Enabling DevOps for Fog Applications in the Smart Manufacturing domain: an MDE-based Platform Engineering approach

Abstract

Cloud Computing is revolutionizing smart manufacturing by offering on-demand and scalable computer systems that facilitate plant data analysis and operational efficiency optimization. DevOps is a methodology, widely used for developing Cloud Computing systems, that streamlines software development by improving its integration, delivery, and deployment. Although cloud application designers within a DevOps team are assumed to have development and operational knowledge, this does not fall within the skills of experts that design analytics applications of plant data. The deployment environment is also relevant since, as such applications are often hosted in the Fog, the proliferation of application components may hinder their composition and validation. This work is aimed at embracing the Platform Engineering approach to provide a tailored toolkit that guides the design and development of OpenFog compliant applications for the experts in the Smart Manufacturing domain. The platform uses Model Driven Engineering techniques and a flow-based visual editor to allow application designers to graphically compose applications from components previously delivered by component developers, abstracting them from the underlying technologies. As a result, containerized applications, ready to be deployed and run by a container orchestrator, are obtained. The feasibility of the proposal is proved through an industrial case study.