widely used virtualization technologies, full virtualization, para-virtualization, and operating system level virtualization, using Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), Xen, and Docker containers as the representative implementations of these technologies. The results show that containers generally have less performance loss (up to 69% and 41% compared to KVM and Xen in network latency experiments, respectively) and better scalability (up to 83.3% and 64.6% faster compared to KVM and Xen when increasing number of VMs/containers to 64, respectively), but they also suffer from much worse isolation (up to 111.8% and 104.92% slowdown compared to KVM and Xen when adding disk stress test in TeraSort experiments under full usage (FU) scenario, respectively). The resource reservation tools help virtualization technologies achieve better performance (up to 85.9% better disk performance in TeraSort under FU scenario), but cannot help them avoid all impacts.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Computer Science 201

Elastic, Interoperable and Container-based Cloud Infrastructures for High Performance Computing

Tesis por compendio[ES] Las aplicaciones científicas implican generalmente una carga computacional variable y no predecible a la que las instituciones deben hacer frente variando dinámicamente la asignación de recursos en función de las distintas necesidades computacionales. Las aplicaciones científicas pueden necesitar grandes requisitos. Por ejemplo, una gran cantidad de recursos computacionales para el procesado de numerosos trabajos independientes (High Throughput Computing o HTC) o recursos de alto rendimiento para la resolución de un problema individual (High Performance Computing o HPC). Los recursos computacionales necesarios en este tipo de aplicaciones suelen acarrear un coste muy alto que puede exceder la disponibilidad de los recursos de la institución o estos pueden no adaptarse correctamente a las necesidades de las aplicaciones científicas, especialmente en el caso de infraestructuras preparadas para la ejecución de aplicaciones de HPC. De hecho, es posible que las diferentes partes de una aplicación necesiten distintos tipos de recursos computacionales. Actualmente las plataformas de servicios en la nube se han convertido en una solución eficiente para satisfacer la demanda de las aplicaciones HTC, ya que proporcionan un abanico de recursos computacionales accesibles bajo demanda. Por esta razón, se ha producido un incremento en la cantidad de clouds híbridos, los cuales son una combinación de infraestructuras alojadas en servicios en la nube y en las propias instituciones (on-premise). Dado que las aplicaciones pueden ser procesadas en distintas infraestructuras, actualmente la portabilidad de las aplicaciones se ha convertido en un aspecto clave. Probablemente, las tecnologías de contenedores son la tecnología más popular para la entrega de aplicaciones gracias a que permiten reproducibilidad, trazabilidad, versionado, aislamiento y portabilidad. El objetivo de la tesis es proporcionar una arquitectura y una serie de servicios para proveer infraestructuras elásticas híbridas de procesamiento que puedan dar respuesta a las diferentes cargas de trabajo. Para ello, se ha considerado la utilización de elasticidad vertical y horizontal desarrollando una prueba de concepto para proporcionar elasticidad vertical y se ha diseñado una arquitectura cloud elástica de procesamiento de Análisis de Datos. Después, se ha trabajo en una arquitectura cloud de recursos heterogéneos de procesamiento de imágenes médicas que proporciona distintas colas de procesamiento para trabajos con diferentes requisitos. Esta arquitectura ha estado enmarcada en una colaboración con la empresa QUIBIM. En la última parte de la tesis, se ha evolucionado esta arquitectura para diseñar e implementar un cloud elástico, multi-site y multi-tenant para el procesamiento de imágenes médicas en el marco del proyecto europeo PRIMAGE. Esta arquitectura utiliza un almacenamiento distribuido integrando servicios externos para la autenticación y la autorización basados en OpenID Connect (OIDC). Para ello, se ha desarrollado la herramienta kube-authorizer que, de manera automatizada y a partir de la información obtenida en el proceso de autenticación, proporciona el control de acceso a los recursos de la infraestructura de procesamiento mediante la creación de las políticas y roles. Finalmente, se ha desarrollado otra herramienta, hpc-connector, que permite la integración de infraestructuras de procesamiento HPC en infraestructuras cloud sin necesitar realizar cambios en la infraestructura HPC ni en la arquitectura cloud. Cabe destacar que, durante la realización de esta tesis, se han utilizado distintas tecnologías de gestión de trabajos y de contenedores de código abierto, se han desarrollado herramientas y componentes de código abierto y se han implementado recetas para la configuración automatizada de las distintas arquitecturas diseñadas desde la perspectiva DevOps.