GRID AND CLOUD COMPUTING(Layers

of the cloud)Topic: Service Orchestration Layer.

Presented and prepared by Mwangi Thiga (SP131/20217/13)

Introduction

First, let me begin by introducing you to orchestra music. I think it will help you understand Service Orchestration.

Introduction

An orchestra is a group of about 40-100 musicians playing musical instruments together in a harmonic manner which is directed/controlled by a conductor.

Service Orchestration Layer

With that in mind, now, lets look at Service orchestration with respect to cloud computing.

Service Orchestration Layer

Lets break down our topic:• Service – It is simply an action that helps accomplish a given task.• Orchestration – this is the automated arrangement, coordination and

management of complex computing systems, middleware(software that provide services that are not provided by a given operating system) and services.

Definitions

simply facilitating the programmatic provisioning and de-provisioning of resources necessary for a cloud infrastructure” (Source: O’Reilly)

the ability to control and arrange a set of underlying technology infrastructures (hardware and hypervisor) and match with the intended commands inputted by the users to create set of automated events that deliver the request with the maximum efficiency (Source: How to build a cloud)

the ability to manage, co-ordinate and provision all parts of a customer solution automatically, with no admin intervention, ideally from a self-service interface. Much like a conductor conducts an orchestra making all the instruments/performers are in tune and in time. (Source:  Q&A,)

 End-to-end automation workflow or process that coordinates multiple lower-level automations to deliver a resource or set of resources as a service. (Source: My Understanding)

Orchestration

But putting definitions aside, the most important point of cloud orchestration is not what it is, but what it does. As a user, provider or reseller of cloud services, all that matters is that cloud orchestration makes your cloud services better – if it makes your cloud services more scalable, instantly-deployable, efficient, simpler-to-use, easier to bill and manage, then you are looking at cloud orchestration.

Service Orchestration Layer

Orchestration is all about alignment of requests with the applications, data and infrastructure.

It defines the policies and service levels through automated workflows(series of activities that are necessary to accomplish a given task), provisioning, and change management which creates an application aligned infrastructure that can be scaled up or down based on the needs of each application.

It provides a centralized management of the resource pool with services like metering and billing.

Cloud Orchestration explained

Assuming that it takes a group of steps to configure virtual disk for a customer, if these group of steps can be done all together without any intervention – just via trigger like a web request, then it is automated – Automation is converting all possible manual steps that are required within the cloud service either by the provider or the user, into a group of automated procedures each procedure handles one task via group of steps.

Then comes the role of Orchestration which identifies which group of automated steps (automated procedures) should run before/after the other either within one customer request or while handling more than one customer request at a time, it is something like if you are shaving your beard, you can do the right part of your beard before the left part, but you have to use the shaving cream first and the after shave at the end, or if you are washing clothes in a washing machine, you have to wash the clothes before drying them.

Difference between Automation and Orchestration: Cloud Service Automation is following the method of “if so → then do

so” (very logic) and its outputs are static outcomes. However, Orchestration deals with broader space of tasks

(procedures) most of them are already in automated form, to allow the configuration and automation of multiple endpoints and elements across the network like for example configuring a group of virtual machines – it is like designing and running group of tasks in work-flow mode.

Automation usually has one goal, it may have several steps that are mainly dependent on coding, these steps have to be performed to accomplish the goal, while Orchestration can also be accomplished using scripts and coding but it is mainly done using APIs (REST and SOAP).

Difference between Automation and Orchestration: Simply, automation is based on coding a group of steps (done

manually in non-automated cases) towards a device or component, while Orchestration requires some decision making on the part of the infrastructure being orchestrated depending on some conditions and current state so to say that the infrastructure is a participant in orchestration while this is not the case with automation.

Or, Cloud Service Orchestration is following the method of “if so → then do so” but with sophisticated workflows which make its outputs dynamic outcomes.

Orchestration and choreography

Pictorial view Explanation Orchestration referrers to the

local view from the perspective of the user

Choreography referrers to the view from a multi- participant perspective

Example

A Bank Loan

To get a better understanding of service orchestration, let’s take a look at a bank loan, for example. A loan broker wants to make a loan request on behalf of a customer and uses an automated Loan Request Service.

The broker accesses the Loan Request Service in the enterprise system to make the initial loan request, which is sent to an orchestrator (conductor) that then calls and invokes other services in the enterprise, partner systems and/or the cloud to process that request.

Example

The individual sub-services involved in the loan request include a service to obtain credit

scores from a credit agency, a service to retrieve a list of

lenders,

a service to request quotes from a bank service, and

a service to process quotes with the data from the other services.

Together, the orchestrated services comprise the Loan Request Service, which then returns a list of quotes from potential lenders to the broker who made the original request.

Why is Orchestration Important?

Labor - Cloud services are intended to scale up or down without requiring direct human intervention.

Cost -  Failure to automate as many processes as possible results in higher personnel labor costs, slower time to deliver the new service to customers, and ultimately higher cost with less reliability.

(Name a few).

Summary

So an orchestrator is an entity that manages cloud services and handles any exceptions that may arise while using cloud services.

Service orchestration is the composition and management of tools and processes used to deliver cloud services.

 End-to-end automation workflow or process that coordinates multiple lower-level automations to deliver a resource or set of resources as a service.

Cloud orchestration is not what it is, but what it does.

Remarks

Shifting your career towards Cloud Computing: If you are new to the Cloud Computing and looking forward to a

career shift, I suggest starting by understanding some concepts like data-centers, virtualization, hyper-visors, network virtualization (SDN, NFV) and taking a look into a self-service software (start with open-stack).

After that, depending on your background you can go for building up your competence in the area of PaaS (Platform as a Service), SaaS (Software as a Service), DaaS (Desktop as a Service) if you are more into programming and database – or going into IaaS and Public/Private Cloud concepts if you are more into infrastructure and networking.

Questions:…?

The EndThank you.