2,661 research outputs found

    A new revenue maximization model using customized plans in cloud service allocation (Applied on a real company case study)

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    Cloud computing is emerging as a promising field offering a variety of computing services to end users. These services are offered at different prices using various pricing schemes and techniques. End users will favor the service provider offering the best quality with the lowest price. Therefore, applying a fair pricing model will attract more customers and achieve higher revenues for service providers. This work focuses on a novel dynamic pricing model which is able to satisfy advance users requirements based on normal fixed price model. This paper considers many factors that affect pricing and user satisfaction, such as fairness, QoS, SLA, and more, by highlighting their importance in recent markets and propose a flexible model which tries to utilize all resources to the highest capacity and offers low prices for underutilized resources. The simulated results shows the appropriateness of dynamic pricing for sharing of computing resources, where providers want to have more customers as a managerial decision and even more income in total.Keywords: Cloud Computing; Digital Pricing; Dynamic Pricin

    Ten Quick Tips for Using a Raspberry Pi

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    Much of biology (and, indeed, all of science) is becoming increasingly computational. We tend to think of this in regards to algorithmic approaches and software tools, as well as increased computing power. There has also been a shift towards slicker, packaged solutions--which mirrors everyday life, from smart phones to smart homes. As a result, it's all too easy to be detached from the fundamental elements that power these changes, and to see solutions as "black boxes". The major goal of this piece is to use the example of the Raspberry Pi--a small, general-purpose computer--as the central component in a highly developed ecosystem that brings together elements like external hardware, sensors and controllers, state-of-the-art programming practices, and basic electronics and physics, all in an approachable and useful way. External devices and inputs are easily connected to the Pi, and it can, in turn, control attached devices very simply. So whether you want to use it to manage laboratory equipment, sample the environment, teach bioinformatics, control your home security or make a model lunar lander, it's all built from the same basic principles. To quote Richard Feynman, "What I cannot create, I do not understand".Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

    SLA-based trust model for secure cloud computing

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    Cloud computing has changed the strategy used for providing distributed services to many business and government agents. Cloud computing delivers scalable and on-demand services to most users in different domains. However, this new technology has also created many challenges for service providers and customers, especially for those users who already own complicated legacy systems. This thesis discusses the challenges of, and proposes solutions to, the issues of dynamic pricing, management of service level agreements (SLA), performance measurement methods and trust management for cloud computing.In cloud computing, a dynamic pricing scheme is very important to allow cloud providers to estimate the price of cloud services. Moreover, the dynamic pricing scheme can be used by cloud providers to optimize the total cost of cloud data centres and correlate the price of the service with the revenue model of service. In the context of cloud computing, dynamic pricing methods from the perspective of cloud providers and cloud customers are missing from the existing literature. A dynamic pricing scheme for cloud computing must take into account all the requirements of building and operating cloud data centres. Furthermore, a cloud pricing scheme must consider issues of service level agreements with cloud customers.I propose a dynamic pricing methodology which provides adequate estimating methods for decision makers who want to calculate the benefits and assess the risks of using cloud technology. I analyse the results and evaluate the solutions produced by the proposed scheme. I conclude that my proposed scheme of dynamic pricing can be used to increase the total revenue of cloud service providers and help cloud customers to select cloud service providers with a good quality level of service.Regarding the concept of SLA, I provide an SLA definition in the context of cloud computing to achieve the aim of presenting a clearly structured SLA for cloud users and improving the means of establishing a trustworthy relationship between service provider and customer. In order to provide a reliable methodology for measuring the performance of cloud platforms, I develop performance metrics to measure and compare the scalability of the virtualization resources of cloud data centres. First, I discuss the need for a reliable method of comparing the performance of various cloud services currently being offered. Then, I develop a different type of metrics and propose a suitable methodology to measure the scalability using these metrics. I focus on virtualization resources such as CPU, storage disk, and network infrastructure.To solve the problem of evaluating the trustworthiness of cloud services, this thesis develops a model for each of the dimensions for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) using fuzzy-set theory. I use the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy-inference approach to develop an overall measure of trust value for the cloud providers. It is not easy to evaluate the cloud metrics for all types of cloud services. So, in this thesis, I use Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) as a main example when I collect the data and apply the fuzzy model to evaluate trust in terms of cloud computing. Tests and results are presented to evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed model

