Distributed Execution of Modular Discrete Controllers for Data Center Management

Complex computing systems are increasingly designed so that they are self-adaptive, and adopt the autonomic computing approach for their administration. Real systems require the co-existence of multiple such autonomic management loops. Their uncoordinated execution can lead to problematic interferences and jeopardize performance as well as consistency. This is a typical example of the general need for methodological support for the design of wellcoordinated managers, without breaking their natural modularity. We address the problem with a method stressing modularity, and focusing on the discrete control of the interactions of managers. This paper focusses on proposals for the distributed execution of modular controllers, first in synchronized way, and then relaxing this synchronization. We apply and validate our method on a multiple-loop multi-tier system in a data-center.