RISE: Building a Cloud-Edge Infrastructure with OpenNebula

In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology, organizations must adapt to meet the increasing demands for flexible and efficient computing resources. Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) is at the forefront of this transformation, leveraging innovative solutions to support diverse industries. With a commitment to advancing research and development, RISE has embraced OpenNebula as a vital component of their cloud-edge infrastructure strategy.

SETTING THE STAGE

RISE plays a pivotal role in driving innovation across a range of industries. Their Datacenter Research department has been utilizing OpenNebula since 2021, aiming to create a scalable cloud-edge infrastructure. Before this, RISE had a long history with other Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platforms, including OpenStack, which they adopted in 2016 to try to meet the needs of both researchers and industry partners.

As Daniel Olsson, Senior Researcher at RISE, explains, “We’ve always been focused on providing cutting-edge infrastructure for research and development, but with the rise of edge computing and 5G, we knew we needed something that could evolve with our growing demands.”

With OpenNebula, RISE delivers raw infrastructure access to a diverse range of workloads, including autonomous drone flights, real-time video stream inferencing using GPUs, and seismic activity processing in mining environments. This strategic setup enables RISE to connect geographically separated heterogeneous compute resources into a homogenous distributed federated compute platform. The adoption of OpenNebula represents a significant step towards developing next-generation infrastructure to support 5G/6G technologies and beyond.

ADDRESSING KEY PAIN POINTS

Prior to adopting OpenNebula, RISE faced several challenges with their primary cloud infrastructure based on OpenStack:

• Complex architecture: debugging and troubleshooting during issues, such as power outages or upgrades, was time-consuming due to OpenStack’s complicated structure.
• Slow API performance: The platform’s sluggish API required the team to implement caching mechanisms for their self-service portal, adding unnecessary complexity.
• Limited flexibility: OpenStack’s “deploy and don’t touch” approach lacked the adaptability RISE needed for their evolving cloud-edge infrastructure.

These pain points hindered research progress and complicated service management, prompting RISE to seek a more streamlined and efficient solution.

OPENNEBULA: A TAILORED SOLUTION

In 2021, RISE began building a new cloud-edge infrastructure aimed at supporting geographically distributed compute resources under a unified platform. After assessing their requirements, RISE chose OpenNebula for several important reasons:

• Multi-cluster support: OpenNebula’s ability to manage multiple clusters was crucial for RISE’s goal of connecting diverse compute resources across Sweden.
• Simplicity: OpenNebula’s simpler architecture allowed for easier debugging and a more adaptable post-deployment environment.
• Open source and European origin: the open source nature of OpenNebula, along with its European roots, aligned with RISE’s values and sovereignty requirements.

“OpenNebula met all the technical and strategic requirements we had,” Daniel notes. “It provides us with the flexibility to manage both cloud and edge environments seamlessly.”

ADOPTION JOURNEY AND RESULTING BENEFITS

RISE’s primary focus with OpenNebula has been to build a federated cloud-edge infrastructure capable of supporting a wide range of workloads for both researchers and industry. OpenNebula has allowed RISE to address their prior challenges by offering:

• Simpler architecture: OpenNebula’s use of familiar technologies like SSH, Ansible, and SQL simplified debugging and maintenance compared to OpenStack.
• Flexibility after deployment: Unlike OpenStack, OpenNebula allows for ongoing adaptability of the infrastructure, a crucial requirement for RISE’s cloud-edge strategy.
• Migration from OpenStack: RISE has commissioned its OpenStack-based service in favor of OpenNebula, underscoring the platform’s success in meeting its IaaS needs.

“We’re excited to be moving forward with OpenNebula as it allows us to innovate without the limitations we faced before,” Daniel adds.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS: LEVERAGING OPENNEBULA FOR INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

Looking ahead, RISE plans to continue expanding their cloud-edge infrastructure with OpenNebula. The organization aims to roll out five new edge sites over the next two years, significantly extending the scope of their infrastructure across Sweden. This expansion will enhance RISE’s capability to support diverse research projects and foster innovation within the industry.