A comparison of energy efficient adaptation algorithms in cloud data centers

Abstract: Context: In recent years, Cloud computing has gained a wide range of attention in both industry and academics as Cloud services offer pay-per-use model, due to increase in need of factors like reliability and computing results with immense growth in Cloud-based companies along with a continuous expansion of their scale. However, the rise in Cloud computing users can cause a negative impact on energy consumption in the Cloud data centers as they consume huge amount of overall energy. In order to minimize the energy consumption in virtual datacenters, researchers proposed various energy efficient resources management strategies. Virtual Machine dynamic Consolidation is one of the prominent technique and an active research area in recent time, used to improve resource utilization and minimize the electric power consumption of a data center. This technique monitors the data centers utilization, identify overloaded, and underloaded hosts then migrate few/all Virtual Machines (VMs) to other suitable hosts using Virtual Machine selection and Virtual Machine placement, and switch underloaded hosts to sleep mode.   Objectives: Objective of this study is to define and implement new energy-aware heuristic algorithms to save energy consumption in Cloud data centers and show the best-resulted algorithm then compare performances of proposed heuristic algorithms with old heuristics.   Methods: Initially, a literature review is conducted to identify and obtain knowledge about the adaptive heuristic algorithms proposed previously for energy-aware VM Consolidation, and find the metrics to measure the performance of heuristic algorithms. Based on this knowledge, for our thesis we have proposed 32 combinations of novel adaptive heuristics for host overload detection (8) and VM selection algorithms (4), one host underload detection and two adaptive heuristic for VM placement algorithms which helps in minimizing both energy consumption and reducing overall Service Level Agreement (SLA) violation of Cloud data center. Further, an experiment is conducted to measure the performances of all proposed heuristic algorithms. We have used the CloudSim simulation toolkit for the modeling, simulation, and implementation of proposed heuristics. We have evaluated the proposed algorithms using PlanetLab VMs real workload traces.   Results: The results were measured using metrics energy consumption of data center (power model), Performance Degradation due to Migration (PDM), Service Level Agreement violation Time per Active Host (SLATAH), Service Level Agreement Violation (SLAV = PDM . SLATAH) and, Energy consumption and Service level agreement Violation (ESV).  Here for all four categories of VM Consolidation, we have compared the performances of proposed heuristics with each other and presented the best heuristic algorithm proposed in each category. We have also compared the performances of proposed heuristic algorithms with existing heuristics which are identified in the literature and presented the number of newly proposed algorithms work efficiently than existing algorithms. This comparative analysis is done using T-test and Cohen's d effect size.   From the comparison results of all proposed algorithms, we have concluded that Mean absolute Deviation around median (MADmedain) host overload detection algorithm equipped with Maximum requested RAM VM selection (MaxR) using Modified First Fit Decreasing VM placement (MFFD), and Standard Deviation (STD) host overload detection algorithm equipped with Maximum requested RAM VM selection (MaxR) using Modified Last Fit decreasing VM placement (MLFD) respectively performed better than other 31 combinations of proposed overload detection and VM selection heuristic algorithms, with regards to Energy consumption and Service level agreement Violation (ESV). However, from the comparative study between existing and proposed algorithms, 23 and 21 combinations of proposed host overload detection and VM selection algorithms using MFFD and MLFD VM placements respectively performed efficiently compared to existing (baseline) heuristic algorithms considered for this study.   Conclusions: This thesis presents novel proposed heuristic algorithms that are useful for minimization of both energy consumption and Service Level Agreement Violation in virtual datacenters. It presents new 23 combinations of proposed host overloading detection and VM selection algorithms using MFFD VM placement and 21 combinations of proposed host overloading detection and VM selection algorithms using MLFD VM placement, which consumes the minimum amount of energy with minimal SLA violation compared to the existing algorithms. It gives scope for future researchers related to improving resource utilization and minimizing the electric power consumption of a data center. This study can be extended in further by implementing the work on other Cloud software platforms and developing much more efficient algorithms for all four categories of VM consolidation.