Monitorización de sistemas en alta disponibilidad

El objetivo del proyecto es implantar un sistema de monitorización, con la peculiaridad de encontrarse en alta disponibilidad, esto es, que el servicio (la monitorización de una infraestructura) se preste forma continua y no se vea interrumpido. Dado que el propósito del sistema es monitorizar activamente una infraestructura, ha sido necesario desplegar una infraestructura, además del sistema de monitorización. La infraestructura en cuestión está compuesta por un servidor de documentación, un servidor de base de datos, un servidor de aplicaciones y un servidor web. El sistema de monitorización se ha desplegado en la misma red de área local de esta infraestructura y monitoriza que los servicios prestados por los componentes de esta infraestructura se encuentren operativos y funcionando adecuadamente. Así pues, se tendría un sistema de monitorización local funcional. No obstante, el proyecto plantea un sistema escalable, que esté preparado para el crecimiento de la infraestructura y continúe siendo eficiente. Para ello, sistema de monitorización se encuentre dividido por dos componentes:  Sonda delegada: monitoriza localmente los activos de la infraestructura a monitorizar, es el escenario anteriormente descrito.  Sonda maestra: recibe los resultados de la monitorización realizada, este sistema puede estar desplegado en otra red distinta a la sonda delegada. Este enfoque no solo es escalable, sino también es fiel a la realidad, pues puede darse el caso de que las sondas pertenezcan a distintas infraestructuras e inclusive, distintas organizaciones, y se comuniquen a través de internet, mediante un mecanismo confiable a ser posible. El proyecto plantea que ambas sondas se encuentren en alta disponibilidad (en adelante HA, referente a high availability), y que cada sonda está compuesta por dos equipos (nodos, en adelante). Como se analizará en posteriores capítulos, existen diversas configuraciones que permiten implantar un sistema en HA, la configuración escogida para el proyecto es Activo – Pasivo(los detalles de esta configuración también se explican en posteriores capítulos). Para finalizar, se estudiara la posibilidad de ofrecer respuestas activas en ciertas situaciones y configuraciones adicionales sobre el sistema de monitorización base. Por otro lado, para la implantación del proyecto se ha usado software de código abierto para la virtualización de la infraestructura (Virtual Box y GNS3), los sistemas operativos base (Linux), el sistema de monitorización(Nagios Core) así como el software que implementa la HA (corosync y pacemaker).---ABSTRACT---The aim of the Project is to implement a monitoring system, with the peculiarity of being deployed in high availability, what it is that the service (monitoring infrastructure) is provided continuously and not interrupted. As the purpose of the system is monitoring infrastructure actively, an infrastructure has been deployed, and also the monitoring system. The infrastructure monitored is composed of a documentation server, a server database, an application server and a Web server. The monitoring system has been also deployed on the same LAN of this infrastructure and monitors the services provided by the components of this infrastructure are operational and working as expected. This is a local monitoring system functional. However, the project also proposes a scalable system that is ready for growth of infrastructure and efficient. This is the reason of divide the system in two components:  Slave Component: monitors locally the infrastructure assets to be monitored, this is the scenario described above.  Master Component: get the results from the monitoring, provided by the Slave Component. This system can be deployed in a different network than the slave component. This approach is not only scalable but also a real scenario, as may be the case that the Components belongs to different infrastructures and even, different organizations, also this components can communicate over the Internet, through a reliable mechanism if possible. The project proposes that both Components are deployed in high availability (HA onwards concerning high availability), each Component is composed of two servers (nodes, hereafter). As will be discussed in later chapters, there are several settings available to deploy a system in HA, the configuration chosen for the project is Active - Passive (details of this configuration are also explained in later chapters). Finally the possibility of offering active responses in certain situations and additional settings on the monitoring system will be discussed. On the other hand, for the implementation of the project, open source software has been used, for virtualization infrastructure (Virtual Box and GNS3), code-based operating systems (Linux), the monitoring system (Nagios core), as well as the software that implements the HA (corosync and pacemaker).

