Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Computer Science

Advisor

Kaliappa Ravindran

Committee Members

Jie Wei

Saptarshi Debroy

Nakjung Choi

Subject Categories

Digital Communications and Networking | OS and Networks | Software Engineering | Systems Architecture

Keywords

Cloud Computing, Service Oriented Computing, Quality of Service, Distributed Systems, Machine Learning Systems (MLSys), Multi-Agent Systems

Abstract

Given the business model of offering data and computing services in a cloud setting, a major question arises: How do the services of one cloud provider compare to those of others? With the ubiquitous use of smartphones and tablets, the ability of a cloud provider to support QoS and client mobility becomes paramount. This research proposes a methodology for evaluating service-level agreements (SLAs) between cloud providers and their consumers, with a particular focus on dynamic SLA composition to adapt to changes in the application requirements and the external environment—such as traffic surges, security threats, or evolving business models.

In one approach, runtime measurements of cloud parameters (e.g., VM cycles, network bandwidth) are mapped to client-experienced service attributes (e.g., availability, elasticity, security). This framework concretely defines service quality in terms of underlying infrastructure and management policies while taking cognizance of the dynamically evolving application needs (such as data latency, resource costs, and/or data security). The research addresses multiple facets of SLA management, emphasizing dynamic SLA composition, systematic measurement for SLA evaluation, and the design of intelligent tools for system-level reconfiguration. I validate these techniques with four case studies: distributed adaptive sensing, adaptive content delivery in a CDN, SLA composition in a 5G network, and SLA management in a multi-agent question answering service.

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