Cloud computing has become the leading paradigm for deploying large-scale infrastructures and running big data applications, due to its capacity of achieving economies of scale. In this work, we focus on one of the most prominent advantages of cloud computing, namely the on-demand resource provisioning, which is commonly referred to as elasticity. Although a lot of effort has been invested in developing systems and mechanisms that enable elasticity, the elasticity decision policies tend to be designed without guaranteeing or quantifying the quality of their operation. This work aims to make the development of elasticity policies more formalized and dependable. We make two distinct contributions. First, we propose an extensible approach to enforcing elasticity through the dynamic instantiation and online quantitative verification of Markov Decision Processes (MDP) using probabilistic model checking. Second, we propose concrete elasticity models and related elasticity policies. We evaluate our decision policies using both real and synthetic datasets in clusters of NoSQL databases. According to the experimental results, our approach improves upon the state-of-the-art in significantly increasing user-defined utility values and decreasing user-defined threshold violations.
Our work also relates to proposals that employ model checking for cloud solutions and runtime quantitative verification. In the work of @cite_26 , a technique to predict the minimum VM cost of cloud deployments based on existing application logs is introduced. Queuing network theory is used to derive VM resource usage profiles. With the the latter, MDP models are instantiated and used to verify system properties. The work of @cite_3 presents an incremental model verification technique, which is applied on component-based software systems deployed on cloud infrastructures. Their technique achieves lower verification time as only the modified components are verified. Both these techniques are used to analyze the cloud-based systems and not to drive elasticity or other adaptivity decisions. QoSMOS @cite_14 is a framework that also utilizes PRISM to analyse and dynamically choose the appropriate configuration of service-based systems modelled as Markov chains. Finally, the work in @cite_18 introduces a model-driven framework called ADAM, where the users provide activity diagrams that are converted to MDP models, for which cumulative rewards for various quality metrics are computed.
@cite_14 @cite_18 @cite_26 @cite_3
2784847637 1896690221 2122985136 2136340918
This thesis addresses the question of planning under uncertainty within a time-dependent changing environment. Original motivation for this work came from the problem of building an autonomous agent able to coordinate with its uncertain environment; this environment being composed of other agents communicating their intentions or non-controllable processes for which some discrete-event model is available. We investigate several approaches for modeling continuous time-dependency in the framework of Markov Decision Processes (MDPs), leading us to a definition of Temporal Markov Decision Problems. Then our approach focuses on two separate paradigms. First, we investigate time-dependent problems as processes and describe them through the formalism of Time-dependent MDPs (TMDPs). We extend the existing results concerning optimality equations and present a new Value Iteration algorithm based on piecewise polynomial function representations in order to solve a more general class of TMDPs. This paves the way to a more general discussion on parametric actions in hybrid state and action spaces MDPs with continuous time. In a second time, we investigate the option of separately modeling the concurrent contributions of exogenous events. This approach of modeling leads to the use of Generalized Semi-Markov Decision Processes (GSMDP). We establish a link between the general framework of Discrete Events Systems Specification (DEVS) and the formalism of GSMDP, allowing us to build sound discrete-event compatible simulators. Then we introduce a simulation-based Policy Iteration approach for explicit-event Temporal Markov Decision Problems. This algorithmic contribution brings together results from simulation theory, forward search in MDPs, and statistical learning theory. The implicit-event approach was tested on a specific version of the Mars rover planning problem and on a drone patrol mission planning problem while the explicit-event approach was evaluated on a subway network control problem. We model a web application to support analysis and simulation of cloud environments.We implement the model as an extension of the CloudSim simulator.We found that the user behavior has a strong influence on the resource utilization.We found Generalized Extreme Value and Generalized Lambda distributions instead of Exponential distribution to represent session time. Display Omitted Workload modeling enables performance analysis and simulation of cloud resource management policies, which allows cloud providers to improve their systems' Quality of Service (QoS) and researchers to evaluate new policies without deploying expensive large scale environments. However, workload modeling is challenging in the context of cloud computing due to the virtualization layer overhead, insufficient tracelogs available for analysis, and complex workloads. These factors contribute to a lack of methodologies and models to characterize applications hosted in the cloud. To tackle the above issues, we propose a web application model to capture the behavioral patterns of different user profiles and to support analysis and simulation of resources utilization in cloud environments. A model validation was performed using graphic and statistical hypothesis methods. An implementation of our model is provided as an extension of the CloudSim simulator. We consider a market-based resource allocation model for batch jobs in cloud computing clusters. In our model, we incorporate the importance of the due date of a job rather than the number of servers allocated to it at any given time. Each batch job is characterized by the work volume of total computing units (e.g., CPU hours) along with a bound on maximum degree of parallelism. Users specify, along with these job characteristics, their desired due date and a value for finishing the job by its deadline. Given this specification, the primary goal is to determine the scheduling of cloud computing instances under capacity constraints in order to maximize the social welfare (i.e., sum of values gained by allocated users). Our main result is a new ( C (C-k) ⋅ s (s-1))-approximation algorithm for this objective, where C denotes cloud capacity, k is the maximal bound on parallelized execution (in practical settings, k l C) and s is the slackness on the job completion time i.e., the minimal ratio between a specified deadline and the earliest finish time of a job. Our algorithm is based on utilizing dual fitting arguments over a strengthened linear program to the problem. Based on the new approximation algorithm, we construct truthful allocation and pricing mechanisms, in which reporting the job true value and properties (deadline, work volume and the parallelism bound) is a dominant strategy for all users. To that end, we provide a general framework for transforming allocation algorithms into truthful mechanisms in domains of single-value and multi-properties. We then show that the basic mechanism can be extended under proper Bayesian assumptions to the objective of maximizing revenues, which is important for public clouds. We empirically evaluate the benefits of our approach through simulations on data-center job traces, and show that the revenues obtained under our mechanism are comparable with an ideal fixed-price mechanism, which sets an on-demand price using oracle knowledge of users' valuations. Finally, we discuss how our model can be extended to accommodate uncertainties in job work volumes, which is a practical challenge in cloud settings. We consider the problem of resource allocation in downlink OFDMA systems for multi service and unknown environment. Due to users' mobility and intercell interference, the base station cannot predict neither the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of each user in future time slots nor their probability distribution functions. In addition, the traffic is bursty in general with unknown arrival. The probability distribution functions of the SNR, channel state and traffic arrival density are then unknown. Achieving a multi service Quality of Service (QoS) while optimizing the performance of the system (e.g. total throughput) is a hard and interesting task since it depends on the unknown future traffic and SNR values. In this paper we solve this problem by modeling the multiuser queuing system as a discrete time linear dynamic system. We develop a robust H∞ controller to regulate the queues of different users. The queues and Packet Drop Rates (PDR) are controlled by proposing a minimum data rate according to the demanded service type of each user. The data rate vector proposed by the controller is then fed as a constraint to an instantaneous resource allocation framework. This instantaneous problem is formulated as a convex optimization problem for instantaneous subcarrier and power allocation decisions. Simulation results show small delays and better fairness among users.