Considering VM migration between IaaS Clouds and mobile Clients: Challenges and Potentials

With the increasing distribution and integration of mobile devices into today´s information systems, there is a growing demand for interoperability between heterogeneous computation systems. Cloud systems already serve as an integration point between heterogeneous devices using classic client/server concepts such as Web services. However, this technology significantly limits possible applications. In this paper we consider virtual machines as a possible solution for extending the applicability for integration of mobile devices into cloud systems. We investigate the concept of migrating VM instances between clouds and local devices also considering heterogeneous computing architectures like ARM and x86. We are using an off-line approach, where a VM is transferred without being responsive. A stop, move and resume process is already sufficient for certain use cases and could increase interoperability and reduce vendor lock-in effects. We present an approach for off-line VM migration between OpenStack and local devices and evaluate our proof of concept implementation. Our results for migration costs and performance show several challenges and the need for further optimization. However, even the unoptimized migration costs might already be acceptable in certain scenarios.