FONS: a fog orchestrator node selection model to improve application placement in fog computing

Abstract

Fog computing not only executes applications in the vicinity of the IoT devices/users but also keeps transient data which removes the need for data transfer to the cloud on regular basis. For applications’ placement, an orchestrator considers the requirement of the application and the current fog status to place the application on suitable fog nodes. The orchestrator itself may be placed on fog or cloud nodes. In a centralized approach, a fixed entity that works as an orchestrator is prone to single point failure, less mobility support, etc. Therefore, the literature advises for a decentralized approach in which a nearby fog node is selected to act as an orchestrator. Poor selection of Fog Orchestrator Nodes (FONs) may result in the performance degradation of the system. None of the earlier work proposed the selection of FON for the placement of the applications on the fog nodes. Towards this, a brief but latest survey of the works, to understand the FON selection problem, is done along with the importance of decentralized approach in the FON selection problem. Further, few performance metrics have been identified which helps in the FON selection. A lightweight FON Selection model (FONS) is proposed so that even the least powerful IoT devices can select a FON. The proposed work is validated by incorporating the FON selection algorithm in one state of art to observe a remarkable improvement in application placement.