Cloud and Energy Management - Issues and Concerns

The emergence of Cloud Computing has dramatically shaped the provision of computing services to consumers. Global, large scale deployments of Cloud infrastructure services have fundamentally changed the way in which we use IT services today. Businesses are now able to convert capital costs into operating expenses in order to reduce financial risk, which in turn, has resulted in a significant increase in the take-up of Cloud based services. However, this has in turn transferred considerable infrastructure costs onto Cloud Service Providers (CSP). The operational costs of large Cloud Data Centers (CDC) are significant, with the provision of energy a large proportion of this expense. The efficient management of energy, and the concept of Green Computing in general, is high on the agenda for CSPs. Cloud services, with their application in 'Smart Cities', offer an attractive reduction of expenses and resource consumption. This, coupled with the ability to rapidly and dynamically commit computational power on demand, means that the management of energy in CDCs is of substantial concern to cities aiming to develop 'smart' urban growth within their centers. This paper investigates the issues and concerns regarding energy management in Cloud Computing, by reviewing existing published research papers and literature in the field. The paper then identifies a key publication which introduces the concept of a "Green Cloud Framework' and Virtual Machine Scheduling and Management as a key energy efficiency issue. Finally, the findings of this publication are interpreted in relation to data center energy efficiency in general, before identifying areas for further research.