A Game-Theoretic Analysis to Resolve the Tussle in Cloud Storage Services

Cloud computing has not only gained enormous popularity, but also been deployed successfully in large scale realworld applications. However, the popularity of the cloud storage also leads to the dilemma between end-user(EU) and cloud storage provider(CSP), i.e, the EU focuses its attention on acquiring cheap cloud storage services, while CSP concerns how to maximize its own revenue by setting proper price. The noncooperative decisions of EU and CSP will possibly result in corresponding loss welfare of the both parties. In the case of the cloud storage business, we model the interactions between EU and CSP as Stackelberg game and analyze the equilibrium strategies of the two parties. We show that the welfare of the two parties involved in the cloud storage business can be further enhanced to achieve the system optimality by applying Nash Bargain Solution(NBS). Our theoretical analysis and empirical studies both show that the bargain solution can result in a win-win outcome.