Special section: Federated resource management in grid and cloud computing systems

摘要

Welcome to the special issue of Future Generation Computer System (FGCS) journal. This special issue compiles a number of excellent technical contributions that significantly advance the state-of-the-art in federated management [1-3] of Grid and Cloud computing environments. Federated management of administratively distributed grids and clouds offers significant benefits including: (ⅰ) improving the ability of resource providers to meet SLA compliance [4] for clients and offer improved service by optimizing the service placement and throughput according to users' QoS needs; (ⅱ) enhancing the peak-load handling and dynamic system expansion capacity of every Grid/Cloud domain through federation [5] without the need for setting up a new software or hardware infrastructure in every location, and (ⅲ) adapting to failures including natural disasters and regular system maintenance more gracefully as providers can transparently migrate their services to other domains in the federation, thus avoiding SLA violations and resulting penalties.