Comparative study of simulators for cloud computing

Recent years have seen a significant increase in cloud computing simulation tools. They are essential to evaluate cloud computing services and applications. Indeed, they can help to test, evaluate, and replicate the assumptions cost-effectively before a cloud platform is deployed in a real environment. It also provides an option to change and control the bottlenecks of the performance prior to implementing on an actual cloud platform. The simulation tools for cloud computing are also important to help users choose which cloud computing service is suitable for their requirements as deploying and operating a cloud platform in a real environment are often expensive, time consuming, or even impractical due to multiple test runs in different conditions and requirements. This paper surveys the various simulation platforms and tools of cloud computing. We identify the characteristics of the tools highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the paper notes the challenges and the future research directions.