Generic input template for cloud simulators: A case study of CloudSim

Abstract

Cloud computing and its service models, such as Platform as a Service (PaaS), have changed the way that computing resources are allocated to Information and Communications Technology enterprises and users. Although multiple cloud providers support dynamic service provisioning, it is necessary to facilitate the management of the cloud infrastructure and applications in order to allow the continuous refinement of cloud models. Therefore, issues are raised regarding the cloud orchestration, including the flexible portability and interoperability of cloud applications among multiple cloud providers. Having said that, there is a need for a standardized design and management of the cloud use cases (during the creation of scenarios, application's deployment, and patching) to ensure efficient applications' migration between different providers. This paper proposes an artifact, GITS, a generic input template for CloudSim and other cloud simulators. GITS can be provided by PaaS offering to manage the creation, monitoring, administration, and patching of infrastructure and applications in the cloud. GITS defines the cloud schema that can be used with conforming cloud models and independent cloud providers; thus, portability and interoperability can be enabled in PaaS cloud models. GITS focuses on the architecture-based modeling for cloud infrastructure and application not only in terms of computational resources but also in terms of high availability properties associated with infrastructure and applications. The main objective of the GITS template is to provide the cloud user with a modular, simple, readable, and reusable model that still supports the essential components and provide them with the ability to control the applications' execution, deployment, and other management needs in addition to the allocation environment. This paper describes GITS usage, specifically as an input template for CloudSim.