CloudScale: scalability management for cloud systems

This work-in-progress paper introduces the EU FP7 STREP CloudScale. The contribution of this paper is an overall description of CloudScale's engineering approach for the design and evolution of scalable cloud applications and services. An Electronic Health Record (EHR) system serves as a motivation scenario. The overall CloudScale method describes how CloudScale will identify and gradually solve scalability problems in this existing applications. CloudScale will also enable the modelling of design alternatives and the analysis of their effect on scalability and cost. Best practices for scalability will further guide the design process. The CloudScale method is supported by three integrated tools and a scalability description modelling language. CloudScale will be validated by two case studies.