[CA] Les aplicacions científiques impliquen generalment una càrrega computacional variable i no predictible a què les institucions han de fer front variant dinàmicament l'assignació de recursos en funció de les diferents necessitats computacionals. Les aplicacions científiques poden necessitar grans requisits. Per exemple, una gran quantitat de recursos computacionals per al processament de nombrosos treballs independents (High Throughput Computing o HTC) o recursos d'alt rendiment per a la resolució d'un problema individual (High Performance Computing o HPC). Els recursos computacionals necessaris en aquest tipus d'aplicacions solen comportar un cost molt elevat que pot excedir la disponibilitat dels recursos de la institució o aquests poden no adaptar-se correctament a les necessitats de les aplicacions científiques, especialment en el cas d'infraestructures preparades per a l'avaluació d'aplicacions d'HPC. De fet, és possible que les diferents parts d'una aplicació necessiten diferents tipus de recursos computacionals. Actualment les plataformes de servicis al núvol han esdevingut una solució eficient per satisfer la demanda de les aplicacions HTC, ja que proporcionen un ventall de recursos computacionals accessibles a demanda. Per aquest motiu, s'ha produït un increment de la quantitat de clouds híbrids, els quals són una combinació d'infraestructures allotjades a servicis en el núvol i a les mateixes institucions (on-premise). Donat que les aplicacions poden ser processades en diferents infraestructures, actualment la portabilitat de les aplicacions s'ha convertit en un aspecte clau. Probablement, les tecnologies de contenidors són la tecnologia més popular per a l'entrega d'aplicacions gràcies al fet que permeten reproductibilitat, traçabilitat, versionat, aïllament i portabilitat. L'objectiu de la tesi és proporcionar una arquitectura i una sèrie de servicis per proveir infraestructures elàstiques híbrides de processament que puguen donar resposta a les diferents càrregues de treball. Per a això, s'ha considerat la utilització d'elasticitat vertical i horitzontal desenvolupant una prova de concepte per proporcionar elasticitat vertical i s'ha dissenyat una arquitectura cloud elàstica de processament d'Anàlisi de Dades. Després, s'ha treballat en una arquitectura cloud de recursos heterogenis de processament d'imatges mèdiques que proporciona distintes cues de processament per a treballs amb diferents requisits. Aquesta arquitectura ha estat emmarcada en una col·laboració amb l'empresa QUIBIM. En l'última part de la tesi, s'ha evolucionat aquesta arquitectura per dissenyar i implementar un cloud elàstic, multi-site i multi-tenant per al processament d'imatges mèdiques en el marc del projecte europeu PRIMAGE. Aquesta arquitectura utilitza un emmagatzemament integrant servicis externs per a l'autenticació i autorització basats en OpenID Connect (OIDC). Per a això, s'ha desenvolupat la ferramenta kube-authorizer que, de manera automatitzada i a partir de la informació obtinguda en el procés d'autenticació, proporciona el control d'accés als recursos de la infraestructura de processament mitjançant la creació de les polítiques i rols. Finalment, s'ha desenvolupat una altra ferramenta, hpc-connector, que permet la integració d'infraestructures de processament HPC en infraestructures cloud sense necessitat de realitzar canvis en la infraestructura HPC ni en l'arquitectura cloud. Es pot destacar que, durant la realització d'aquesta tesi, s'han utilitzat diferents tecnologies de gestió de treballs i de contenidors de codi obert, s'han desenvolupat ferramentes i components de codi obert, i s'han implementat receptes per a la configuració automatitzada de les distintes arquitectures dissenyades des de la perspectiva DevOps.[EN] Scientific applications generally imply a variable and an unpredictable computational workload that institutions must address by dynamically adjusting the allocation of resources to their different computational needs. Scientific applications could require a high capacity, e.g. the concurrent usage of computational resources for processing several independent jobs (High Throughput Computing or HTC) or a high capability by means of using high-performance resources for solving complex problems (High Performance Computing or HPC). The computational resources required in this type of applications usually have a very high cost that may exceed the availability of the institution's resources or they are may not be successfully adapted to the scientific applications, especially in the case of infrastructures prepared for the execution of HPC applications. Indeed, it is possible that the different parts that compose an application require different type of computational resources. Nowadays, cloud service platforms have become an efficient solution to meet the need of HTC applications as