Geoprocesamiento como Herramienta de Cálculo y Comunicación de Afecciones por Obras Lineales: Líneas Eléctricas de Alta Tensión

Los proyectos de infraestructuras lineales son implantados en el territorio, y la información geográfica de estos proyectos tiene la capacidad de representar la forma, dimensiones y ubicación de estas infraestructuras, así como los límites de las diferentes propiedades que atraviesa. Esta información geográfica ayuda al entendimiento de la afección de la instalación sobre las diferentes propiedades inmuebles, y por otro lado permite cuantificar automáticamente, la magnitud de cada tipo de afección y así utilizarse como mecanismo de notificación formal a los propietarios de las parcelas afectadas. En este trabajo se presenta cómo se ha integrado en el flujo de trabajo de Red Eléctrica de España (REE), las tareas relacionadas con el cálculo de afecciones de las nuevas instalaciones de Alta Tensión, permitiendo visualizar los proyectos mediante: un visor WMS, un globo 3D mediante KML, o como un conjunto de reseñas gráficas de cada parcela. Estas soluciones han permitido optimizar los procesos de cálculo de afecciones y la generación de las Relaciones de Bienes y Derechos (RBD) afectados en distintos formatos: gráficos o alfanuméricos e interactivos 2D y 3D, multiplicándose las posibilidades de automatización y visualización, y produciendo un acercamiento entre el mundo real y el mundo virtual. Linear infrastructure projects are implemented in the territory, and geographic information of these projects has the ability to represent the shape, size and location of these infrastructures, and the limits of the different properties it crosses. This geographic information helps understanding the affection of the installation on different properties, and to automatically quantifies the magnitude of each type of affection and well used as a mechanism to formally notify owners of affected parcels. In this paper we present how the tasks related to the affection calculation of new high-voltage installations is integrated into the workflow of Red Eléctrica de España (REE), allowing to publish and then to see the projects over internet in a standardized way by: WMS viewer, a 3D globe using KML, or review a set of graphs of each parcel. These solutions have allowed us to optimize the processes of calculation of affection and the generation of the Assets and Rights (RBD) affected document across different formats or alphanumeric graphics and interactive 2D and 3D, multiplying the possibilities of automation and visualization, and producing an approach between the real and the virtual world.

Analysis of house prices to assess economic impacts of new public transport infrastructure: Madrid metro line 12.

Transportation infrastructure is known to affect the value of real estate property by virtue of changes in accessibility. The impact of transportation facilities is highly localized as well, and it is possible that spillover effects result from the capitalization of accessibility. The objective of this study was to review the theoretical background related to spatial hedonic models and the opportunities that they provided to evaluate the effect of new transportation infrastructure. An empirical case study is presented: the Madrid Metro Line 12, known as Metrosur, in the region of Madrid, Spain. The effect of proximity to metro stations on housing prices was evaluated. The analysis took into account a host of variables, including structure, location, and neighborhood and made use of three modeling approaches: linear regression estimation with ordinary least squares, spatial error, and spatial lag. The results indicated that better accessibility to Metrosur stations had a positive impact on real estate values and that the effect was marked in cases in which a house was for sale. The results also showed the presence of submarkets, which were well defined by geographic boundaries, and transport fares, which implied that the economic benefits differed across municipalities.

Dynamic Model-based Management of Service-Oriented Infrastructure.

Models are an effective tool for systems and software design. They allow software architects to abstract from the non-relevant details. Those qualities are also useful for the technical management of networks, systems and software, such as those that compose service oriented architectures. Models can provide a set of well-defined abstractions over the distributed heterogeneous service infrastructure that enable its automated management. We propose to use the managed system as a source of dynamically generated runtime models, and decompose management processes into a composition of model transformations. We have created an autonomic service deployment and configuration architecture that obtains, analyzes, and transforms system models to apply the required actions, while being oblivious to the low-level details. An instrumentation layer automatically builds these models and interprets the planned management actions to the system. We illustrate these concepts with a distributed service update operation.

