A DevOps Reference Architecture for Multi-Cloud IoT Applications Deployment

Bou Ghantous, Georges

A DevOps Reference Architecture for Multi-Cloud IoT Applications Deployment

Bou Ghantous, Georges

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2020

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Bou Ghantous, Georges
dc.date.accessioned	2020-05-26T05:55:22Z
dc.date.available	2020-05-26T05:55:22Z
dc.date.issued	2020
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/140955
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.	en_AU
dc.description.abstract	DevOps originated in the context of agile software development, which seems an appropriate approach to enable the continuous delivery and deployment of a software application in small releases. There is growing interest among organisations in adopting the DevOps approach and a multi-cloud environment for IoT (Internet of Things) application deployment. However, the challenge is how to apply DevOps when a multi-cloud heterogeneous environment is required for IoT application deployment. To address this vital research need, this thesis applies a design science research (DSR) method. It develops the DevOps reference architecture (DRA) framework to automate IoT applications deployment to the heterogeneous multi-cloud environment. The DRA is a cloud-enabled framework that mainly focuses on the deployment part of the integrated agile–DevOps methodology. Using a DSR method, the DRA has been incrementally developed by the iterative application of build, review, and adjust research activities. The DRA is intended for use by software organisations, coaches, managers, engineers, developers, and consultants as comprehensive reference architecture for deploying IoT applications to a multi-cloud environment using the DevOps approach. The DRA has three main components: framework characteristics, framework architecture, and framework composition. Framework characteristics incorporate nine main elements arranged into three categories: foundation (abstraction, human factor, infrastructure), core (process, tools, product), and extended (business value, rules, legal). Framework characteristics provide the building blocks necessary to create a reference architecture design using the DevOps approach and cloud infrastructure. Framework architecture is composed of five models: contextual, conceptual, logical, physical, and operational. Framework architecture is the blueprint used in the framework composition to create DevOps pipeline instances that enable IoT application deployment to the multi-cloud environment. The DRA framework composition includes three components: resources (architecture design, software, and hardware), configuration (pipeline, IoT application, IoT network), and output (DRA reference architecture, DRAv1.0 instance, DRAv2.0 instance). The framework provides implementation instructions and an evaluation template to implement and evaluate DRAv1.0 (single cloud) and DRA v2.0 (multi-cloud) instances in different organisational contexts. The proposed DRA framework is evaluated using an empirical evaluation composed of four iterations: industry case study, research case study, teaching case study, and industry field surveys. The results of this thesis indicate that the proposed DRA framework can be considered reasonable for the successful adoption of the DevOps approach for IoT application deployment to the multi-cloud environment. The evaluation results indicate that the DRA framework is generic and can be used in different organisational contexts and technology stacks to establish a cloud-based deployment architecture that is suitable for IoT applications.	en_AU
dc.format	Thesis (PhD)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/140955/2/02whole.pdf
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/ppc
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.title	A DevOps Reference Architecture for Multi-Cloud IoT Applications Deployment	en_AU
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*

Abstract:

DevOps originated in the context of agile software development, which seems an appropriate approach to enable the continuous delivery and deployment of a software application in small releases. There is growing interest among organisations in adopting the DevOps approach and a multi-cloud environment for IoT (Internet of Things) application deployment. However, the challenge is how to apply DevOps when a multi-cloud heterogeneous environment is required for IoT application deployment. To address this vital research need, this thesis applies a design science research (DSR) method. It develops the DevOps reference architecture (DRA) framework to automate IoT applications deployment to the heterogeneous multi-cloud environment. The DRA is a cloud-enabled framework that mainly focuses on the deployment part of the integrated agile–DevOps methodology. Using a DSR method, the DRA has been incrementally developed by the iterative application of build, review, and adjust research activities. The DRA is intended for use by software organisations, coaches, managers, engineers, developers, and consultants as comprehensive reference architecture for deploying IoT applications to a multi-cloud environment using the DevOps approach. The DRA has three main components: framework characteristics, framework architecture, and framework composition. Framework characteristics incorporate nine main elements arranged into three categories: foundation (abstraction, human factor, infrastructure), core (process, tools, product), and extended (business value, rules, legal). Framework characteristics provide the building blocks necessary to create a reference architecture design using the DevOps approach and cloud infrastructure. Framework architecture is composed of five models: contextual, conceptual, logical, physical, and operational. Framework architecture is the blueprint used in the framework composition to create DevOps pipeline instances that enable IoT application deployment to the multi-cloud environment. The DRA framework composition includes three components: resources (architecture design, software, and hardware), configuration (pipeline, IoT application, IoT network), and output (DRA reference architecture, DRAv1.0 instance, DRAv2.0 instance). The framework provides implementation instructions and an evaluation template to implement and evaluate DRAv1.0 (single cloud) and DRA v2.0 (multi-cloud) instances in different organisational contexts. The proposed DRA framework is evaluated using an empirical evaluation composed of four iterations: industry case study, research case study, teaching case study, and industry field surveys. The results of this thesis indicate that the proposed DRA framework can be considered reasonable for the successful adoption of the DevOps approach for IoT application deployment to the multi-cloud environment. The evaluation results indicate that the DRA framework is generic and can be used in different organisational contexts and technology stacks to establish a cloud-based deployment architecture that is suitable for IoT applications.

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