2,970 research outputs found
Self-management for large-scale distributed systems
Autonomic computing aims at making computing systems self-managing by using autonomic managers in order to reduce obstacles caused by management complexity. This thesis presents results of research on self-management for large-scale distributed systems. This research was motivated by the increasing complexity of computing systems and their management.
In the first part, we present our platform, called Niche, for programming self-managing component-based distributed applications. In our work on Niche, we have faced and addressed the following four challenges in achieving
self-management in a dynamic environment characterized by volatile resources and high churn: resource discovery, robust and efficient sensing and actuation, management bottleneck, and scale. We present results of our research
on addressing the above challenges. Niche implements the autonomic computing architecture, proposed by IBM, in a fully decentralized way. Niche supports a network-transparent view of the system architecture simplifying
the design of distributed self-management. Niche provides a concise and expressive API for self-management. The implementation of the platform relies on the scalability and robustness of structured overlay networks. We proceed
by presenting a methodology for designing the management part of a distributed self-managing application. We define design steps that include partitioning of management functions and orchestration of multiple autonomic
managers. In the second part, we discuss robustness of management and data consistency, which are necessary in a distributed system. Dealing with the effect of churn on management increases the complexity of the management logic
and thus makes its development time consuming and error prone. We propose the abstraction of Robust Management Elements, which are able to heal themselves under continuous churn. Our approach is based on replicating a
management element using finite state machine replication with a reconfigurable replica set. Our algorithm automates the reconfiguration (migration) of the replica set in order to tolerate continuous churn. For data consistency, we propose a majority-based distributed key-value store supporting multiple consistency levels that is based on a peer-to-peer network. The store enables the tradeoff between high availability and data consistency. Using majority allows avoiding potential drawbacks of a master-based consistency control, namely, a single-point of failure and a potential performance bottleneck. In the third part, we investigate self-management for Cloud-based storage systems with the focus on elasticity control using elements of control theory and machine learning. We have conducted research on a number of different designs of an elasticity controller, including a State-Space feedback controller and a controller that combines feedback and feedforward control. We describe our experience in designing an elasticity controller for a Cloud-based key-value store using state-space model that enables to trade-off performance for cost. We describe the steps in designing an elasticity controller. We continue by
presenting the design and evaluation of ElastMan, an elasticity controller for Cloud-based elastic key-value stores that combines feedforward and feedback control
Elastic Business Process Management: State of the Art and Open Challenges for BPM in the Cloud
With the advent of cloud computing, organizations are nowadays able to react
rapidly to changing demands for computational resources. Not only individual
applications can be hosted on virtual cloud infrastructures, but also complete
business processes. This allows the realization of so-called elastic processes,
i.e., processes which are carried out using elastic cloud resources. Despite
the manifold benefits of elastic processes, there is still a lack of solutions
supporting them.
In this paper, we identify the state of the art of elastic Business Process
Management with a focus on infrastructural challenges. We conceptualize an
architecture for an elastic Business Process Management System and discuss
existing work on scheduling, resource allocation, monitoring, decentralized
coordination, and state management for elastic processes. Furthermore, we
present two representative elastic Business Process Management Systems which
are intended to counter these challenges. Based on our findings, we identify
open issues and outline possible research directions for the realization of
elastic processes and elastic Business Process Management.Comment: Please cite as: S. Schulte, C. Janiesch, S. Venugopal, I. Weber, and
P. Hoenisch (2015). Elastic Business Process Management: State of the Art and
Open Challenges for BPM in the Cloud. Future Generation Computer Systems,
Volume NN, Number N, NN-NN., http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2014.09.00
dReDBox: Materializing a full-stack rack-scale system prototype of a next-generation disaggregated datacenter
Current datacenters are based on server machines, whose mainboard and hardware components form the baseline, monolithic building block that the rest of the system software, middleware and application stack are built upon. This leads to the following limitations: (a) resource proportionality of a multi-tray system is bounded by the basic building block (mainboard), (b) resource allocation to processes or virtual machines (VMs) is bounded by the available resources within the boundary of the mainboard, leading to spare resource fragmentation and inefficiencies, and (c) upgrades must be applied to each and every server even when only a specific component needs to be upgraded. The dRedBox project (Disaggregated Recursive Datacentre-in-a-Box) addresses the above limitations, and proposes the next generation, low-power, across form-factor datacenters, departing from the paradigm of the mainboard-as-a-unit and enabling the creation of function-block-as-a-unit. Hardware-level disaggregation and software-defined wiring of resources is supported by a full-fledged Type-1 hypervisor that can execute commodity virtual machines, which communicate over a low-latency and high-throughput software-defined optical network. To evaluate its novel approach, dRedBox will demonstrate application execution in the domains of network functions virtualization, infrastructure analytics, and real-time video surveillance.This work has been supported in part by EU H2020 ICTproject dRedBox, contract #687632.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
NFV Based Gateways for Virtualized Wireless Sensors Networks: A Case Study
Virtualization enables the sharing of a same wireless sensor network (WSN) by
multiple applications. However, in heterogeneous environments, virtualized
wireless sensor networks (VWSN) raises new challenges such as the need for
on-the-fly, dynamic, elastic and scalable provisioning of gateways. Network
Functions Virtualization (NFV) is an emerging paradigm that can certainly aid
in tackling these new challenges. It leverages standard virtualization
technology to consolidate special-purpose network elements on top of commodity
hardware. This article presents a case study on NFV based gateways for VWSNs.
In the study, a VWSN gateway provider, operates and manages an NFV based
infrastructure. We use two different brands of wireless sensors. The NFV
infrastructure makes possible the dynamic, elastic and scalable deployment of
gateway modules in this heterogeneous VWSN environment. The prototype built
with Openstack as platform is described
Biometrics-as-a-Service: A Framework to Promote Innovative Biometric Recognition in the Cloud
Biometric recognition, or simply biometrics, is the use of biological
attributes such as face, fingerprints or iris in order to recognize an
individual in an automated manner. A key application of biometrics is
authentication; i.e., using said biological attributes to provide access by
verifying the claimed identity of an individual. This paper presents a
framework for Biometrics-as-a-Service (BaaS) that performs biometric matching
operations in the cloud, while relying on simple and ubiquitous consumer
devices such as smartphones. Further, the framework promotes innovation by
providing interfaces for a plurality of software developers to upload their
matching algorithms to the cloud. When a biometric authentication request is
submitted, the system uses a criteria to automatically select an appropriate
matching algorithm. Every time a particular algorithm is selected, the
corresponding developer is rendered a micropayment. This creates an innovative
and competitive ecosystem that benefits both software developers and the
consumers. As a case study, we have implemented the following: (a) an ocular
recognition system using a mobile web interface providing user access to a
biometric authentication service, and (b) a Linux-based virtual machine
environment used by software developers for algorithm development and
submission
- …