The value of cultural assets. Maintenance Costs and economic sustainability at heritage

Under the 12th International Conference on Building Materials and Components is inserted this communication related to the field of management of those assets that constitute the Spanish Cultural Heritage and maintenance. This work is related to the field of management of those assets that constitute the Spanish Cultural Heritage which share an artistic or historical background. The conservation and maintenance become a social demand necessary for the preservation of public values, requiring the investment of necessary resources. The legal protection involves a number of obligations and rights to ensure the conservation and heritage protection. The duty of maintenance and upkeep exceeds the useful life the property that must endure more for their cultural value for its usability. The establishment of the necessary conditions to prevent deterioration and precise in order to fulfill its social function, seeking to prolong the life of the asset, preserving their physical integrity and its ability to convey the values protected. This obligation implies a substantial financial effort to the holder of the property, either public or private entity, addressing a problem of economic sustainability. Economic exploitation, with the aim of contributing to their well-maintained, is sometimes the best way to get resources. The work will include different lines of research with the following objectives. - Establishment of processes for assessing total costs over the building life cycle (LCC), during the planning stages or maintenance budgets to determine the most advantageous operating system. - Relationship between the value of property and maintenance costs, and establishing a sensitivity analysis.

PEPSI: Privacy-Enhanced Participatory Sensing Infrastructure.

Participatory Sensing combines the ubiquity of mobile phones with sensing capabilities of Wireless Sensor Networks. It targets pervasive collection of information, e.g., temperature, traffic conditions, or health-related data. As users produce measurements from their mobile devices, voluntary participation becomes essential. However, a number of privacy concerns -- due to the personal information conveyed by data reports -- hinder large-scale deployment of participatory sensing applications. Prior work on privacy protection, for participatory sensing, has often relayed on unrealistic assumptions and with no provably-secure guarantees. The goal of this project is to introduce PEPSI: a Privacy-Enhanced Participatory Sensing Infrastructure. We explore realistic architectural assumptions and a minimal set of (formal) privacy requirements, aiming at protecting privacy of both data producers and consumers. We design a solution that attains privacy guarantees with provable security at very low additional computational cost and almost no extra communication overhead.

Infrastructure and Workflow for the Formal Evaluation of Semantic Search Technologies

This paper describes an infrastructure for the automated evaluation of semantic technologies and, in particular, semantic search technologies. For this purpose, we present an evaluation framework which follows a service-oriented approach for evaluating semantic technologies and uses the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) to define evaluation workflows that can be executed by process engines. This framework supports a variety of evaluations, from different semantic areas, including search, and is extendible to new evaluations. We show how BPEL addresses this diversity as well as how it is used to solve specific challenges such as heterogeneity, error handling and reuse

Infrastructure (Resilience-oriented) Modelling Language: I®ML A proposal for modelling infrastructures and their connections

The modelling of critical infrastructures (CIs) is an important issue that needs to be properly addressed, for several reasons. It is a basic support for making decisions about operation and risk reduction. It might help in understanding high-level states at the system-of-systems layer, which are not ready evident to the organisations that manage the lower level technical systems. Moreover, it is also indispensable for setting a common reference between operator and authorities, for agreeing on the incident scenarios that might affect those infrastructures. So far, critical infrastructures have been modelled ad-hoc, on the basis of knowledge and practice derived from less complex systems. As there is no theoretical framework, most of these efforts proceed without clear guides and goals and using informally defined schemas based mostly on boxes and arrows. Different CIs (electricity grid, telecommunications networks, emergency support, etc) have been modelled using particular schemas that were not directly translatable from one CI to another. If there is a desire to build a science of CIs it is because there are some observable commonalities that different CIs share. Up until now, however, those commonalities were not adequately compiled or categorized, so building models of CIs that are rooted on such commonalities was not possible. This report explores the issue of which elements underlie every CI and how those elements can be used to develop a modelling language that will enable CI modelling and, subsequently, analysis of CI interactions, with a special focus on resilience

