New frontiers in cloud computing research

Abstract

Cloud computing is challenging conventional wisdom and practices in the management of IT resources and capabilities; at the same time, the technical underpinnings of cloud computing offer unique opportunities and levers for addressing these challenges. In this talk, I will talk about a number of new research thrusts brought forth by the cloud computing paradigm. First, the large magnitude of a typical virtual machine (VM) image and the large volume of common VM libraries have major performance implications for many cloud operations. Fortunately, content similarity that often exists across distinct VM images may be exploited to optimize the transfer and storage of VM images. Second, resource virtualization in the cloud is at odds with the assumptions in traditional software license models, which must be adapted or extended for virtualized environments. There is also a critical need for new license management techniques to help cloud-based software users achieve cost-effectiveness and compliance. Third, cloud infrastructure is evolving towards heterogeneity and is becoming programmable and composable. The so-called Software-Defined Infrastructure promises agility, flexibility, efficiency, and resilience through continuous and proactive optimization of heterogeneous resources to meet the changing requirements of a wide variety of workloads. For each of these research thrusts, I will discuss the specific technical issues and some initial work conducted at IBM Research.