Resource allocation and scheduling of multiple composite web services in cloud computing using cooperative coevolution genetic algorithm

In cloud computing, resource allocation and scheduling of multiple composite web services is an important and challenging problem. This is especially so in a hybrid cloud where there may be some low-cost resources available from private clouds and some high-cost resources from public clouds. Meeting this challenge involves two classical computational problems: one is assigning resources to each of the tasks in the composite web services; the other is scheduling the allocated resources when each resource may be used by multiple tasks at different points of time. In addition, Quality-of-Service (QoS) issues, such as execution time and running costs, must be considered in the resource allocation and scheduling problem. Here we present a Cooperative Coevolutionary Genetic Algorithm (CCGA) to solve the deadline-constrained resource allocation and scheduling problem for multiple composite web services. Experimental results show that our CCGA is both efficient and scalable.

Towards a service framework for remote sales support via augmented reality

Real-time sales assistant service is a problematic component of remote delivery of sales support for customers. Solutions involving web pages, telephony and video support prove problematic when seeking to remotely guide customers in their sales processes, especially with transactions revolving around physically complex artefacts. This process involves a number of services that are often complex in nature, ranging from physical compatibility and configuration factors, to availability and credit services. We propose the application of a combination of virtual worlds and augmented reality to create synthetic environments suitable for remote sales of physical artefacts, right in the home of the purchaser. A high level description of the service structure involved is shown, along with a use case involving the sale of electronic goods and services within an example augmented reality application. We expect this work to have application in many sales domains involving physical objects needing to be sold over the Internet.

Conformance checking of service behavior

A service-oriented system is composed of independent software units, namely services, that interact with one another exclusively through message exchanges. The proper functioning of such system depends on whether or not each individual service behaves as the other services expect it to behave. Since services may be developed and operated independently, it is unrealistic to assume that this is always the case. This article addresses the problem of checking and quantifying how much the actual behavior of a service, as recorded in message logs, conforms to the expected behavior as specified in a process model.We consider the case where the expected behavior is defined using the BPEL industry standard (Business Process Execution Language for Web Services). BPEL process definitions are translated into Petri nets and Petri net-based conformance checking techniques are applied to derive two complementary indicators of conformance: fitness and appropriateness. The approach has been implemented in a toolset for business process analysis and mining, namely ProM, and has been tested in an environment comprising multiple Oracle BPEL servers.

Service delivery framework : an architectural strategy for next-generation service delivery in business network

The next-generation of service-oriented architecture (SOA) needs to scale for flexible service consumption, beyond organizational and application boundaries, into communities, ecosystems and business networks. In wider and, ultimately, global settings, new capabilities are needed so that business partners can efficiently and reliably enable, adapt and expose services. Those services can then be discovered, ordered, consumed, metered and paid for, through new applications and opportunities, driven by third-parties in the global “village”. This trend is already underway, in different ways, through different early adopter market segments. This paper proposes an architectural strategy for the provisioning and delivery of services in communities, ecosystems and business networks – a Service Delivery Framework (SDF). The SDF is intended to support multiple industries and deployments where a SOA platform is needed for collaborating partners and diverse consumers. Specifically, it is envisaged that the SDF allows providers to publish their services into network directories so that they can be repurposed, traded and consumed, and leveraging network utilities like B2B gateways and cloud hosting. To support these different facets of service delivery, the SDF extends the conventional service provider, service broker and service consumer of the Web Services Architecture to include service gateway, service hoster, service aggregator and service channel maker.

Towards a unified service description language for the internet of services : requirements and first developments

Service-oriented Architectures (SOA) and Web services leverage the technical value of solutions in the areas of distributed systems and cross-enterprise integration. The emergence of Internet marketplaces for business services is driving the need to describe services, not only from a technical level, but also from a business and operational perspective. While, SOA and Web services reside in an IT layer, organizations owing Internet marketplaces are requiring advertising and trading business services which reside in a business layer. As a result, the gap between business and IT needs to be closed. This paper presents USDL (Unified Service Description Language), a specification language to describe services from a business, operational and technical perspective. USDL plays a major role in the Internet of Services to describe tradable services which are advertised in electronic marketplaces. The language has been tested using two service marketplaces as use cases.

