Methodology for Choosing Datacenter for Cloud Providers in

Methodology for Choosing Datacenter for Cloud Providers in West Africa Region Ahmed Alharthi April 25, 2014 UCCS Master’s Project Report Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 1

Agenda • Motivation • Why Africa • The proposed Methodology • Selection Results • Lessons Learned • Future Work • Conclusion Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 2

Motivation � Lack of information regarding to data centers in Africa. � Demand of the services � In globalizations movement, Africa was neglected � Cloud provider numbers Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 3

Cloud providers Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 4

Why Africa ? Number of data centers Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 5

Number of Data Centers around the World Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 6

Growing Demand from Africa Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 7

Research Plan � Research the process for selecting the best locations to build data centers for cloud providers in West Africa. � Main Considerations: Network performance, Costs, Submarine cable. Other factors : Environmental, Economical and Politics stabilities. Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 8

Goal � Develop a methodology to suggest the best locations for setting up data centers for cloud providers. � Significance ◦ Connect Africa to the world in efficient way. Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 9

Related Work � Mc. Connell A. , Parr G. P. , Mc Clean S. I. , Khan, K [38] They illustrate rating alternative locations for a potential data center. � Khosrow Ebrahimi, Gerard F. Jones, and Amy S. Fleischer [11] They review data cost factors � In terms of Africa’s network connectivity, M. Zennaro, E. Canessa, K. R. Sreenivasan , A. A. Rehmatullah and R. L. [12] They use Ping, Traceroute to obtain data and quintfyin the different in performance between developed and developing countries. � Sanjay M. Parekh, Robert B. Friedman, Neal K. Tibrewala, and Benjamin Lutch [28] A method of determining a geographic location of an Internet user. Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 10

Geographical & Climate Characteristics of the region � Climate & topography of the continent � Tornados & Hurricanes & Tsunami � Earthquake � Politic Systems on the region � Economic Status Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 11

Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 12

Africa Submarine Cables Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 13

How Intel/HP Select their Data Center Locations � Intel Considerations are : WAN infrastructure, availability of water for cooling, costs workforce, water, power or landscape. � HP Considerations are: quality of the land their size, price and geographic location, the availability of power and communication network in the region, cost of operations including electricity, water, network access, free cooling. Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 14

The Proposed Methodology � Methodology is mix of Intel , HP and IBM approaches � Main considerations : ◦ Costs of Powering, Cooling and landscape. ◦ Communication network and their capabilities. Secondary considerations : Politics status � Geographical & Climate location � Submarine cables � Economy � Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 15

Decision Process for Selecting Countries to Host Public Cloud Senegal, Guinea, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Cameron, Cote d'ivoire, Congo, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Namibia. Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 16

Results of Decision Process Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 17

Network measurements � Latency � Round Trip Time � Packet loss � Bandwidth Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 18

System and Tools for Measurement � Network measurements Amazon Linux AMI 2014. 03. 1 machines In Singapore, Sydney and Sao Paulo Linux commands : Ping and Traceroute � Tool used : ◦ Nmap (Network mapper) ◦ Visual route Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 19

Network measurements from North America 300 250 265 220 182 200 From Colorado 128. 198. 49. 171 182 150 100 50 0 23 Ghana 27 South Africa Latecny 30 27 Senegal Nigeria RTT Country Latency Ghana 23 ms Round trip time Packet loss Number of Hops 220 ms 10 % 17 South Africa 27 ms 265 ms 0% 20 Senegal 30 ms 182 ms 0% 17 Nigeria 27 ms 182 ms 0% 18 Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 20

Network measurements from East Asia (Singapore) 476 500 450 400 350 270 300 236 250 54. 255. 149. 162 274 200 150 100 50 0 48 28 Ghana South Africa RTT Country Latency Ghana 24 27 Senegal Nigeria Latency 28 ms Round trip time 270 ms Packet loss 0% Number of Hops 12 South Africa 48 ms 476 ms 0% 20 Senegal 24 ms 236 ms 0% 13 Nigeria 27 ms 274 ms 0% 19 Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 21

Network measurements from East Asia (Sydney) 600 493 500 448 428 400 300 54. 206. 48. 231 200 100 44 0 Ghana 44 42 South Africa Latency 42 Senegal Nigeria RTT Country Latency Round trip time Packet loss Number of Hops Ghana 44 ms 440 ms 0% 17 South Africa 44 ms 493 ms 0% 25 Senegal 42 ms 428 ms 0% 17 Nigeria 42 ms 448 ms 0% 23 Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 22

Network measurements from South America (Brazil) 400 350 343 312 297 281 300 250 200 54. 255. 149. 162 150 100 30 50 0 Ghana 36 South Africa 4 Latency Country 32 31 Senegal Nigeria RTT Ghana Latency Round trip time 30 ms 312 ms Packet loss 0% Number of Hops 14 South Africa 36 ms 343 ms 0% 16 Senegal 31 ms 281 ms 0% 14 Nigeria 32 ms 297 ms 0% 12 Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 23