they provide a wide range of computing resources accessible on demand. For this reason, the number of hybrid computational infrastructures has increased during the last years. The hybrid computation infrastructures are the combination of infrastructures hosted in cloud platforms and the computation resources hosted in the institutions, which are named on-premise infrastructures. As scientific applications can be processed on different infrastructures, the application delivery has become a key issue. Nowadays, containers are probably the most popular technology for application delivery as they ease reproducibility, traceability, versioning, isolation, and portability. The main objective of this thesis is to provide an architecture and a set of services to build up hybrid processing infrastructures that fit the need of different workloads. Hence, the thesis considered aspects such as elasticity and federation. The use of vertical and horizontal elasticity by developing a proof of concept to provide vertical elasticity on top of an elastic cloud architecture for data analytics. Afterwards, an elastic cloud architecture comprising heterogeneous computational resources has been implemented for medical imaging processing using multiple processing queues for jobs with different requirements. The development of this architecture has been framed in a collaboration with a company called QUIBIM. In the last part of the thesis, the previous work has been evolved to design and implement an elastic, multi-site and multi-tenant cloud architecture for medical image processing has been designed in the framework of a European project PRIMAGE. This architecture uses a storage integrating external services for the authentication and authorization based on OpenID Connect (OIDC). The tool kube-authorizer has been developed to provide access control to the resources of the processing infrastructure in an automatic way from the information obtained in the authentication process, by creating policies and roles. Finally, another tool, hpc-connector, has been developed to enable the integration of HPC processing infrastructures into cloud infrastructures without requiring modifications in both infrastructures, cloud and HPC. It should be noted that, during the realization of this thesis, different contributions to open source container and job management technologies have been performed by developing open source tools and components and configuration recipes for the automated configuration of the different architectures designed from the DevOps perspective. The results obtained support the feasibility of the vertical elasticity combined with the horizontal elasticity to implement QoS policies based on a deadline, as well as the feasibility of the federated authentication model to combine public and on-premise clouds.López Huguet, S. (2021). Elastic, Interoperable and Container-based Cloud Infrastructures for High Performance Computing [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/172327TESISCompendi

Evaluation of Docker Containers for Scientific Workloads in the Cloud

The HPC community is actively researching and evaluating tools to support execution of scientific applications in cloud-based environments. Among the various technologies, containers have recently gained importance as they have significantly better performance compared to full-scale virtualization, support for microservices and DevOps, and work seamlessly with workflow and orchestration tools. Docker is currently the leader in containerization technology because it offers low overhead, flexibility, portability of applications, and reproducibility. Singularity is another container solution that is of interest as it is designed specifically for scientific applications. It is important to conduct performance and feature analysis of the container technologies to understand their applicability for each application and target execution environment. This paper presents a (1) performance evaluation of Docker and Singularity on bare metal nodes in the Chameleon cloud (2) mechanism by which Docker containers can be mapped with InfiniBand hardware with RDMA communication and (3) analysis of mapping elements of parallel workloads to the containers for optimal resource management with container-ready orchestration tools. Our experiments are targeted toward application developers so that they can make informed decisions on choosing the container technologies and approaches that are suitable for their HPC workloads on cloud infrastructure. Our performance analysis shows that scientific workloads for both Docker and Singularity based containers can achieve near-native performance. Singularity is designed specifically for HPC workloads. However, Docker still has advantages over Singularity for use in clouds as it provides overlay networking and an intuitive way to run MPI applications with one container per rank for fine-grained resources allocation