Addressing data and user mobility challenges in the cloud

Recently cloud computing has been increasingly gaining attention and spreading in various industries. This novel paradigm also has received significant research focus on the data security and privacy issues due to its outsourced nature. However, few of the research efforts have been focused on data mobility issues which existed intrinsically in highly complex and dynamic cloud services. To address this challenge, this paper discusses full mobility management of cloud data from two aspects: data mobility management and user mobility management. The work is based on our previously proposed active data-centric framework. Taking advantage of this framework, the active data can establish an active binding relationship with its user. Any data mobility-related behavior could inform to its bundled user instantly and safely. The paper also discusses user mobility management via the self-adaptable heterogeneous network handoff mechanism to ensure the ubiquitous informing service in the mobile cloud environment. The experimental outcomes demonstrate the feasibility, proactivity, and efficiency by the full mobility management scheme. © 2013 IEEE