Practical Cloud Computing Patterns

Session S311528

John Stanford
Principal Field Technologist

Scott Mattoon
Principal Field Technologist

Ken Pepple
Principal Engineer

Learn How To Combine Software and Infrastructure Patterns to Effectively Leverage Cloud Computing With Your Application

2009 CommunityOne WEST Conference | san francisco, ca | developers.sun.com/events/communityone

Agenda

Software and Infrastructure Pattern Introduction Common Web Functional Patterns Cloud Provisioning Patterns Cloud Monitoring Patterns Cloud Resource Patterns

2009 CommunityOne WEST Conference | san francisco, ca | developers.sun.com/events/communityone

Software and Infrastructure Patterns

Most famously described in Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software for software Single solution that could be implementing many different ways to solve many problems Also applied to infrastructure problems Building blocks of applications and architectures
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Web 2.0 Application Functional Architecture

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Cloud Compute Instance Provisioning

Cloud APIs transform provisioning from a procedure mostly done by system admins to code executed in response to events (Deployment Engineering) Need to be heavily automated so that they can be invoked dozens of times per day Need to be flexible to cover all tiers of application architecture

Application servers refreshed daily Database servers updated yearly Application code pushed System image static

Sometimes a combination of patterns

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Cloud Provisioning Elements & Participants

Provisioned Elements

Base OS Utilities and agents Platforms and frameworks Custom application code Configuration files Data and volumes Console Cloud interface Compute instance Image repository CMDB Provisioning system
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Participants

Static Image Provisioning

Very simple scripted provisioning from golden images Deploys full stack to cloud compute image with little customisation Appropriate for low complexity, low volatility code bases Easy integration into existing monitoring processes May be more secure could run keyless External orchestration left to console (load balancer) Requires very good Test/QA procedures and management of golden images May be used for small parts of the larger strategy

Appliances like DNS or monitoring servers Low code volatility, highly available servers like databases
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Static Image Provisioning Sequence

magic happens

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Static Implementation: Simple Ruby Script (EC2)

#!/usr/bin/env ruby require 'rubygems' require 'ec2' ACCESS_KEY_ID = ENV['AWS_KEY_ID'] SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = ENV['AWS_SEKRIT_ACCESS_KEY'] IMAGE_ID = ARGV[0] # identifies image to be launched ec2 = EC2::Base.new( :access_key_id => ACCESS_KEY_ID, :secret_access_key => SECRET_ACCESS_KEY) # opens cloud connection ec2.run_instances( :image_id => IMAGE_ID, :min_count => 1, :user_data allows us to pack :max_count => 5, payload with post-boot data or :key_name => nil, scripts for instance customisation :group_id => [], :user_data => nil, :addressing_type => "public", :instance_type => "m1.small", :availability_zone => nil) # launches 1-5 small instances
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Push Provisioning

Builds on static pattern by pushing additional provisioning instructions from console Usually implemented as scripted shell commands over SSH Requires more administrative knowledge and substantial scripting (error handling) Easy integration into existing system administration and developer processes Appropriate for higher codebase volatility and architectural complexity but may not scale

Have to login into each new instance from console for many long transactions

Many open source tools available

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Push Provisioning Sequence

This process may interact with other systems as part of the commands. For example, install scripts may pull down packages from the Internet.

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Push Provisioning: Simple Ruby Script (EC2)

#!/usr/bin/env ruby require 'rubygems' require 'ec2' require 'net/ssh' ACCESS_KEY_ID = ENV['AMAZON_ACCESS_KEY_ID'] SECRET_KEY = ENV['AMAZON_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY'] KEY_NAME = ARGV[0] # which key to bind to instance for login KEY_FILE_NAME = ARGV[1] # name of the keyfile ec2 = EC2::Base.new(:access_key_id => ACCESS_KEY_ID, :secret_access_key => SECRET_KEY) instance = ec2.run_instances(:image_id => ami-3c47a355, :key_name => KEY_NAME) my_instance_id = instance.instancesSet.item[0].instanceId loop do begin instance_status = ec2.describe_instances(:instance_id => my_instance_id) break if instance_status.reservationSet.item[0].instancesSet.item[0].instanceState.name.m atch("running") sleep(30) end end sleep(30) # to let sshd fully load instance_status = ec2.describe_instances(:instance_id => my_instance_id) Net::SSH.start(instance_status.reservationSet.item[0].instancesSet.item[0].dnsNa me , "root", :keys => KEY_FILE_NAME, :verbose => :info) do |ssh| output = ssh.exec!("touch ~/snuffy.conf") end
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Pull Provisioning

