Component-aware Orchestration of Cloud-based Enterprise Applications, from TOSCA to Docker and Kubernetes

Enterprise IT is currently facing the challenge of coordinating the management of complex, multi-component applications across heterogeneous cloud platforms. Containers and container orchestrators provide a valuable solution to deploy multi-component applications over cloud platforms, by coupling the lifecycle of each application component to that of its hosting container. We hereby propose a solution for going beyond such a coupling, based on the OASIS standard TOSCA and on Docker. We indeed propose a novel approach for deploying multi-component applications on top of existing container orchestrators, which allows to manage each component independently from the container used to run it. We also present prototype tools implementing our approach, and we show how we effectively exploited them to carry out a concrete case study

COMPONENT-AWARE ORCHESTRATION OF TOSCA APPLICATIONS ON TOP OF DOCKER

Coordinating the management of complex, multi-component applications across heterogeneous cloud platforms is currently one of the main challenges in enterprise IT. Containers and container orchestrators are widely used to deploy multi-component applications over cloud platforms. In this thesis, we propose a TOSCA-based solution for independently managing the components forming an application from the containers used to run them. More precisely, starting from an existing TOSCA-based representation of the software components and Docker containers composing an application, we propose a novel architectural approach for deploying such applications on top of existing container orchestrators, by also allowing to manage each component independently from the container used to run it. We also present an ecosystem of tools implementing our approach, as well as its exploitation to run concrete, third-party case studies

Standard methods for toxicology research in Apis mellifera

Modern agriculture often involves the use of pesticides to protect crops. These substances are harmful to target organisms (pests and pathogens). Nevertheless, they can also damage non-target animals, such as pollinators and entomophagous arthropods. It is obvious that the undesirable side effects of pesticides on the environment should be reduced to a minimum. Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) are very important organisms from an agricultural perspective and are vulnerable to pesticide-induced impacts. They contribute actively to the pollination of cultivated crops and wild vegetation, making food production possible. Of course, since Apis mellifera occupies the same ecological niche as many other species of pollinators, the loss of honey bees caused by environmental pollutants suggests that other insects may experience a similar outcome. Because pesticides can harm honey bees and other pollinators, it is important to register pesticides that are as selective as possible. In this manuscript, we describe a selection of methods used for studying pesticide toxicity/selectiveness towards Apis mellifera. These methods may be used in risk assessment schemes and in scientific research aimed to explain acute and chronic effects of any target compound on Apis mellifera