    Aggregate Cost Model for Scalability in Manufacturing Systems

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    Manufacturing continues to face escalated cost challenges on a global scale. To gain a competitive advantage among their rivals, manufacturing firms continuously strive to lower their manufacturing costs than their competitors. This dissertation introduces mathematical optimization model based on an Activity-Based Costing (ABC) method, which considers the relationship between hourly rates and annual hours on each machine/workcentre. Several constraints are considered in the proposed models, such as the cost of reconfiguration, capacity, available machining hours, a decision on facility expansion and a cost-benefit analysis on industry 4.0 implementation. The model outputs are the optimum hourly rates, deciding which jobs to accept or reject, and determining reconfiguration\u27s financial feasibility. Reconfiguration in this dissertation describes system-level reconfiguration (investing in additional equipment/machinery) and/or machine-level reconfiguration (extra module to a piece of existing equipment) as well as factory-level (in terms of expanding additional factory segments to the existing facility). The model will be applied to a real-life case study of a global original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of machinery. The mathematical models proposed in this dissertation are developed based on a multinational hydraulic-press manufacturing company. The company owns a local machine shop (one of the sister companies in North America) for building hydraulic presses meant to be delivered to companies producing engineered wood products (such as OSB (oriented Strand Board), PB (Particle Board), and MDF Board (Medium-Density Fibre) …etc.). The sister company in North America occupies a footprint of 5,000 meters squared with a number of capabilities such as machining (turning and machining centres, welding, assembly, material handling…etc.). Several aspects of the model proposed in this dissertation had been implemented in the company such as the bi-directional relationship between total hours and hourly rates which assisted the company in gaining more jobs and projects. In addition, connectivity between strategic suppliers and company branched has been established (enabler of Industry 4.0). The proposed model\u27s novelty incorporates the bi-directional relationship between hourly rates and annual hours in each workcentre. It provides a managerial decision-making tool for the investment level required to pursue new business and gaining a competitive advantage over rivals. Furthermore, a cost-benefit analysis is performed on the implementation of Industry 4.0. The primary aspect considered in industry 4.0 is Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure with strategic suppliers to intensify interconnection between the manufacturing firm and the strategic suppliers. This research\u27s significance is focused on cost analysis and provides managers in manufacturing facilities with the required decision-making tools to decide on orders to accept or decline, as well as investing in additional production equipment, facility expansion, as well as Industry 4.0. In addition, this research will also help manufacturing companies achieve a competitive edge among rivals by reducing hourly rates within their facility. Furthermore, the implementation of the model reduced hourly rates for workcentres by up to 25% as a result of accepting more jobs (and accordingly, machining hours) on the available workcentres, and hence, reducing the hourly rates. This implementation has helped the company gain a competitive advantage among rivals since pricing of products submitted to customer was reduced. Additional benefits and significance are (1) providing manufacturing companies with a method to quantify the decision-making process for right-sizing their manufacturing space, (2) the ability to justify growing a scalable system (machine level, system-level and factory level) using costing (not customer demand), (3) expanding market share and, (4) reducing operational cost and allowing companies a numerical model to justify scaling the manufacturing system

    Bidding strategy for a virtual power plant for trading energy in the wholesale electricity market

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    Virtual power plants (VPPs) are an effective way to increase renewable integration. In this PhD research, the concept design and the detailed costs and benefits of implementing a realistic VPP in Western Australia (WA), comprising 67 dwellings, are developed. The VPP is designed to integrate and coordinate an 810kW rooftop solar PV farm, 350kW/700kWh vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), heat pump hot water systems (HWSs), and smart appliances through demand management mechanisms. This research develops a robust bidding strategy for the VPP to participate in both load following ancillary service (LFAS) and energy market in the wholesale electricity market in WA considering the uncertainties associated with PV generation and electricity market prices. Using this strategy, the payback period can be improved by 3 years (to a payback period of 6 years) and the internal rate of return (IRR) by 7.5% (to an IRR of 18%) by participating in both markets. The daily average error of the proposed robust method is 2.7% over one year when compared with a robust mathematical method. The computational effort is 0.66 sec for 365 runs for the proposed method compared to 947.10 sec for the robust mathematical method. To engage customers in the demand management schemes by the VPP owner, the gamified approach is adopted to make the exercise enjoyable while not compromising their comfort levels. Seven gamified applications are examined using a developed methodology based on Kim’s model and Fogg’s model, and the most suitable one is determined. The simulation results show that gamification can improve the payback period by 1 to 2 months for the VPP owner. Furthermore, an efficient and fog-based monitoring and control platform is proposed for the VPP to be flexible, scalable, secure, and cost-effective to realise the full capabilities and profitability of the VPP

    Strategies Information and Communication Technology Managers Use to Build Employee Competencies

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    The World Economic Forum (WEF) found that Botswana\u27s information and communication technology (ICT) networked readiness index (NRI) had declined from position 89 in 2012 to 104 in 2015. A decline in Botswana\u27s ICT NRI resulted in a modest gross domestic product (GDP) growth increasing from 4.2% in 2012 to 5.0% in 2015. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies ICT service provider managers use to build employee competencies to address ICT infrastructure performance deficiencies. The target population for this study consisted of over 120 managers from 2 ICT service providers located in Gaborone and Francistown in Botswana. The conceptual framework for this study was information technology (IT) competency model. Face-to-face interviews with 15 managers and a review of 12 company documents were gathered and all interpretations from the data were subjected to member checking to ensure the trustworthiness of the study findings. The thematic analyses of participants\u27 interviews and company documents resulted in the emergence of 3 common themes: developing professional employee competencies through training, promoting knowledge acquisition and skills transfer, and developing budgets for funding the development of employee competencies. Participants cited training and professional development as a reason for ICT infrastructure performance deficiencies. Social implications from this study include developing strategies business managers can use to build employee competencies to improve ICT infrastructure performance, which could result in improved services to citizens and enhanced national development, social transformation, and economic diversification
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