Resource Allocation Techniques in Cloud Computing: A Review and Future Directions

Cloud computing has become a very important computing model to process data and execute computationally concentrated applications in pay-per-use method. Resource allocation is a process in which the resources are allocated to consumers by cloud providers based on their flexible requirements. As the data is expanding every day, allocating resources efficiently according to the consumer demand has also become very important, keeping Service Level Agreement (SLA) between service providers and consumers in prospect. This task of resource allocation becomes more challenging due to finite available resources and increasing consumer demands. Therefore, many unique models and techniques have been proposed to allocate resources efficiently. In the light of the uniqueness of the models and techniques, the main aim of the resource allocation is to limit the overhead/expenses associated with it. This research aims to present a comprehensive, structured literature review on different aspects of resource allocation in cloud computing, including strategic, target resources, optimization, scheduling and power. More than 50 articles, between year 2007 and 2019, related to resource allocation in cloud computing have been shortlisted through a structured mechanism and they are reviewed under clearly defined objectives. It presents a topical taxonomy of resource allocation dimensions, and articles under each category are discussed and analysed. Lastly, salient future directions in this area are discussed.