Algorithm for the placement of groups of virtual machines in data centers

This paper presents the Topology-aware Virtual Machine Placement algorithm, which places groups of communicating virtual machines in data centers. It aims to use small regions of the data center network in order to consolidate the network flows produced by the virtual machines. We employ extensive simulation and show that the proposed algorithm avoids network bottlenecks, therefore accepting more requests of virtual machines. Moreover, such advantages are obtained without compromising the energy efficiency when compared to other algorithms. The energy consumption of servers and switches are taken into account and they are switched off whenever idle.