Composing services for third-party service delivery

This paper proposes a model-based technique for lowering the entrance barrier for service providers to register services with a marketplace broker, such that the service is rapidly configured to utilize the brokerpsilas local service delivery management components. Specifically, it uses process modeling for supporting the execution steps of a service and shows how service delivery functions (e.g. payment points) ldquolocalrdquo to a service broker can be correctly configured into the process model. By formalizing the different operations in a service delivery function (like payment or settlement) and their allowable execution sequences (full payments must follow partial payments), including cross-function dependencies, it shows how through tool support, the non-technical user can quickly configure service delivery functions in a consistent and complete way.

Web 2.0, social networking and the courts

In the last decade or so, we have witnessed the growth of web 2.0 technology and social networking platforms, and their rapid rise in popularity as methods of social interaction and communication. Yet, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are not just online social phenomena, but can impact on the way the law and courts operate. This article highlights the issues that legal practitioners and courts need to be aware of in engaging with this technology, and suggests possible ways forward.

The web site and brand trust as antecedents of online loyalty

As online business thrives, a company’s Web presence holds enormous importance as a source of information, entertainment, and customer service for Internet users. Besides being user-friendly, a Web site should offer interesting and enjoyable content to attract online visitors in an ever-changing multimedia environment. Companies that operate globally must know how cultural differences influence the way potential customers perceive their sites. This paper presents a model that highlights the importance of ease of use, enjoyment, content, and brand trust for Web site loyalty. The model is subsequently tested in four countries: Australia, Japan, Mongolia, and the USA. The results show that perceptual differences exist: while ease of use is crucial for Web site loyalty in all four countries, the importance of content, perceived enjoyment, and brand trust varies across different cultures.

Modelling web-server Flash Events

A Flash Event (FE) represents a period of time when a web-server experiences a dramatic increase in incoming traffic, either following a newsworthy event that has prompted users to locate and access it, or as a result of redirection from other popular web or social media sites. This usually leads to network congestion and Quality-of-Service (QoS) degradation. These events can be mistaken for Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks aimed at disrupting the server. Accurate detection of FEs and their distinction from DDoS attacks is important, since different actions need to be undertaken by network administrators in these two cases. However, lack of public domain FE datasets hinders research in this area. In this paper we present a detailed study of flash events and classify them into three broad categories. In addition, the paper describes FEs in terms of three key components: the volume of incoming traffic, the related source IP-addresses, and the resources being accessed. We present such a FE model with minimal parameters and use publicly available datasets to analyse and validate our proposed model. The model can be used to generate different types of FE traffic, closely approximating real-world scenarios, in order to facilitate research into distinguishing FEs from DDoS attacks.

Revisiting the debate about public service media exceptionalism

The development of public service broadcasters (PSBs) in the 20th century was framed around debates about its difference compared to commercial broadcasting. These debates navigated between two poles. One concerned the relationship between non‐commercial sources of funding and the role played by statutory Charters as guarantors of the independence of PSBs. The other concerned the relationship between PSBs being both a complementary and a comprehensive service, although there are tensions inherent in this duality. In the 21st century, as reconfigured public service media organisations (PSMs) operate across multiple platforms in a convergent media environment, how are these debates changing, if at all? Is the case for PSM “exceptionalism” changed with Web‐based services, catch‐up TV, podcasting, ancillary product sales, and commissioning of programs from external sources in order to operate in highly diversified cross‐media environments? Do the traditional assumptions about non‐commercialism still hold as the basis for different forms of PSM governance and accountability? This paper will consider the question of PSM exceptionalism in the context of three reviews into Australian media that took place over 2011‐2012: the Convergence Review undertaken through the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy; the National Classification Scheme Review undertaken by the Australian Law Reform Commission; and the Independent Media Inquiry that considered the future of news and journalism.

