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The Virtual Resource Market – SLAs as derivatives contracts for the data centreDate: 8 May 2007

Produced by: Chris Swan

The materials may not be used or relied upon in any way.

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Agenda

A financial metaphor for the data centre

Where virtualisation fits into the picture

The virtual resource market

SLAs – the cornerstone to success

Integrating SLAs into the software development lifecycle

Questions

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OGF technical reference model – axes only

Business process /

service

Virtualized Platform

Platform Instance

Virtualized Operating

Environment

Operating

Environment

Virtualized Physical

Physical

Storage Compute Network

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OGF reference model – top and bottom layers only

Service Reference data Risk Management Customer Portal

Assets Storage Compute IO

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OGF reference model - A financial metaphor

Derivative Listed OTC Exotic

Assets Cash Bonds Equities

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A layered view (from OGF technical reference model)

Business process /

service

Reference Data Risk Management Customer Portal

Virtualized Platform Data Grid Compute Grid Server Farm

Platform Instance Database App Server Web Server

Virtualized Operating

Environment

NFS, SMB, NAS Virtual Machine

Monitors

Load balancing, VIPs

Operating

Environment

File systems

e.g. NTFS, Ext3

Operating Systems

e.g. Linux, Windows

Network protocols

e.g. TCP/IP, UDP

Virtualized Physical LUNs Hypervisors VLANs

Physical Disks, Array

Controller, SAN

switches etc.

Servers,

Blades etc.

Switches,

Routers etc.

Storage Compute Network

Each physical layer provides Abstraction to the layer aboveEach Virtualized layer provides a flexible mapping/management point

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Balancing the infrastructure

NetworkComputeStorage

Switches,Routers etc.

Servers,Blades etc.

Disks, ArrayController, SAN

switches etc.

Physical

VLANsHypervisorsLUNsVirtualized Physical

Network protocolse.g. TCP/IP, UDP

Operating Systemse.g. Linux, Windows

File systemse.g. NTFS, Ext3

OperatingEnvironment

Load balancing, VIPs

VMMsNFS, SMB, NASVirtualized OperatingEnvironment

Web ServerApp ServerDatabasePlatform Instance

Server FarmCompute GridData GridVirtualized Platform

Customer PortalRisk ManagementReference DataBusiness process /service

NetworkComputeStorage

Switches,Routers etc.

Servers,Blades etc.

Disks, ArrayController, SAN

switches etc.

Physical

VLANsHypervisorsLUNsVirtualized Physical

Network protocolse.g. TCP/IP, UDP

Operating Systemse.g. Linux, Windows

File systemse.g. NTFS, Ext3

OperatingEnvironment

Load balancing, VIPs

VMMsNFS, SMB, NASVirtualized OperatingEnvironment

Web ServerApp ServerDatabasePlatform Instance

Server FarmCompute GridData GridVirtualized Platform

Customer PortalRisk ManagementReference DataBusiness process /service

Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

Assets

Capacity & Performance

Management

(VRM)

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Virtual Resource Market - Details

VirtualResource

Market

VirtualResource

Market

Netw

ork

F

abrics

Sto

rage

F

abrics

BidsBids OffersOffers

Co

mp

ute

Fab

rics

Message Hub

n-tier application

Compute Farm

Canonical Application Architectures

Physical ResourcesVirtualized Resources

$/Unit Performance$/Virtual Unit Performance

Time Slice Offers

Time Slice Bids

Minimize $/Unit Performance Maintain SLAs

$ for SLAs (Budget) Match

$ for SLA to $/Virtual Unit Performance

Compute Fabric C1

Canonical Architecture A

Canonical Architecture B

Canonical Architecture C

Bid for Storage Fabric

Bid for Network Fabric

Bid for Compute Fabric

$/Fabric

Compute Fabric C2

Network Fabric N1

Network Fabric N2

Storage Fabric S2

Storage Fabric S1

Bid for Storage Fabric

Bid for Network Fabric

Bid for Compute Fabric

Bid for Network Fabric

Bid for Compute Fabric

Offers of C2

Offers of N1

Offers of N2

Offers of S1

Offers of S2

Offers of C1

SLA

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SLAs work just like any other piece of software

From the classic waterfall process (or SDLC+):

Initiation (Concept)If we are going to have a system then we will need an SLA

Requirements definitionIdentify at a coarse level what the parameters covered by the SLAwill be

System and software designDetermine high level metrics (key performance indicators) then refine to get specific metrics

Implementation and unit testingThis creates and verifies the functional parts of the SLA

Integration and system testingAt this stage it should be possible to validate that the non functional aspects are achievable

Deployment / maintenanceEnsure that the system performs within the SLA and respond to exceptions

EvaluationDoes the SLA actually represent the service to fit the business need that drove the original concept?

}These stages are where efforts are typically focused with existing performance management tools.

Many systems are integrated and tested for ‘ultimate’ performance because no SLA has been defined, designed or developed earlier in the cycle.

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Tools and technology

XML has become increasingly popular for modelling derivatives, with FPML emerging to cover most of the common ground

We need standard XSDs for SLAs

Composition is crucial – we don’t code from scratch, so we won’t build SLAs from scratch

Common models (canonical forms) can be reused

These may well have repeatable behaviour as well as shape

Components and frameworks have yet to emerge

SLAng (UCL) shows the way, WS-CDL may help with behaviour

Eclipse plugin for SLAs – coming soon?

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Questions?

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