Modeling the Virtual Machine Launching Overhead under Fermicloud

Fermi Cloud is a private cloud developed by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory for scientific workflows. The Cloud Bursting module of the Fermi Cloud enables the Fermi Cloud, when more computational resources are needed, to automatically launch virtual machines to available resources such as public clouds. One of the main challenges in developing the cloud bursting module is to decide when and where to launch a VM so that all resources are most effectively and efficiently utilized and the system performance is optimized. However, based on Fermi Cloud's system operational data, the VM launching overhead is not a constant. It varies with physical resource (CPU, memory, I/O device) utilization at the time when a VM is launched. Hence, to make judicious decisions as to when and where a VM should be launched, a VM launch overhead reference model is needed. The paper is to develop a VM launch overhead reference model based on operational data we have obtained on Fermi Cloud and uses the reference model to guide the cloud bursting process.