Data services in the cloud: The new era of cost- and time-aware data management

Abstract:
The term 'cloud computing' is nowadays synonymous to computing services offered by large-scale infrastructures. The key to the success of cloud computing is to provide seamless and efficient management of large dynamic disseminated data collections, such as scientific data, in order to maximize their availability while minimizing capital expenditure. This talk leverages lessons learned from financial management to solve the problem of both cost- and time-efficient management on clouds offering online data services. We propose a novel economy model for a cloud where users pay on-the-go for the data services they receive and user payments can be used for service provision, infrastructure maintenance and profit. The economy employs a cost model that takes into account all the available resources in a cloud, such as disk space and I/O operations, CPU time and network bandwidth. In order to ensure the economic viability of the cloud, the cost of offering new services has to be amortized to prospective users that will use them. We propose a novel cost amortization model that predicts the extent of amortization in time and number of users. The economy is completed with a dynamic pricing scheme that achieves optimal cloud profit while ensuring user satisfaction with service prices. The talk concludes with future research directions on the provision of online data services.