Operating the Cloud from Inside Out

Abstract: Virtual machine images and instances (VMs) in cloud computing centres are typically designed as isolation containers for applications, databases and networking functions. In order to build complex distributed applications, multiple virtual machines must be connected, orchestrated and combined with platform and infrastructure services from the hosting environment. There are several reasons why sometimes it is beneficial to introduce a new layer, Cloud-in-a-VM, which acts as a portable management interface to a cluster of VMs. We reason about the benefits and present our Cloud-in-a-VM implementation called Nested Cloud which allows consumers to become light-weight cloud operators on demand and reap multiple advantages, including fully utilised resource allocations. The practical usefulness and the performance of the intermediate cloud stack VM are evaluated in a marketplace scenario.