Agent-based negotiation for shared QoS control in distributed cloud services

Agent-level negotiations between an application and a cloud service provider (SP) need to consider two complexities: i) inaccuracy of computational models in capturing the behavior of a cloud-based system made up of diverse components and resources; and ii) disparity in the goals and priorities of an application and the SP in exercising a cloud-based system. The paper suggests the use of trial actions by an agent to learn about the system behavior and the opponent agent goals, as part of an effective negotiation strategy. The trial actions allow searching, alternations, and improvements on the system QoS space, towards a larger goal of optimal QoS control.