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Calls & Context
GridLab
A GRID Application Toolkit and Testbed
Abstract
GRID Computing is an exciting buzzword in the computing world today. Here we define it to mean the exploitation of a varied set of networked computing resources, including large or small computers, PDAs, file servers and graphics devices. The networks could be anything from high speed ATM to wireless or modem connections. Exploiting these connected resources could, for example, enable large scale simulations not possible on a single supercomputer, aid computational work of geographically distributed collaborations, simplify remote use of machines, and enable the new dynamic application scenarios we propose.
Objectives
The objectives of Gridlab are to:
- Design and develop a GRID Application Toolkit, to provide core, easy to use functionality, through a carefully constructed set of generic APIs.
- Enhance real applications for the GRID, implementing new dynamic simulation scenarios using the GAT.
- Develop and test GRID infrastructure and applications on real test beds.
Technical Approach
Gridlab project's infrastructure bases on the most advanced and widely used GRID software:
Globus Toolkit which is the standard GRID middleware, providing tools for e.g. security, job submission and information services, and is associated with many large collaborative projects,
Cactus Code and Computational Toolkit which is a modular, collaborative framework for developing parallel scientific and engineering applications, already widely used for GRID computing.
GRIDLab Architecture
Gridlab project aims to more tightly couple and extend these toolkits in ways that enable applications to be self-aware, of both their own varying computational needs and the changing GRID environment, and to respond and adapt appropriately. This will be achieved by using, extending, and building components, such as brokers, information servers, monitoring systems, that work with the applications themselves through a GRID Application Toolkit, connecting to basic GRID infrastructure software and hardware underneath. The GRID Application Toolkit, which will provide a core GRID-functionality through a set of high-level APIs will be developed. The main purpose of our GAT is to help developers making their applications GRID-enabled. A variety of existing, resource intensive applications will be enhanced with the capabilities of the GAT, including Triana and applications already using Cactus. The applications will be tested and deployed on different testbeds to ensure GRID interoperability. Finally, GRID infrastructure and applications will be tested on real testbeds, constructed by linking heterogeneous collections of supercomputers and other resources spanning Europe and the USA.
Testbed
A European testbed will be established for developing and deploying GridLab technologies, and making them easily available to application developers and users. The testbed will provide the necessary environment for developing and testing software, which needs to work on the very different machines and operating systems, interacting with local policies, file-systems, security measures, schedulers and other variations. New tools to check the integrity and the state of the GRID from the user point of view will be developed and deployed.
Expected Achievements and Results
The generic GRID Application Toolkit is the centrepiece of GridLab. It will integrate components for resource management, resource, application and performance monitoring, information services, and data management. The work packages are designed to develop working and extensible examples for each of these components, and just as importantly, generic APIs that work not only with GridLab components, but with components from other projects. GridLab will be tightly connected to other projects, and to the GGF, to ensure compatibility. API's will be developed for all GAT components and layers, including Portals, applications and the underlying infrastructure (e.g. Globus services).
Applications
Some of the applications developed in Gridlab are:
- Cactus Code and Computational Toolkit
- Testbeds with Portals deployed on them
- TRIANA workflow application
Innovation
The GridLab project will significantly advance the current state-of-the-art by developing:
- key components necessary for application oriented GRID computing (resource estimators and brokers, platform independent portals accessible even from mobile devices, security infrastructure, monitoring tools, etc.);
- interfaces to functionally similar components developed by others,
- a GRID Application Toolkit, for both infrastructure and applications, enabling new generations of GRID enabled applications,
- innovative new GRID computing scenarios to dramatically increase the scale or throughput of possible applications.
All components will be tightly integrated and built on present state-of-the-art infrastructure and application tools, co-ordinated and co-developed with other leading international GRID projects and industrial partners, field tested by real application communities on intercontinental testbeds and production environments.
- Project name:
- GridLab - A GRID Application Toolkit and Testbed
- Contract no:
- IST-2001-32133
- Project type:
- RTD
- Start date:
- 01/01/2002
- Duration:
- 36 months
- Total budget:
- €5,912,098
- Funding from the EC:
- €5,085,998
- Total effort in person-months:
- 1288
- Website:
- http://www.gridlab.org
- Contact person:
- Dr. Jarek Nabrzyski
- email: naber@man.poznan.pl
- tel: +48 61 8582072
- fax: +48 61 8525954
- Project participants:
- CARDIFF - UK
- COMPAQ - FR
- GRIDWARE - D
- ISUFI - IT
- MPG - D
- MTA SZTAKI - HU
- MU CZ
- NTUA - GR
- PSNC - PL
- VU - NL
- ZIB - D
- Keywords:
- GRID
- Simulation
- Testbed
- Toolkit
- Collaboration with other EC funded projects:
- ASTROVIRTEL
- DATAGRID
- EUROGRID