Modeling quality attributes of cloud-standby-systems: A long-term cost and availability model

Abstract

Contingency plans for disaster preparedness and concepts for resuming regular operation as quickly as possible have been an integral part of running a company for a long time. Today, large portions of revenue generation are taking place over the Internet and it has to be ensured that the respective resources and processes are secured against disasters, too. Cloud-Standby-Systems are a way for replicating an IT infrastructure to the Cloud. In this work, a Markov-based model is presented that can be used to analyze and configure such systems on a long term basis. It is shown that by using a Cloud-Standby-System the availability can be increased, how configuration parameters like the replication interval can be optimized, and that the model can be used for supporting the decision whether the infrastructure should be replicated or not. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.