Average RTT & Latency Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 24

Detailed Stat Related to Ghana Observation � � � � [aalharth@walrus cs 701]$ ping -c 10 197. 253. 65. 36 PING 197. 253. 65. 36 (197. 253. 65. 36) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from 197. 253. 65. 36: icmp_seq=1 ttl=43 time=981 ms 64 bytes from 197. 253. 65. 36: icmp_seq=2 ttl=43 time=983 ms 64 bytes from 197. 253. 65. 36: icmp_seq=3 ttl=43 time=973 ms 64 bytes from 197. 253. 65. 36: icmp_seq=4 ttl=43 time=968 ms 64 bytes from 197. 253. 65. 36: icmp_seq=5 ttl=43 time=972 ms 64 bytes from 197. 253. 65. 36: icmp_seq=6 ttl=43 time=960 ms 64 bytes from 197. 253. 65. 36: icmp_seq=7 ttl=43 time=1003 ms core 4. LDNLondon. as 6453. net is the last node connecting to Ghana Goes to WASC submarine cables operated by TATA. 64 bytes from 197. 253. 65. 36: icmp_seq=9 ttl=43 time=967 ms 64 bytes from 197. 253. 65. 36: icmp_seq=10 ttl=43 time=972 ms --- 197. 253. 65. 36 ping statistics --- 10 packets transmitted, 9 received, 10% packet loss, time 8997 ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 960. 481/975. 940/1003. 880/11. 900 ms, pipe 2 Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 25

Formula for Estimating Costs � Estimating the Coast of Space, Cooling and Powering Data Center � Estimation based on HP “Cost model for planning, development and operation of a data center” � Assumptions Facility size is 30, 000 sq ft � 10 MW datacenter � %50 occupied � Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 26

Cost of Renting Spaces Country Average rent (per sq ft) Lagos, Nigeria $6. 48 – 8. 00 Accra, Ghana $5. 7 -10. 5 Dakar, Senegal $ 5. 5 – 9. 5 Space Cost / sqft $60 $41 $38 $36 Cape Town, $ 10 - 14 South Africa Lagos, Nigeria Accra, Ghana Dakar, Senegal Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 Cape Town, SA 27

Cost of Power Countr y Power cost KWH Lagos, Nigeria Accra, Ghana Dakar, Senegal Cape Town, SA $ 0. 20 Cost of Power /sqft per unit $0, 17 $0, 15 $ 0. 31 $0, 12 $0. 42 $ 0. 48 $0, 07 Lagos, Nigeria Accra, Ghana Dakar, Senegal Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 Cape Town, SA 28

Cost of Cooling Country Cooling Cost / sqft Rate / sqft/unit Lagos, Nigeria $0. 065/ft Accra, Ghana 0. 0115/ft Dakar, Senegal 0. 171/ft Cape Town, SA 0. 214/ft 0. 214 0. 171 0. 115 0. 065 Lagos, Nigeria Accra, Ghana Dakar, Senegal Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 Cape Town, SA 29

Total Cost /sq ft $60, 22 $41, 15 $37, 44 $36, 44 Lagos, Nigeria Accra, Ghana Dakar, Senegal Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa Cape Town, SA 4/25/2014 30

Selection Results Ranking the countries based on RTT Country Nigeria Senegal South Africa Ghana North America Singapore 1 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 Sydney 2 1 4 3 Brazil 2 1 4 3 Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 31

Selection Results � Bandwidth Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 32

Selection Results � Total Space, Power and Cooling costs Total Cost /sq ft $60, 22 $41, 15 $36, 44 Lagos, Nigeria Accra, Ghana $37, 44 Dakar, Senegal Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa Cape Town, SA 4/25/2014 33

Nigeria is Optimal Location � Network capability among the best and stable � High (5) submarine cables � Cheapest power price per Kwh. � Lowest total cost including space, power and cooling. � #1 Economy in the region[32] � Largest number of Internet users, 49 M. � Stable politic system. � Center of the region geographically Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 34

Lessons Learned � Collecting data ◦ Learn about IT in Africa. ◦ Talk to students, IBM, HP, ISP providers, realtors ◦ Language barrier. ◦ Gathering real estate data ◦ Conflicts data � Technical Challenges ◦ Understanding cables systems ◦ Track packets ◦ Network tools ◦ Web servers ◦ Locating servers Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 35

Future Work � Collect additional relevant data to select the best location of data center for a cloud provider. � The data gathered from latency, round trip time and bandwidth should be gained from relevant data center of a cloud provider in real world. � Examine ping and trace utility data multiple times in different times. Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 36

Conclusion � Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa are the ideal locations to host data center for cloud provider. � Nigeria has the most suitable features to host one. � Africa has a good opportunity to host datacenter for a cloud provide. � Costs of datacenter may be vary from city to other one. Ahmed- Public Cloud Location in Africa 4/25/2014 37

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