Risk sharing with Multilateral Financial Institutions in infrastructure and energy project financing : effect on capital relief for commercial banks

(Matsukawa and Habeck, 2007) analyse the main instruments for risk mitigation in infrastructure financing with Multilateral Financial Institutions (MFIs). Their review coincided with the global financial crisis of 2007-08, and is highly relevant in current times considering the sovereign debt crisis, the lack of available capital and the increases in bank regulation in Western economies. The current macroeconomic environment has seen a slowdown in the level of finance for infrastructure projects, as they pose a higher credit risk given their requirements for long term investments. The rationale for this work is to look for innovative solutions that are focused on the credit risk mitigation of infrastructure and energy projects whilst optimizing the economic capital allocation for commercial banks. This objective is achieved through risk-sharing with MFIs and looking for capital relief in project finance transactions. This research finds out the answer to the main question: "What is the impact of risk-sharing with MFIs on project finance transactions to increase their efficiency and viability?", and is developed from the perspective of a commercial bank assessing the economic capital used and analysing the relevant variables for it: Probability of Default, Loss Given Default and Recovery Rates, (Altman, 2010). An overview of project finance for the infrastructure and energy sectors in terms of the volume of transactions worldwide is outlined, along with a summary of risk-sharing financing with MFIs. A review of the current regulatory framework beneath risk-sharing in structured finance with MFIs is also analysed. From here, the impact of risk-sharing and the diversification effect in infrastructure and energy projects is assessed, from the perspective of economic capital allocation for a commercial bank. CreditMetrics (J. P. Morgan, 1997) is applied over an existing well diversified portfolio of project finance infrastructure and energy investments, working with the main risk capital measures: economic capital, RAROC, and EVA. The conclusions of this research show that economic capital allocation on a portfolio of project finance along with risk-sharing with MFIs have a huge impact on capital relief whilst increasing performance profitability for commercial banks. There is an outstanding diversification effect due to the portfolio, which is combined with risk mitigation and an improvement in recovery rates through Partial Credit Guarantees issued by MFIs. A stress test scenario analysis is applied to the current assumptions and credit risk model, considering a downgrade in the rating for the commercial bank (lender) and an increase of default in emerging countries, presenting a direct impact on economic capital, through an increase in expected loss and a decrease in performance profitability. Getting capital relief through risk-sharing makes it more viable for commercial banks to finance infrastructure and energy projects, with the beneficial effect of a direct impact of these investments on GDP growth and employment. The main contribution of this work is to promote a strategic economic capital allocation in infrastructure and energy financing through innovative risk-sharing with MFIs and economic pricing to create economic value added for banks, and to allow the financing of more infrastructure and energy projects. This work suggests several topics for further research in relation to issues analysed. (Matsukawa and Habeck, 2007) analizan los principales instrumentos de mitigación de riesgos en las Instituciones Financieras Multilaterales (IFMs) para la financiación de infraestructuras. Su presentación coincidió con el inicio de la crisis financiera en Agosto de 2007, y sus consecuencias persisten en la actualidad, destacando la deuda soberana en economías desarrolladas y los problemas capitalización de los bancos. Este entorno macroeconómico ha ralentizado la financiación de proyectos de infraestructuras. El actual trabajo de investigación tiene su motivación en la búsqueda de soluciones para la financiación de proyectos de infraestructuras y de energía, mitigando los riesgos inherentes, con el objeto de reducir el consumo de capital económico en los bancos financiadores. Este objetivo se alcanza compartiendo el riesgo de la financiación con IFMs, a través de estructuras de risk-sharing. La investigación responde la pregunta: "Cuál es el impacto de risk-sharing con IFMs, en la financiación de proyectos para aumentar su eficiencia y viabilidad?". El trabajo se desarrolla desde el enfoque de un banco comercial, estimando el consumo de capital económico en la financiación de proyectos y analizando las principales variables del riesgo de crédito, Probability of Default, Loss Given Default and Recovery Rates, (Altman, 2010). La investigación presenta las cifras globales de Project Finance en los sectores de infraestructuras y de energía, y analiza el marco regulatorio internacional en relación al consumo de capital económico en la financiación de proyectos en los que participan IFMs. A continuación, el trabajo modeliza una cartera real, bien diversificada, de Project Finance de infraestructuras y de energía, aplicando la metodología CreditMet- rics (J. P. Morgan, 1997). Su objeto es estimar el consumo de capital económico y la rentabilidad de la cartera de proyectos a través del RAROC y EVA. La modelización permite estimar el efecto diversificación y la liberación de capital económico consecuencia del risk-sharing. Los resultados muestran el enorme impacto del efecto diversificación de la cartera, así como de las garantías parciales de las IFMs que mitigan riesgos, mejoran el recovery rate de los proyectos y reducen el consumo de capital económico para el banco comercial, mientras aumentan la rentabilidad, RAROC, y crean valor económico, EVA. En escenarios económicos de inestabilidad, empeoramiento del rating de los bancos, aumentos de default en los proyectos y de correlación en las carteras, hay un impacto directo en el capital económico y en la pérdida de rentabilidad. La liberación de capital económico, como se plantea en la presente investigación, permitirá financiar más proyectos de infraestructuras y de energía, lo que repercutirá en un mayor crecimiento económico y creación de empleo. La principal contribución de este trabajo es promover la gestión activa del capital económico en la financiación de infraestructuras y de proyectos energéticos, a través de estructuras innovadoras de risk-sharing con IFMs y de creación de valor económico en los bancos comerciales, lo que mejoraría su eficiencia y capitalización. La aportación metodológica del trabajo se convierte por su originalidad en una contribución, que sugiere y facilita nuevas líneas de investigación académica en las principales variables del riesgo de crédito que afectan al capital económico en la financiación de proyectos.

