A generic framework for heterogeneous resource federation

This doctorate thesis introduces a framework for information and communication technology resource federation. Resource federation in the context of this work is a concept for sharing and allowing access to heterogeneous resources across multiple administrative domains. Three design artifacts are delivered as the main research result: a federation model, a federation methodology, and a system instantiation. The artifacts abstract from the types of resources to be federated. Examples of resources include general-purpose physical and virtual machines, software packages and systems, as well as specialized proprietary devices. Resource capabilities are exposed in a service oriented manner and can be assembled in meaningful combinations and configurations to satisfy the service consumer's requirements. One of the potential user segments is the scientific community where resources are requested for running large scale research experiments that require a certain setup of heterogeneous resources. The benefit provided to users of the federation is the seamless access to a large collection of resources via unified interfaces. Resource providers benefit from an additional sales channel, increasing their average resource utilization, some sort of compensation for the provided services, and the access to additional user groups. A federation organization maintains relationships with all stakeholders and offers central services to ensure the overall operation.