Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
JadexCloud - An Infrastructure for
Enterprise Cloud Applications
Lars Braubach, Alexander Pokahr, and Kai Jander
Distributed Systems and Information Systems
Computer Science Department, University of Hamburg
{pokahr,braubach}@informatik.uni-hamburg.de
Abstract.
Cloud computing allows business users to scale up or down
resource needs according to current demands (utility computing). Infras-
tructures for cloud computing can be distinguished with respect to the
layer they operate on. In case of platform as a service (PAAS) frameworks
are provided in order to simplify the construction of cloud applications
relying on common base abstractions and tool sets. The focus of current
PAAS frameworks is quite narrow and directed towards support for web
applications and also visual tools for non-programmers. We envision that
cloud computing can also substantially push forward typical enterprise
applications if these applications are made to exploit cloud capabilities.
In this paper we present an infrastructure for developing, deploying and
managing distributed applications with the vision of distribution trans-
parency in mind. The infrastructure is meant to be on PAAS layer but
addresses developers instead of end users. It is founded on the active
component paradigm for distributed applications, which allows applica-
tions being composed of agent-like autonomous entities interacting via
services. The model facilitates building scalable and robust enterprise ap-
plications due to the high modularity and independently acting modules
that can be replaced or restarted if unexpected errors occur. In addi-
tion to the infrastructure, a real world scenario of a distributed workflow
management systems will be explained.
1
Introduction
Cloud computing [8] is seen as a new approach to IT infrastructure management
that facilitates a pay-as-you-go usage model. By making computational resources
available on a demand-driven basis instead of statically devoting physical systems
to certain applications, the approach minimizes wasted resources. Taking this
idea further, it seems reasonable that existing computers in a company network
should contribute their spare resources in a company private
enterprise cloud
.
Applications in the cloud can be built on the IAAS (infrastructure as a service)
or the PAAS layer. With IAAS, access to the cloud is granted by virtual machines
that allow a fine-grained control of the software stack to be used, including low-
level aspects like the operating system. On the one hand the level of access does
not restrict the application types deployable on the IAAS layer but on the other