Extending the ABC's public service remit through ABC Pool

Historically, the public service broadcaster (PSB) acted beyond its institutional broadcasting remit by initiating and facilitating activities to support cultural infrastructure and national identity (Wilson, Hutchinson and Shea 2010). The recent focus to develop new content delivery platforms and services (Debrett 2010) signifies a semantic shift from the PSB to the public service media (PSM) organisation. The Australian PSM organisation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has moved beyond the era of ‘online’ publishing to incorporate Web 2.0 technologies to foster new relationships with the audience (Walker 2009) and engage in production activities with participatory cultures (Jenkins 2006). This shift presents opportunities and challenges to traditional media production, the existing editorial policies and governance models, and raises questions around the value of PSM experimental and innovative activities. Further, the incorporation of information communication technologies and participatory cultures challenge the core values of ‘public service’ within PSM. This paper examines ABC Pool (abc.net.au/pool) as a means of extending the ABC’s public service remit by incorporating participatory cultures into the production and governance models of the corporation and critically analyses the public value of such innovative experiments.

Importing Wikipedia principles into the cultural institution of a public service broadcaster : the case of ABC Pool

Web 2.0 technologies have mobilised collaborative peer production and participatory cultures for online content creation. However, not all online communities engaging in these activities are independently facilitated and often operate within the auspices of the cultural institutions that develop and resource them. Borrowing from the principles of Wikipedia that supports collaborative online content creation and online community, ABC Pool (abc.net.au/pool) is one such institutional online community operating with the support of the Australian Public Service Broadcaster (PSB), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). This paper explores the collaborative, creative, and governance activities of an institutional online community and how the role of the community manager is an intermediary within these arrangements.

Cultural impact on e-service use in Saudi Arabia : results from questionnaire

This paper reports the results of a mixed method approach to answer: what are the cultural values that impact on e-service use in Saudi Arabia? Cultural theories, dimensions, and models previously identified in the literature, in addition to individual interviews and focus groups, test the current identified uncovered elements of Saudi culture. This paper will firstly, introduce the importance of culture and define the aspects of Saudi culture. It will then describe the method used and present the questionnaire findings. All of the tested hypotheses were found consistent with their predicted outcomes except hypotheses 4 and 8 were partially consistent. It is evidenced that consideration of the impact of the cultural values will mainly contribute to the enhancement of social and organisational aspects of e-society research and practices, by deeply understanding them as of the influntials to e-service implementation.

Cultural impact on e-service use in Saudi Arabia : the need for interaction with other humans

This paper reports the results of a mixed method approach to answer: To what extent do cultural values impact on e-service use in Saudi Arabia, and if so how? This paper will firstly, introduce the importance of culture and define the aspects of Saudi culture with focus on our scope: the fear of a lack of Interaction with other Humans. It will then describe the method used and present the qualitative and quantitative findings related to the need for Interactions with other Humans. Much of the written literature about human interaction aims at Information Systems design or design improvement. Yet, this is different to what is being investigated in this study. One of the factors this study will consider is the perceived lack of interaction with other humans or the anxiety people may feel in missing the physical interaction with other people by fully moving business interaction to the virtual world. The review of the literature indicates that the impact of such factor on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) use has not been studied. This research aims to cover this gap by investigating to what extent the fear of a lack of Interaction with other Humans, as one of Saudi Arabia’s cultural values, impacts on e-service use in Saudi Arabia. The tested hypothesis was found consistent with its predicted outcome: the fear of a lack of Interaction with other Humans is a negative predictor of intention to use e-services in Saudi Arabia. It is evidenced that consideration of the impact of the cultural values will mainly contribute to the enhancement of ICTs implementation and use.