Virtualized Web server cluster self-configuration to optimize resource and power use

• We present an architecture to manage a cluster of Web servers running on VMs.
• The goal was to maintain the delivered QoS, with minimal power consumption.
• Two resource managers were developed using different reconfiguration decisions.
• A prototype of the architecture was evaluated using real trace workloads.
• It was achieved a reduction in energy consumption while maintaining acceptable QoS.

This work proposes a reusable architecture that enables the self-configuration of a supporting infrastructure for Web server clusters using virtual machines. The goal of the architecture is to ensure service quality, evaluating how broadly it complies with the application's operating restrictions and proportionally acting on the configuration of physical servers (hosts) or virtual machines. In addition, through the rational use of resources, the proposal aims at saving energy. A prototype of the architecture was developed and a performance evaluation carried out with two different resource management approaches. This evaluation shows how fully functional and advantageous the proposal is in terms of using resources, avoiding waste, yet maintaining the application's quality of service within acceptable levels. The architecture also shows to be flexible enough to accept, with a reasonable amount of effort, different resource self-configuration policies.