Scalable network-aware data centre federation

This paper presents the problems for dynamically deploying applications in a multi-tenant federated environment where end-to-end isolation, on-demand scalability and Quality of Service are critical factors. In addition, we propose an 'framework' that tackles these issues through the collaboration between data centres and network operators. This is achievable using a concept known as Dynamic eXchange Points (DXP), which is a set of connecting points that temporarily allows communication between two or more domains to support requests from applications. The feasibility of this framework is demonstrated with a proof of concept prototype. It reveals that there is a need for network operators to tackle the scalability issue under a dynamic environment with a large number of users.