Cloud Service Agent for SLA-Based Provider Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cloud service technologies face challenges in providing seamless and adaptable services that meet user demands, as users are locked into specific service providers and cannot easily switch to better SLA offerings or substitute services when failures occur, leading to service disruptions.
Innovation Solution
A cloud service agent that manages user information, registers and synthesizes cloud services, measures SLA quality, and executes virtual cloud services, enabling seamless service provision according to user-defined SLAs by integrating multiple cloud services and providing substitutes when necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users are locked into specific service providers, then service stability is maintained, but user flexibility and ability to switch to better SLA offerings deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cloud service agent as an intermediary component that sits between users and multiple cloud service providers. This agent manages service subscriptions, monitors SLA compliance, and enables automatic switching between providers based on performance metrics. The intermediary resolves the contradiction by maintaining service stability through automated management while simultaneously providing user flexibility through the ability to switch providers without direct user intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic service provider selection and switching based on real-time SLA monitoring. The cloud service agent continuously evaluates provider performance against agreed SLAs and dynamically adjusts service routing to maintain optimal service quality. This dynamic approach allows the system to adapt to changing conditions while maintaining stability through automated responses to performance degradation.
2Device complexity
If cloud service providers directly serve users, then service delivery is simple, but service reliability deteriorates when failures occur without substitute options
Solution Approach 1:
The cloud service agent performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing service subscriptions with multiple providers and pre-configuring failover mechanisms. When a provider failure occurs, the agent can immediately activate substitute services without requiring real-time decision-making or complex coordination. This preliminary preparation maintains service reliability while keeping the actual failure response simple and automated.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of service delivery by introducing automated SLA monitoring thresholds and trigger-based switching mechanisms. When performance parameters fall below predefined thresholds, the system automatically initiates provider switching. This parameter-based control simplifies the complexity of failure management while ensuring service reliability through automated responses to performance degradation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple cloud services are integrated through mashup, then service versatility is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cloud service agent segments the complex task of multi-service integration into manageable components: service discovery, subscription management, SLA monitoring, and coordinate execution. By dividing the mashup process into these discrete functional segments, the system achieves high service versatility while maintaining manageable complexity through modular architecture and automated coordination of each segment.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a cloud service agent based on a Service Level Agreement (SLA). The cloud service agent includes: a cloud service user manager configured to manage information on cloud service users; a cloud service manager configured to register cloud services provided by cloud service providers, and to generate and manage virtual cloud services based on the registered cloud services; a cloud service SLA broker configured to manage a matrix of an Service Level Agreement (SLA) of the cloud services, to measure a quality of the cloud services, and to provide information on the SLA or on the measured quality; and a cloud service executor configured to execute the virtual cloud services generated by the cloud service manager and to provide a result of the execution to the cloud service users.