IBM’s Reference Architecture for Creating Cloud Environments [Updated]

IBM has recently submitted the IBM Cloud Computing Reference Architecture 2.0 (CC RA) (.doc) to the Cloud Architecture Project of the Open Group, a document based on “real-world input from many cloud implementations across IBM” meant to provide guidelines for creating a cloud environment. Update: interview with Heather Kreger, one of the authors of Cloud Computing Reference Architecture.

CC RA emphasizes the synergies between cloud computing and SOA remarking that

The essential characteristics for Cloud Computing are on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured Service. These characteristics can be found in requirements and SOA solutions in various organizations today, although these characteristics are optional for SOA and mandatory for cloud.

CC RA outlines four architectural layers proposed to be used in cloud computing:

• Operational Layer containing the basic cloud computing infrastructure
• Service Layer providing cloud services. IaaS is considered a service providing infrastructure along with PaaS offering middleware and SaaS providing applications.
• Business Process Layer. IBM introduces a new type of service called BPaaS providing business processes as services similar to what SOA offers.
• Consumer Layer. This is the layer consuming all the services generated by the previous layers.

According to CC RA, a high level view of a cloud environment looks like this:

CC RA continues by detailing each section of the diagram including the Common Cloud Management Platform (CCMP) which contains the largest number of components:

The CC RA is built on the ELEG ( Efficiency, Lightweightness, Economies-of-scale, Genericity) principles:

1. Design for Cloud-scale Efficiencies: When realizing cloud characteristics such as elasticity, self-service access, and flexible sourcing, the cloud design is strictly oriented to high cloud scale efficiencies and short time-to-delivery/time-to-change. (“Efficiency Principle”)
2. Support Lean Service Management: The Common Cloud Management Platform fosters lean and lightweight service management policies, processes, and technologies. (“Lightweightness Principle”)
3. Identify and Leverage Commonalities: All commonalities are identified and leveraged in cloud service design. (“Economies-of-scale principle”)
4. Define and Manage generically along the Lifecycle of Cloud Services: Be generic across I/P/S/BPaaS & provide ‘exploitation’ mechanism to support various cloud services using a shared, common management platform (“Genericity”). 

Update. Following is a short interview with Heather Kreger, one of the authors of Cloud Computing Reference Architecture.

InfoQ: Why did you make this reference architecture public? What do you hope to achieve? And why Open Group?

HK: Based on the experience IBM has in the design and deployment of cloud solutions, we wanted to offer the harvested architectural best practices we have accrued in the form of a reference architecture to the Open Group. This can serve as input for standardization process going on in the Cloud Architecture work group. We chose The Open Group because we really see the Open Group as having a center of gravity in architecture standards. They have TOGAF, which has been successful, and that attracts a lot of high quality architects to the standards work there. In combination with the other cloud standards being developed there, The Open Group has the right people, momentum and expertise to develop and continue care and feeding of a reference architecture like the CCRA.

InfoQ: IBM has endorsed the OpenCloud Manifesto. What is your position regarding OpenStack, considering they are trying to create a cloud computing reference implementation?