Structural specification for the SLAs in cloud computing (S3LACC)

Abstract

Cloud service providers generally offer service level agreements (SLAs) in descriptive format which is not directly consumable by a machine/system. The SLA written in natural language may impede the utility of rapid elasticity in a cloud service. Automation of different phases of the SLA life cycle (e.g. negotiation, monitoring and management) is also dependent on the availability of a machine readable SLA. In this work, we propose a Structural Specification for the SLAs in Cloud Computing (S3LACC) for the automation of complete SLA life cycle i.e. negotiation, monitoring, management and recycling. S3LACC is specifically designed for cloud domain to meet latest standards and complex requirements of the cloud services such as service composition, dynamic negotiations, automated monitoring and formalization of qualitative parameters. Additionally, S3LACC defines a single SLA structure to be used as an SLA template and as a final agreement as well.