Transportation infrastructure impacts on firm location: the effect of a new metro line in the suburbs of Madrid

Firm location patterns emerge as a consequence of multiple factors, including firm considerations, labor force availability, market opportunities, and transportation costs. Many of these factors are influenced by changes in accessibility wrought by new transportation infrastructure. In this paper we use spatial statistical techniques and a micro-level data base to evaluate the effects of Madrid?s metro line 12 (known as Metrosur) expansion on business location patterns. The case study is the municipality of Alcorcon, which is served by the new metro line since 2003. Specifically, we explore the location patterns by different industry sectors, to evaluate if the new metro line has encouraged the emergence of a ?Metrosur spatial economy?. Our results indicate that the pattern of economic activity location is related to urban accessibility and that agglomeration, through economies of scale, also plays an important role. The results presented in this paper provide evidence useful to inform efficient transportation, urban, and regional economic planning.

Floating car data augmentation based on infrastructure sensors and neural networks

The development of new-generation intelligent vehicle technologies will lead to a better level of road safety and CO2 emission reductions. However, the weak point of all these systems is their need for comprehensive and reliable data. For traffic data acquisition, two sources are currently available: 1) infrastructure sensors and 2) floating vehicles. The former consists of a set of fixed point detectors installed in the roads, and the latter consists of the use of mobile probe vehicles as mobile sensors. However, both systems still have some deficiencies. The infrastructure sensors retrieve information fromstatic points of the road, which are spaced, in some cases, kilometers apart. This means that the picture of the actual traffic situation is not a real one. This deficiency is corrected by floating cars, which retrieve dynamic information on the traffic situation. Unfortunately, the number of floating data vehicles currently available is too small and insufficient to give a complete picture of the road traffic. In this paper, we present a floating car data (FCD) augmentation system that combines information fromfloating data vehicles and infrastructure sensors, and that, by using neural networks, is capable of incrementing the amount of FCD with virtual information. This system has been implemented and tested on actual roads, and the results show little difference between the data supplied by the floating vehicles and the virtual vehicles.

