Service-level agreement

About: Service-level agreement is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4358 publications have been published within this topic receiving 75333 citations. The topic is also known as: SLA.

Adaptive Resource Allocation and Provisioning in Multi-Service Cloud Environments

Abstract: In the current cloud business environment, the cloud provider (CP) can provide a means for offering the required quality of service (QoS) for multiple classes of clients. We consider the cloud market where various resources such as CPUs, memory, and storage in the form of Virtual Machine (VM) instances can be provisioned and then leased to clients with QoS guarantees. Unlike existing works, we propose a novel Service Level Agreement (SLA) framework for cloud computing, in which a price control parameter is used to meet QoS demands for all classes in the market. The framework uses reinforcement learning (RL) to derive a VM hiring policy that can adapt to changes in the system to guarantee the QoS for all client classes. These changes include: service cost, system capacity, and the demand for service. In exhibiting solutions, when the CP leases more VMs to a class of clients, the QoS is degraded for other classes due to an inadequate number of VMs. However, our approach integrates computing resources adaptation with service admission control based on the RL model. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first attempt that facilitates this integration to enhance the CP's profit and avoid SLA violation. Numerical analysis stresses the ability of our approach to avoid SLA violation while maximizing the CP's profit under varying cloud environment conditions.

Automatic enforcement of service-level agreements for providing services over a network

Abstract: The invention deals with the enforcement of Service Level Agreement for the services provided over a client-server network. The invention discloses a method, system and a program product for automatic enforcement of SLAs. This is achieved by automatic metering of requests for service and allocation of resources of the server based on the SLA, current available resources and the needs of the customer.

Server operational cost optimization for cloud computing service providers over a time horizon

Abstract: Service providers are migrating to on-demand cloud computing services to unburden the task of managing infrastructure, while cloud computing providers expand the number of servers in their data centers because of the increase in load. With this growing need, their energy consumption increases significantly. Conserving energy and reducing the operational cost while satisfying the service level agreement (SLA) becomes important in order to reduce both carbon emissions and the budget for cloud computing providers. On the other hand, the aggregated demands for different services are dynamic over a time horizon. We present a multi-time period optimization model for saving the operational cost by combining two factors: 1)Dynamic Voltage/Frequency Scaling (DVFS), 2)turning servers on/off over a time horizon. We show the impact of the granularity of the duration of the time slots and frequency options on optimal solutions. A parametric study on varying cost of turning servers on/off and power consumption is also presented.

QoS Adaptation in Service-Oriented Grids.

Abstract: Some applications utilizing Grid computing infrastructure require the simultaneous allocation of resources, such as compute servers, networks, memory, disk storage and other specialized resources. Collaborative working and visualization is one example of such applications. In this context, Quality of Service (QoS) is related to Grid services, and not just to the network connecting these services. With the emerging interest in service-oriented Grids, resources may be advertised and traded as services based on a Service Level Agreement (SLA). Such a SLA must include both general and technical specifications, including pricing policy and properties of the resources required to execute the service – to ensure QoS requirements are satisfied. A QoS adaptation algorithm is presented to enable the dynamic adjustment of behavior of an application based on changes in the pre-defined SLA. The approach is particularly useful if workload or network traffic changes in unpredictable ways during an active session. The proposed QoS adaptation scheme is used to compensate for QoS degradation and optimize resource utilization, by increasing the number of requests managed over a particular time.

Insurance for service level agreements in e-utilities and other e-service environments

Abstract: A method and system for indemnifying an insurance purchaser by an insurance provider against losses resulting from specified events. In one embodiment, the specified events include quality of service penalties of a service level agreement between a service provider and service purchaser. The invention may include at least one risk metric monitored via a communication network, such that a premium payable to the insurer by the insurance purchaser is dependent on the risk metric. In a particular configuration of the invention, the risk metric is monitored in real-time or near real-time.