A secure solution based on load-balancing algorithms between regions in the cloud environment

Abstract

The problem treated in this article is the storage of sensitive data in the cloud environment and how to choose regions and zones to minimize the number of transfer file events. Handling sensitive data in the global internet network many times can increase risks and minimize security levels. Our work consists of scheduling several files on the different regions based on the security and load balancing parameters in the cloud. Each file is characterized by its size. If data is misplaced from the start it will require a transfer from one region to another and sometimes from one area to another. The objective is to find a schedule that assigns these files to the appropriate region ensuring the load balancing executed in each region to guarantee the minimum number of migrations. This problem is NP-hard. A novel model regarding the regional security and load balancing of files in the cloud environment is proposed in this article. This model is based on the component called “Scheduler” which utilizes the proposed algorithms to solve the problem. This model is a secure solution to guarantee an efficient dispersion of the stored files to avoid the most storage in one region. Consequently, damage to this region does not cause a loss of big data. In addition, a novel method called the “Grouping method” is proposed. Several variants of the application of this method are utilized to propose novel algorithms for solving the studied problem. Initially, seven algorithms are proposed in this article. The experimental results show that there is no dominance between these algorithms. Therefore, three combinations of these seven algorithms generate three other algorithms with better results. Based on the dominance rule, only six algorithms are selected to discuss the performance of the proposed algorithms. Four classes of instances are generated to measure and test the performance of algorithms. In total, 1,360 instances are tested. Three metrics are used to assess the algorithms and make a comparison between them. The experimental results show that the best algorithm is the “Best-value of four algorithms” in 86.5% of cases with an average gap of 0.021 and an average running time of 0.0018 s.