SHERA: SHAP-Enhanced Resource Allocation for VM Scheduling and Efficient Cloud Computing

Cloud computing plays a crucial role in modern technology, providing scalable and on-demand computing resources. However, excessive resource use can result in higher energy demand, higher operating expenses, and a more significant adverse effect on the environment as per study by A. Berl et al. [1]. In order to forecast and maximize the energy efficiency in cloud systems, this paper presents a machine learning based methodology. Using the Cloud Efficiency Dataset from Google Cloud, key performance indicators such as CPU usage, memory consumption, network traffic, and power consumption were analyzed. Three machine learning models—Random Forest, Naïve Bayes, and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were trained and assessed based on Mean Squared Error (MSE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and an Equivalent Accuracy metric. Among them Random Forest model performed the best, achieving an RMSE of 0.16 and an accuracy of 96.8 %. To improve the interpretability of the model Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) techniques were applied, specifically SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), to evaluate feature importance. The findings demonstrated that the most important variables which influence energy efficiency are CPU usage and memory consumption. This research develops A novel algorithm based on the XAI results. Unlike static thresholding or heuristic schedulers, our SHAP-driven approach dynamically adapts VMplacement decisions with built-in interpretability. It is capable to efficiently schedule and allocateVirtual Machines on the cloud in a live environment. The proposed framework demonstrates tthe high scalability and real time applicability, making it suitable for the deployment in live cloud environments. While the integration of XAI methods like SHAP enhances interpretability, it introduces additional computational overhead—a trade-off that is justified by the improved transparency and decision making support.