Builds on static pattern by introducing client/server interactions between compute instance and separate provisioning server

Compute instance checks periodically with provisioning server for it's configuration Provisioning server tracks, compiles and distributes configuration rules CMDB may be separate or combined for reporting

Appropriate for high codebase volatility and architectural complexity at great scale Adds several new participants which introduce administrative overhead and points of failure Provisioning server handles external orchestration
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Pull Provisioning Sequence

This loops at interval depending on implementation

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Pull Provisioning Example: Puppet

Node runs facter and puppetd

Server runs puppetmasterd

More info on puppet at http://reductivelabs.com/

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Comparing Provisioning Patterns Suitability

Static High Volatility High Scale Repeatability Maintainability Ideal Use low high high high appliances Push medium low low low small apps Pull high high high medium large apps

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Monitoring Apps in the Cloud

Crucial Function of Application Service Operations Forces (Business Inputs)

SLA Margin Analysis

Primary Stategies

Agent Based Polling

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Cloud Service Monitoring Elements & Participants

Monitored Elements:
Availability Utilization Latency / Throughput Integrity

Running Instances * *

Images

Object Storage

Network

Participants

Scripts and Agents Management Frameworks Rules Logs Console Gateways / Proxies Cloud interface

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Agent Based

Pros

Rich data High control over what's observed Realtime event detection Resource overhead on every instance Data traverses public network Lifecycle sustaining implications

Cons

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Agent Based

Pros

Rich data High control over what's observed Realtime event detection Resource overhead on every instance Data traverses public network Lifecycle sustaining implications

Cons

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Watch Polling

Pros

No resource overhead Simple Scope is dimensionable No sustaining implications Costs 1.5 / Instance / Hr Limited data Lock in

Cons

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Watch Polling Sequence

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Example: Watch Polling Driven Elasticity

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Cloud Resource Administration Patterns

Need to answer complex questions to perform actions Must move away from spreadsheet management Don't want to leave decision making to end customer

Exposes complexity Opens door to collisions Consistency Repeatability Singleton, pooled, generated Owned, shared

Do want to enable

Resource Types

Allocation Types

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Resource Administration The Big Picture

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Singleton Resource Overview

Only one instance of the resource Many to one mapping with consumers Examples of resources:

DNS server name Load balancer IP Firewall IP Future-proofing Capacity planning Depend on consumer good behavior Implement an auditor to determine which resources are in use Consider TTLs on reservations that fail the audit
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Why bother?

Risks

Mitigation

Singleton Resource Structural Pattern

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Singleton Resource Sequence Pattern

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Pooled Resource Overview

Discrete number of resource instances Defined/Created outside the system Examples of resources:

IP range VLAN range Instance ID (when there is a max # of instances) Better than a spreadsheet Depend on consumer good behavior to release instances Depends on admin good behavior to define unique instances Implement an auditor to determine which resources are in use Consider TTLs on reservations that fail the audit
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Why bother?

Risks

Mitigation

Pooled Resource Structural Pattern

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Pooled Resource Sequence Pattern

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Generated Resource Overview

Unlimited number of resource instances Created within the system based on policies Examples of resources:

Host names Instance ID (when there is no max # of instances) Correlated to external information (date, time, moon phase) Avoids duplication Promotes consistency Dependent on policy accuracy Sample data generator Testing
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Why bother?

Risks

Mitigation

Generated Resource Structural Pattern

2009 CommunityOne WEST Conference | san francisco, ca | developers.sun.com/events/communityone

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Generated Resource Sequence Pattern

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Summary

There is substantial reuse of traditional software and infrastructure patterns in cloud applications Characteristics of cloud computing force many of the operational patterns to be formalized and addressed through code during development There are some new functional and non-functional areas of patterns for cloud applications The composition of these patterns have new and unexpected non-functional implications Architecture is more important than ever

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Call to Action

Visit the pattern library

Propose a pattern Comment on an existing pattern Propose an anti-pattern https://wikis.sun.com/display/cloud/Patterns Storage Compute OpenOffice Netbeans/Kenai http://www.sun.com/cloud http://kenai.com/projects/suncloudapis
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Learn About The Sun cloud

Build your own cloud

Practical Cloud Computing Patterns

Session S311528

John Stanford
john.stanford@sun.com

Scott Mattoon
scott.mattoon@sun.com

Ken Pepple
ken.pepple@sun.com