EASI-CLOUDS - Extendable Architecture and Service Infrastructure for CLOUD-computing Software
Up to now, the development of cloud computing applications was either focused either on the interface level (API) or using advantages of specialized cloud services, like e.g. data storage, to provide scaled pre-installed web services on a platform (PaaS).
With this specialization, the interoperability between clouds is hard to reach. Even in the case of isolated, private Clouds, which are replacing traditional internal datacenters at the moment, there are obvious restrictions on scalability and high availability. Therefore, one of the main goals of the EASI-CLOUD project is to strengthen the interoperability between clouds on all levels of the cloud computing stack (virtualization, platforms and services) with the development of open standards, so that their merging and cross-cloud-service usage of more diverse, but also more compatible EASI-CLOUD service provider is supported. This goal is achieved with a EASI-CLOUDS tool kit, among others.
The service toolkit, which has to be realized, creates a modular, dynamically scalable platform for a cloud-service developer. This extends the already publicized concept of modularly designing software for service-oriented architecture (SOA) with multiple single services on cloud computing. For this, the scalable, portable cloud-specific services extend the ecosystem of tools and services, e.g. for accounting, respectively service quality control in the cloud.
In general, for the usage in EASI-CLOUDS, existing components and partial platforms have to be adjusted and integrated. For example, the OSGi platform, as base of internal service-oriented applications, has to be extended to be able to support scaling scenarios. These are, for example, monitoring and accounting attempts, which have to be adjusted to the expected flexibility of a cloud solution, and therefore create the base for a realization of dynamic business models of the respective EASI-CLOUD service.
Atos C-LAB leads the German consortium of the European EASI-CLOADS overall project. Contentwise, the three main parts technology, user processes and business process with focus on the German Use Case and chosen partial components will be addressed for the EASI-CLOUDS platform.
Together with the Charité Berlin, the Use Case partner of the German project, a cloud based neuroradiologic diagnostics to faster compute and process CPU-intensive clinical examination is in the works. The focus is on a medicinal research scenario, the appertaining processes, and analog clinical diagnosis routines for special degenerative brain disease based on the processing of MRT-Scans.
EASI-CLOUDS examines, in accordance to the technological dimension of the project, innovative business models, which are developed from the competence gained in the respective use case. In addition to the ecological aspect, the user-oriented shape of the application is supervised at Atos C-LAB and enriched through usability aspects.
On the technological level, Atos C-LAB is working on the integration as well as the development of a cloud-compatible context processing service. In addition, the realization of process steps in a distributed cloud-application, which are parts of a scaling solution, is one of Atos C-LAB's tasks.
Project funded by: BMBF (ITEA-Projekt)
Project duration: December 2011 - November 2014
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