Image transfer optimization for agile development

Cloud computing is becoming a common delivery model for IT services. Development and testing of applications and services is usually conducted on a development cloud environment often within customer premises and deployed in stages to a production cloud. Agile development process integrates development and deployment of IT systems and requires frequent and low cost synchronization between development and deployment cloud environments. This article proposes and evaluates virtual machine transfer algorithm based on image redundancy that allows to reduce bandwidth and time required to transfer specific images from development to production sites. It also explores how a typical image library, including public and private images, evolves over time and what impact it has on potential gain from the proposed algorithm. An analytical model is also proposed that allows to quantify degree of saving from using the algorithm. Evaluation shows up to 80% reduction in terms of transfer time and network bandwidth usage.