Quantity of CO2 Emissions in the Life Cycle of a Highway Infrastructure

There is strong evidence to indicate that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are accumulating at unprecedented concentrations in out atmosphere contributing to global climate change. Evidence is equally strong that human activities, mainly the burning of fossil fuels, are driving force in this process (IPCC 2007). While different industries contribute varying amounts to total anthropogenic greenhouse gases, it is incumbent upon each to understand its contribution and search for sensible ways to reduce overall greenhouse gas production. The aim of this paper is the development of a methodology to determine the amount of CO2 emissions of a highway, allowing providing solutions that can improve the energy footprint and reduce its emissions

The new cloud computing paradigm: the way to IT seen as a utility

In the present competitive environment, companies are wondering how to reduce their IT costs while increasing their efficiency and agility to react when changes in the business processes are required. Cloud Computing is the latest paradigm to optimize the use of IT resources considering ?everything as a service? and receiving these services from the Cloud (Internet) instead of owning and managing hardware and software assets. The benefits from the model are clear. However, there are also concerns and issues to be solved before Cloud Computing spreads across the different industries. This model will allow a pay-per-use model for the IT services and many benefits like cost savings, agility to react when business demands changes and simplicity because there will not be any infrastructure to operate and administrate. It will be comparable to the well known utilities like electricity, water or gas companies. However, this paper underlines several risk factors of the model. Leading technology companies should research on solutions to minimize the risks described in this article. Keywords - Cloud Computing, Utility Computing, Elastic Computing, Enterprise Agility

Infrastructure Finance in Developing Countries by State and Multilateral Development Banks

Infrastructure concession is an alternative widely used by governments to increase investment. In the case of the road sector, the main characteristics of the concessions are: long-term projects, high investments in the early years of the contract and high risks. A viability analysis must be carried out for each concession and consider the characteristics of the project. When the infrastructure is located in a developing country, political and market growth uncertainties should be add in the concession project analysis, as well as economic instability, because they present greater risks. This paper is an analysis of state bank participation in road infrastructure finance in developing countries. For this purpose, we studied road infrastructure financing and its associated risks, and also the features of developing countries. Furthermore, we considered the issue of state banks and multilateral development banks that perform an important role by offering better credit lines than the private banks, in terms of cost, interest and grace period. Based on this study, we analyzed the Brazilian Development Bank - BNDES – and their credit supply to road infrastructure concessions. The results show that BNDES is the main financing agent for long-term investment in the sector, offering loans with low interest rates in Brazilian currency. From this research we argue that a single state bank should not alone support the increasing demand for finance in Brazil. Therefore, we conclude that there is a need to expand the supply of credit in Brazil, by strengthening private banks in the long-term lending market.

Renewable energy infrastructure. A challenge for Venezuelan industrial construction

The relevance of renewable energy has grown significantly in our global society. Important efforts are oriented to sustain it. Renewable energy depends on different technical, financial environmental and social complex processes. From the point of view of industrial construction sector this research evaluates some of the current trends in energy generation and use in Venezuela as well as environmental consequences and risks that derive from these. Additionally, authors highlight the importance of infrastructure as key issue to sustain renewable energy generation and use. The study present references of some energy renewable projects in process in Venezuela and the main problems that constrain their performance. Conclusions evidence the complex nature of industrial construction and suggest the need to improve industrial construction competitivenes as a strategy oriented to enhance renewable energy offer in the country. Additionally it is proposed to all stakeholders to work toghether to correct the conditions that currently limit industrial construction development. This is part of ongoing research.