Distributed Ledger for Cloud Service Quality Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Provisioning cloud services in multi-cloud environments is challenging due to difficulties in accurately verifying and billing for quality of service, leading to transparency and administrative issues for both service providers and clients.
Innovation Solution
A distributed ledger system, such as a blockchain, is used to monitor quality of service by collecting and verifying metrics from cloud service providers, ensuring that service level agreements are met through cryptographic blocks and smart contracts, which trigger resource releases or payments, eliminating the need for centralized authorities and enhancing transparency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional centralized billing and verification systems are used for cloud services, then administrative control and service management are maintained, but transparency and trust between service providers and clients are reduced, leading to credit risks and administrative burdens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a distributed ledger system as an intermediary between cloud service providers and clients. This intermediary maintains a transparent and immutable record of quality of service metrics, billing information, and verification data, eliminating the need for centralized administrative control while enhancing trust through cryptographic verification and shared visibility of all transactions and service deliveries
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service through automated quality of service verification and billing processes. Smart contracts automatically execute when quality of service metrics are met, triggering payments without manual intervention. The distributed ledger autonomously verifies service delivery and manages billing, reducing administrative burdens while maintaining reliability through programmable enforcement of service level agreements
2Productivity
If manual verification and billing processes are used for cloud services, then flexibility in handling diverse service scenarios is maintained, but productivity and efficiency are reduced due to time-consuming administrative tasks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action through pre-configured smart contracts that automatically execute quality of service verification and billing processes. Service level agreements are programmed in advance with specific metrics and thresholds, enabling automated verification when conditions are met. This eliminates manual verification steps and accelerates billing cycles, significantly improving productivity while reducing the time required for quality of service assessment and payment processing
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where quality of service metrics are automatically monitored, verified, and fed back to trigger billing actions. The distributed ledger provides real-time visibility of service delivery status, enabling automated decision-making and rapid payment processing. This feedback mechanism eliminates manual intervention delays and streamlines the entire verification and billing workflow, enhancing both productivity and speed
3Adaptability or versatility
If centralized authorities manage quality of service verification, then service management control is maintained, but adaptability to multi-cloud environments and diverse service scenarios is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The distributed ledger system provides universal functionality across multi-cloud environments by implementing a standardized framework for quality of service verification and billing that works across different cloud providers and service types. The system can accommodate diverse service scenarios through configurable smart contracts that adapt to specific service level agreements, enabling seamless operation across heterogeneous cloud infrastructures without requiring provider-specific manual processes
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments quality of service verification and billing into independent, modular smart contract components that can be selectively deployed and configured for different service scenarios. This segmentation allows flexible composition of verification logic for various service types while maintaining ease of operation through standardized interfaces and automated execution, enabling simple service provisioning despite the complexity of multi-cloud environments
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus in one embodiment comprises at least one processing device having a processor coupled to a memory configured to implement a first ledger node of a plurality of ledger nodes configured to collectively maintain a distributed ledger. The first ledger node is configured to obtain a set of quality of service metrics for a given workload running on a given cloud service provider, to receive a set of monitoring metrics for the given workload, and to generate a cryptographic block characterizing the set of monitoring metrics, the cryptographic block being entered into the distributed ledger. The first ledger node is also configured to verify whether the given workload meets the set of quality of service metrics based at least in part on the set of monitoring metrics, and to trigger release of resources from a given client device to the given cloud service provider responsive to successful verification.