Cloud/IaaS Platforms: I/O Virtualization and Scheduling

Cloud-based, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platforms present a simple data center resource model to their end-users. The end-user provisions logical resource units of compute, network, and block storage. They then attach a compute unit to one or more network and block storage units. This "attach" and subsequent "detach" of emulated network and storage devices embodies what is referred to as I/O virtualization, the act of scheduling I/O resources independent of compute. For this session we will outline this I/O virtualization concept and then dig deeper into how cloud/IaaS platforms leverage it for both local and global/data-center-wide scheduling.

Dave is a strategist and researcher in EMC's Office of the CTO where he focuses on the costs, scalability, and performance of data center infrastructure, especially in a Cloud setting. During his tenure at EMC, he has provided technical leadership in the areas of Network Virtualization, OpenStack, and converged infrastructure platforms such as OpenCompute. Prior to joining EMC, Dave spent ten years on Wall Street working on various facets of data center infrastructure for companies such as Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.