In this paper we propose a two-stage protocol for resource management in a hierarchically organized cloud. The first stage exploits spatial locality for the formation of coalitions of supply agents; the second stage, a combinatorial auction, is based on a modified proxy-based clock algorithm and has two phases, a clock phase and a proxy phase. The clock phase supports price discovery; in the second phase a proxy conducts multiple rounds of a combinatorial auction for the package of services requested by each client. The protocol strikes a balance between low-cost services for cloud clients and a decent profit for the service providers. We also report the results of an empirical investigation of the combinatorial auction stage of the protocol.
@article{arxiv.1406.7487,
title = {Coalition Formation and Combinatorial Auctions; Applications to Self-organization and Self-management in Utility Computing},
author = {Dan C. Marinescu and Ashkan Paya and John P. Morrison},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1406.7487},
year = {2015}
}