CYCLONE: The Multi-Cloud Middleware Stack for Application Deployment and Management

DevOps teams have to consider many technology and platform aspects when developing, deploying and operating cloud based applications: application deployments need to work everywhere on different cloud platforms, identities need to come from anywhere, and networks need to connect to anyone. The CYCLONE middleware is a holistic middleware stack that allows deploying and managing cloud based applications on multiple clouds and multiple cloud platforms. It includes a deployment manager, a practical identity federation, as well as a network manager that connects VMs independent of any specific infrastructure. This article explains the CYCLONE middleware stack, and what it can offer for application developers and operators. The paper describes in details the main bioinformatics use cases that evolve from a single VM installation for simple microbial research to multicloud infrastructure for advanced genomic resource. The paper also describes the CYCLONE federated identity management and access control infrastructure that significantly simplifies access for institutional users.