Dynamic, Context-Aware Cross-Layer Orchestration of Containerized Applications

Container orchestration handles the semi-automated management of applications across Edge-Cloud, providing features such as autoscaling, high availability, and portability. Having been developed for Cloud-based applications, container orchestration faces challenges in the context of decentralized Edge-Cloud environments, requiring a higher degree of adaptability in the verge of mobility, heterogeneous networks, and constrained devices. In this context, this perspective paper aims at igniting discussion on the aspects that a dynamic orchestration approach should integrate to support an elastic orchestration of containerized applications. The motivation for the provided perspective focuses on proposing directions to better support challenges faced by next-generation IoT services, such as mobility or privacy preservation, advocating the use of context awareness and a cognitive, cross-layer approach to container orchestration to be able to provide adequate support to next-generation services. A proof of concept (available open source software) of the discussed concept has been implemented in a testbed composed of embedded devices.