Improve Robustness and Transparency of Cloud Platforms

互联网是一个计算机网络的集合体，使内容能够在全球范围内传输。云是一个能够生成这些内容的平台。这种平台由许多互连的硬件和软件组件组成，例如网络交换机、计算机和在这些计算机上运行的软件产品。这些组件中的每一个都可能出现故障，导致云服务中断或降级。云服务无处不在，几乎由任何实体使用：普通公众、政府、医疗机构、非营利组织和企业。确保云平台的可靠和透明运行至关重要，因为服务中断或降级可能会影响到大量利益相关者。在这个与IBM合作的项目中，我们将重点关注及早发现他们的云平台故障，以及确定这种故障的潜在根本原因。这将有助于在故障影响大量客户端之前加快故障修复速度。修复故障后，重要的是确定导致故障的原因，以防止故障再次发生。这必须以透明的方式完成，以确保云提供商与其消费者之间的信任。我们将创建一个不变的日志存储系统，以确保透明性。这些交付成果将导致云平台的改进，进而提高客户满意度。鉴于云服务的独特性，加拿大人将受益于使云平台变得更强大、更透明和更负责任。

The Internet is a conglomerate of computer networks that enables transfer of content worldwide. The Cloud is a platform that enables the generation of this content. Such a platform consists of many interconnected hardware and software components, for example, network switches, computers, and software products running on these computers. Each and every one of these components may fail, causing an outage or degradation of the Cloud service.Cloud services are ubiquitous, being used by virtually any entity: the general public, governments, health institutions, non-profits, and enterprises. It is critical to ensure the reliable and transparent operation of Cloud platforms, as an outage or degradation of service may affect a large number of stakeholders.In this collaborative project, alongside IBM, we will focus on the early detection of a failure of their Cloud platform, as well as identification of the potential root cause of this failure. This will help to speed up the fix of the failure before it affects a large number of clients. Once the failure is fixed, it is important to identify what led to the failure, to prevent it from occurring again. This has to be done in a transparent manner to ensure trust between the Cloud provider and its consumers. We will create an immutable log storage system that will ensure transparency.These deliverables will lead to improvement of Cloud platforms, which, in turn, will lead to increased customer satisfaction. Given the uniqueness of Cloud services, Canadians will benefit from making Cloud platforms more robust, transparent, and accountable.