"Interoperable Clouds," a white paper by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), describes a snapshot of the work being done in the DMTF Open Cloud Standards Incubator, including use cases and reference architecture as they relate to the interfaces between a cloud service provider and a cloud service consumer. The paper summarizes the core use cases, reference architecture, and service lifecycle. These building blocks are used to specify the cloud provider interfaces, data artifacts, and profiles to achieve interoperable management.

Cloud computing is an approach to delivering IT services that promises to be highly agile and lower costs for consumers, especially up-front costs. This approach impacts not only the way computing is used but also the technology and processes that are used to construct and manage IT within enterprises and service providers. The goal of the Incubator is to define a set of architectural semantics that unify the interoperable management of enterprise and cloud computing.

The DMTF formed the Open Cloud Standards Incubator to assess the impacts of cloud computing on management and virtualization standards and to make recommendations for extensions to better align with the requirements of cloud environments. Some changes may impact DMTF standards, while others will require coordination with other industry and standards groups. The goal is to aid the industry in addressing challenges that affect the interoperability, portability, and security of cloud computing environments.

Given that the opportunities and promise of cloud computing come with elements of risk and management complexity, it is inevitable that adopters of cloud computing will ask questions such as the following:

• How do I integrate computer, network, and storage services from one or more cloud service providers into my business and IT processes?

• How do I manage security and business continuity risk across several cloud providers?
• How do I manage the lifecycle of a service in a distributed multiple-provider environment in order to satisfy service-level agreements (SLAs) with my customers?
• How do I maintain effective governance and audit processes across integrated datacenters and cloud providers?
• How do I adopt or switch to a new cloud provider?

The goal of the Open Cloud Standards Incubator is to enable portability and interoperability between private clouds within enterprises and hosted or public cloud service providers. The Incubator leverages existing bodies of work, along with the experiences of members, customers, and service providers, to recommend standards for interoperable clouds. A first step has included the development of use cases, a service lifecycle, and a reference architecture. Although this body of work will be extended over time, in collaboration with alliance partners, the current and future work will define provider interfaces consisting of data artifacts, interface protocols, and security. This is a significant step forward in developing interoperable cloud management.

The white paper's table of contents includes the following aspects:

Usage Scenarios

• Cloud Portability (Working with Multiple Providers)
• Federating Cloud Providers
• Adapting Services to Varying Requirements

Cloud Service Lifecycle

Cloud Service Reference Architecture

• Actors
• Interfaces and Data Artifacts
• DMTF Profiles

Next Steps

• Deliverables: Phase 1 -- reference architecture, taxonomy, use cases, priorities, submissions from vendors, and existing standards and initiatives; Phase 2 -- recommendations for each standard
• Alliances: Open Grid Forum; Cloud Security Alliance; TeleManagement Forum; Storage Networking Industry Association; National Institute of Standards and Technology

Alliances play an important role in helping the DMTF to provide a unified view of management initiatives. For example, SNIA has produced an interface specification for cloud storage. The Open Cloud Standards Incubator will not only leverage that work but also collaborate with SNIA to ensure consistent standards. The Incubator expects to leverage existing DMTF standards, including Open Virtualization Format (OVF), Common Information Model (CIM), CMDB Federation (CMDBf), CIM Simplified Policy Language (CIM-SPL), and the DMTF's virtualization profiles, as well as standards from affiliated industry groups.

Because the goal of the Incubator is to develop information specifications on interoperable cloud management, the scope of the task is quite large. The use cases, reference architecture, and lifecycle described in the white paper will necessarily extend to topic areas outside the scope of the DMTF. The expectation, therefore, is that the DMTF alliances will be leveraged to create that interoperable management solution.

According to Mark A. Carlson in his brief blog DMTF Shows Its Cloud Hand, "The group has all the right players participating, including: AMD, CA, Cisco, Citrix, EMC, Fujitsu, HP, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Novell, Rackspace, RedHat, Savvis, SunGard, Sun Microsystems, and VMware."

Virtualization.com notes that, "DMTF’s Open Cloud Standards Incubator expects the cloud provider interface will encompass several major sub categories that make up the interface between cloud service providers and cloud consumers. These subcategories will ultimately be comprised of profiles that span object models and wire formats. The group anticipates that some profiles will be addressed through integration with other DMTF working groups, and through cooperation with other standards bodies."

More Information

DMTF Open Cloud Standards Incubator

Oracle and the Cloud

The Benefits of Open Standards and Open Source in Cloud Computing

Considering a Migration to the Cloud?

Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) Version 0.8 [...read more...]

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