Hostload prediction in a Google compute cloud with a Bayesian model

Prediction of host load in Cloud systems is crit- ical for achieving service-level agreements. However, accurate prediction of host load in Clouds is extremely challenging because it fluctuates drastically at small timescales. We design a prediction method based on Bayes model to predict the mean load over a long-term time interval, as well as the mean load in consecutive future time intervals. We identify novel predictive features of host load that capture the expectation, predictabil- ity, trends and patterns of host load. We also determine the most effective combinations of these features for prediction. We evaluate our method using a detailed one-month trace of a Google data center with thousands of machines. Experiments show that the Bayes method achieves high accuracy with a mean squared error of 0.0014. Moreover, the Bayes method improves the load prediction accuracy by 5.6-50% compared to other state-of-the-art methods based on moving averages, auto-regression, and/or noise filters.

• Distributed Systems and Parallel Computing

• Software Systems