A Survey on Cloud Computing Elasticity

Elasticity is a key feature in the cloud computing context, and perhaps what distinguishes this computing paradigm of the other ones, such as cluster and grid computing. Considering the importance of elasticity in cloud computing context, the objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive study about the elasticity mechanisms available today. Initially, we propose a classification for elasticity mechanisms, based on the main features found in the analysed commercial and academic solutions. In a second moment, diverse related works are reviewed in order to define the state of the art of elasticity in clouds. We also discuss some of the challenges and open issues associated with the use of elasticity features in cloud computing.