Pattern-based solution for architecting cloud-enabled software

Abstract

Cloud computing exploits the software as a service model with distributed and interoperable services for the composition of software systems. Cloud-enabled systems that demand elasticity, scalability, and composition of services, etc., there is a need to capitalize on reusable solutions exploiting patterns and styles to architect cloud-based software. The objective of this research is to build and exploit a catalog of patterns that support reusable design knowledge to develop cloud-based architectures. We propose a three-step process with (i) pattern discovery, (ii) pattern documentation (building the catalog), and finally, (iii) pattern application (exploiting the catalog) to enable pattern-based architecting of cloud systems. We discovered seven patterns as generic and reusable solutions and demonstrate the pattern-driven architecture of the ECMC case study. Results suggest that pattern-based architecting enables the reuse of generic design decisions but lacks fine-grained architectural design. The solution is the first attempt towards establishing the catalog as a repository of patterns for architecture-based development of cloud systems.