Cloud Computing

CONSERT has developed a cloud on-premises infrastructure, that supports several research projects and academic platforms.

  • IaaS solution developed based on OpenStack cloud software.
  • Creation of Virtual Machines (VMs) to provide access to VCPUs, RAM and Storage over Virtual Networking and Public IPs.
  • Kubernetes platform used for the creation and testing of containerized services.
  • Off-premises cloud resources over the OKEANOS infrastructure to support several projects for research and academic activities, involving a number of junior researchers and students.

Current cloud infrastructure:

  • 2 OpenStack clouds: (i) production infrastructure, for deploying and offering services supporting research projects, and (ii) sandbox infrastructure, development of solutions.
  • 14 servers serving the roles of controllers, compute nodes and networks routers, featuring the use of PFsense Free BSD software.
  • 8 microservers support the Kubernetes platform, part of an HP Bladesystem.

Cloud Community

Our cloud computing team exchanges ideas with other cloud enthusiasts:

  • Meetings to discuss cloud related issues in meetups organized by the OpenStack Athens User Group.
  • Organization of UniWA campus events for students and researchers
  • Collaboration with companies from the industrial sector (i.e. in Stackmasters)
  • Research other OpenStack deployment projects i.e. OpenStack Kolla and Triple-O OpenStack

Use cases and applications

  • VLABs (Virtual Labs): Supporting student labs through the creation of custom VMs. The creation of the labs allows students to access powerful VMs and perform demanding actions via thin clients with the minimum hardware.
  • STORM project: Implement a robust OpenStack production infrastructure for the protection of Cultural Heritage through Technical and Organisational Resources Management (H2020 project STORM). STORM project exploited the use of several VMs, required by several partners to develop platforms and applications in order to collect and process information gathered by sensors. The cloud infrastructure provided enormous amount of resources and offered high availability characteristics, also safeguarding information of significant importance.
  • EVE-NG: Emulated Virtual Environment- Next Generation (EVE-NG) is a graphical network emulator built upon OKEANOS cloud, supporting both commercial and open-source router images. It is a virtual network emulator developed for testing and developing real life scenarios of network topologies, before apply them in real topologies.

Researchers in charge of the project:

Reference material

[1] Xevgenis, M. G., Toumanidis, L., Kogias, D. G., & Patrikakis, C. Z. (2016, December). The Virtual Lab (VLAB) Cloud Solution. In 2016 IEEE Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.

[2] “An IoE Architecture for the Preservation of the Cultural Heritage: The STORM Use Case.” Harnessing the Internet of Everything (IoE) for Accelerated Innovation Opportunities. IGI Global, 2019. 193-214., Book Chapter, Book Title: Harnessing the Internet of Everything (IoE) for Accelerated Innovation Opportunities.