Access control in cloud-on-grid systems: The perfcloud case study

Abstract

Cloud computing is an emerging paradigm for the management of large distributed computing resources. Currently there is great interest in the integration of cloud and grid computing technologies. PerfCloud is a cloud implementation based on a cloud-on-grid approach, in that it exploits an underlying grid platform. PerfCloud provides a set of services for the creation of Virtual Clusters (VCs) and the execution and performance evaluation of user applications on the VC environment. This paper, after a discussion on security issues in clouds, focuses on the implications linked to the use of a cloud-on-grid approach. As a case study, the implementation of fine-grain access control mechanisms in PerfCloud is presented. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.