QuLa: service selection and forwarding table population in service-centric networking using real-life topologies

The amount of services located in the network has drastically increased over the last decade which is why more and more datacenters are located at the network edge, closer to the users. In the current Internet it is up to the client to select a destination using a resolution service (Domain Name System, Content Delivery Networks ...). In the last few years, research on Information-Centric Networking (ICN) suggests to put this selection responsibility at the network components; routers find the closest copy of a content object using the content name as input. We extend the principle of ICN to services; service routers forward requests to service instances located in datacenters spread across the network edge. To solve this problem, we first present a service selection algorithm based on both server and network metrics. Next, we describe a method to reduce the state required in service routers while minimizing the performance loss caused by this data reduction. Simulation results based on real-life networks show that we are able to find a near-optimal load distribution with only minimal state required in the service routers

Docker Layer Placement for On-Demand Provisioning of Services on Edge Clouds

Driven by the increasing popularity of the microservice architecture, we see an increase in services with unknown demand pattern located in the edge network. Pre-deployed instances of such services would be idle most of the time, which is economically infeasible. Also, the finite storage capacity limits the amount of deployed instances we can offer. Instead, we present an on-demand deployment scheme using the Docker platform. In Docker, service images consist of layers, each layer adding specific functionality. This allows different services to reuse layers, avoiding cluttering the storages with redundant replicas. We propose a layer placement method which allows users to connect to a server, retrieve all necessary layers-possibly from multiple locations- and deploy an instance of the requested service within the desired response time. We search for the best layer placement which maximizes the satisfied demand given the storage and delay constraints. We developed an iterative optimization heuristic which is less exhaustive by dividing the global problem in smaller subproblems. Our simulation results show that our heuristic is able to solve the problem with less system resources. Last, we present interesting use-cases to use this approach in real-life scenarios

QuLa: queue and latency-aware service selection and routing in service-centric networking

Due to an explosive growth in services running in different datacenters, there is need for service selection and routing to deliver user requests to the best service instance. In current solutions, it is generally the client that must first select a datacenter to forward the request to before an internal load-balancer of the selected datacenter can select the optimal instance. An optimal selection requires knowledge of both network and server characteristics, making clients less suitable to make this decision. Information-Centric Networking (ICN) research solved a similar selection problem for static data retrieval by integrating content delivery as a native network feature. We address the selection problem for services by extending the ICN-principles for services. In this paper we present Queue and Latency, a network-driven service selection algorithm which maps user demand to service instances, taking into account both network and server metrics. To reduce the size of service router forwarding tables, we present a statistical method to approximate an optimal load distribution with minimized router state required. Simulation results show that our statistical routing approach approximates the average system response time of source-based routing with minimized state in forwarding tables

Predicting small-scale, short-lived downbursts : case study with the NWP limited-area ALARO model for the Pukkelpop thunderstorm

The authors consider a thunderstorm event in 2011 during a music festival in Belgium that produced a short-lived downburst of a diameter of less than 100 m. This is far too small to be resolved by the kilometric resolutions of today's operational numerical weather prediction models. Operational forecast models will not run at hectometric resolutions in the foreseeable future. The storm caused five casualties and raised strong societal questions regarding the predictability of such a traumatic weather event.In this paper it is investigated whether the downdrafts of a parameterization scheme of deep convection can be used as proxies for the unresolved downbursts. To this end the operational model ALARO [a version of the Action de Recherche Petite Echelle Grande Echelle-Aire Limitee Adaptation Dynamique Developpement International (ARPEGE-ALADIN) operational limited area model with a revised and modular structure of the physical parameterizations] of the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium is used. While the model in its operational configuration at the time of the event did not give a clear hint of a downburst event, it has been found that (i) the use of unsaturated downdrafts and (ii) some adaptations of the features of this downdraft parameterization scheme, specifically the sensitivity to the entrainment and friction, can make the downdrafts sensitive enough to the surrounding resolved-scale conditions to make them useful as indicators of the possibility of such downbursts

Evaluator services for optimised service placement in distributed heterogeneous cloud infrastructures

Optimal placement of demanding real-time interactive applications in a distributed heterogeneous cloud very quickly results in a complex tradeoff between the application constraints and resource capabilities. This requires very detailed information of the various requirements and capabilities of the applications and available resources. In this paper, we present a mathematical model for the service optimization problem and study the concept of evaluator services as a flexible and efficient solution for this complex problem. An evaluator service is a service probe that is deployed in particular runtime environments to assess the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of deploying a specific application in such environment. We discuss how this concept can be incorporated in a general framework such as the FUSION architecture and discuss the key benefits and tradeoffs for doing evaluator-based optimal service placement in widely distributed heterogeneous cloud environments

Service oriented networking

This paper introduces a new paradigm for service oriented networking being developed in the FUSION project(1). Despite recent proposals in the area of information centric networking, a similar treatment of services - where networked software functions, rather than content, are dynamically deployed, replicated and invoked - has received little attention by the network research community to date. Our approach provides the mechanisms required to deploy a replicated service instance in the network and to route client requests to the closest instance in an efficient manner. We address the main issues that such a paradigm raises including load balancing, resource registration, domain monitoring and inter-domain orchestration. We also present preliminary evaluation results of current work

Service-centric networking

This chapter introduces a new paradigm for service centric networking. Building upon recent proposals in the area of information centric networking, a similar treatment of services – where networked software functions, rather than content, are dynamically deployed, replicated and invoked – is discussed. Service-centric networking provides the mechanisms required to deploy replicated service instances across highly distributed networked cloud infrastructures and to route client requests to the closest instance while providing more efficient network infrastructure usage, improved QoS and new business opportunities for application and service providers. </jats:p

Service oriented networking

L'utilisation de blogs dans le cadre de la classe semble être un sujet récurrent ces derniers temps. Nos amis québecois ont publié des articles et dossiers sur ce thème. Il ne s'agit pas tant du blog géré par l'enseignant pour sa classe, mais davantage de l'utilisation du blog par l'élève ou l'étudiant, dans le cadre de sa formation. Nous parlons donc de blogs (au pluriel) dans la classe. Le site Internet de Profweb vient de mettre en ligne un dossier intitulé « Bloguer pour enseigner et appr..