Platform-as-a-Service Architecture for Real-Time Quality of Service Management in Clouds

TLDR

Cloud computing promises cost reductions through commoditization and on‑demand usage, yet the complexity of resource provisioning in such environments creates inefficiencies that have spurred the development of Platform‑as‑a‑Service (PaaS) infrastructures. This work introduces a novel PaaS architecture designed to deliver real‑time Quality of Service guarantees for online interactive multimedia applications. The architecture spans the entire service lifecycle—engineering, SLA design, provisioning, and monitoring—using application‑ and infrastructure‑level QoS parameters to inform provisioning policies under temporal constraints. Its generic applicability is demonstrated via validated scenarios in film post‑production, virtual augmented reality for engineering design, and collaborative e‑learning in virtual worlds.

Abstract

Cloud computing offers the potential to dramatically reduce the cost of software services through the commoditization of information technology assets and on-demand usage patterns. However, the complexity of determining resource provision policies for applications in such complex environments introduces significant inefficiencies and has driven the emergence of a new class of infrastructure called Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). In this paper, we present a novel PaaS architecture being developed in the EU IST IRMOS project targeting real-time Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees for online interactive multimedia applications. The architecture considers the full service lifecycle including service engineering, service level agreement design, provisioning and monitoring. QoS parameters at both application and infrastructure levels are given specific attention as the basis for provisioning policies in the context of temporal constraints. The generic applicability of the architecture is being verified and validated through implemented scenarios from three important application sectors (film post-production, virtual augmented reality for engineering design, collaborative e-Learning in virtual worlds).