JavaScript grid abstractions

In this paper, we describe a Grid abstraction framework that allows access to the Grid infrastructure using JavaScript while leveraging the power of current Grid middleware and upperware toolkits such as the Globus Toolkit and the Java Commodity Grid (CoG) Kit . The system is heavily based on Web 2.0 technologies and allows accessing the Grid through a Service-Oriented Architecture. An application interface in JavaScript is provided to enable developers to access Grid services from JavaScript. Moreover, our framework includes additional services to enable the creation of advanced Grid services. The availability of our framework simplifies not only the development of new services but also the development of advanced client side Grid applications. We demonstrate this ability while providing a mechanism to develop Grid workflows through advanced services and a graphical user interface defined in JavaScript. Overall, Grid developers will have another tool at their disposal that projects a simpler way to distribute and maintain software while at the same time being able to deliver quickly advanced interfaces and social services for the scientific community

Securización de REST

REST es un estilo de arquitectura para el diseño de Servicios Web o Web Services (WS) y, a pesar de no ser considerado un estándar o protocolo, sí que utiliza algunos. Este estilo permite aprovechar al máximo los recursos de la web, consiguiendo así ser más ligero y mejorar tanto eficiencia como rendimiento frente a otras opciones como SOAP. Por este motivo, grandes compañías como Google o Facebook han cambiado las interfaces de sus servicios para hacerlas de forma RESTful. El gran problema que éste presenta es la falta de seguridad, y es que cualquier persona malintencionada puede interceptar los mensajes HTTP y leerlos, lo que provoca que sea necesario añadir algún tipo de seguridad. De aquí nace el objetivo de este proyecto, en el que se han encontrado y clasificado diferentes métodos para la securización de REST según sus características para llevar a cabo su análisis y prueba, seleccionando aquellos que parecen más interesantes. Para poder llevar a cabo este trabajo, ha sido necesario definir previamente qué es un Servicio Web, qué ventajas suponen, cómo se puede crear uno (existen varios lenguajes de programación y frameworks), y cuáles son los motivos por los que interesaría añadir seguridad a REST.REST is an architectural style for Web Services (WS) designing and, even though it is neither a standard nor a protocol, it uses a few of them. This style allows us to take advantage of the web resources to its maximum, achieving a more light and efficient service against other options such as SOAP. For that reason, big companies such as Google or Facebook have changed some of their services interfaces to use them in a RESTful way. This one introduces the big problem and that is the lack of security, because any malicious attacker can intercept the HTTP messages and read them, which causes a need for adding any kind of security. This is where the project's goal is born, in which it has been found and classified different security methods for REST classified by their properties to analyse and test them, selecting the ones that seem more interesting. To do this job, it has been necessary to first define what a Web Service is, what benefits can have, how one can be done (there are some programming languages and frameworks), and what the reasons to implement security in REST are.REST és un estil d'arquitectura pel disseny de Serveis Web o Web Services (WS) i, tot i no ser considerat un estàndard o protocol, sí que utilitza alguns. Aquest estil permet aprofitar al màxim els recursos de la web, aconseguint així ser més lleuger i millorar tant l'eficiència com el rendiment davant d'altres opcions com SOAP. Per aquest motiu, grans companyies com Google o Facebook han canviat les interfícies dels seus serveis per fer-les de forma RESTful. El gran problema que aquest presenta és la falta de seguretat, i és que qualsevol persona malintencionada pot interceptar els missatges HTTP i llegir-los, el que provoca que sigui necessari afegir algun tipus de seguretat. D'aquí neix l'objectiu d'aquest projecte, en el que s'han trobat i classificat diferents mètodes per la securització de REST segons les seves característiques per portar a terme la seva anàlisis i prova, seleccionant aquells que poden semblar més interessants. Per poder portar a terme aquest treball, ha sigut necessari definir prèviament què és un Servei Web, quins avantatges suposa, como pot crear-se'n un (existeixen diferents llenguatges de programació i frameworks), i quins són els motius pels quals interessaria afegir seguretat a REST

Situational Lightning Climatologies for Central Florida: Phase IV

The threat of lightning is a daily concern during the warm season in Florida. Research has revealed distinct spatial and temporal distributions of lightning occurrence that are strongly influenced by large-scale atmospheric flow regimes. Previously, the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) calculated the gridded lightning climatologies based on seven flow regimes over Florida for 1-, 3- and 6-hr intervals in 5-, 10-,20-, and 30-NM diameter range rings around the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) and eight other airfields in the National Weather Service in Melbourne (NWS MLB) county warning area (CWA). In this update to the work, the AMU recalculated the lightning climatologies for using individual lightning strike data to improve the accuracy of the climatologies. The AMU included all data regardless of flow regime as one of the stratifications, added monthly stratifications, added three years of data to the period of record and used modified flow regimes based work from the AMU's Objective Lightning Probability Forecast Tool, Phase II. The AMU made changes so the 5- and 10-NM radius range rings are consistent with the aviation forecast requirements at NWS MLB, while the 20- and 30-NM radius range rings at the SLF assist the Spaceflight Meteorology Group in making forecasts for weather Flight Rule violations during Shuttle landings. The AMU also updated the graphical user interface with the new data

Performance measurements of Web services

Web services are rapidly evolving application-integration technologies that allow applications in heterogeneous environments to communicate with each other. In this thesis we perform a measurements-based study of an e-commerce application that uses web services to execute business operations. We use the TPC-W specification to generate a session-based workload. The component level response times and the hardware resource usage on the different machines are measured. The component level response times are extracted from the application server logs. From the results it is seen that as the workload increases the response times of the web services components increase. From the hardware resource usage it is clear that web service components require more processing time due to the processing of XML data required in each web service call. The method used in this thesis allows us to study the impact that different components can have on the overall performance of an application

Cyberaide JavaScript: A Web Application Development Framework for Cyberinfrastructure

This thesis work introduces a service oriented architecture based Grid abstraction framework that allows users to access Grid infrastructure through JavaScript. Such a framework integrates well with other Web 2.0 technologies since it provides JavaScript toolkit to build web applications. The framework consists of two essential parts. A client Application Programming lnterface (API) to access the Grid via JavaScript and a full service stack in server side through which the Grid access is channeled. The framework uses commodity Web service standards and provides extended functionality such as asynchronous task management, file transfer, etc. The availability of this framework simplifies not only the development of new services, but also the development of advanced client side Grid applications that can be accessed through Web browsers. The effectiveness of the framework is demonstrated by providing an Grid portal example that integrates a variety of useful services to be accessed through a JavaScript enabled client desktop via a Web browser, as well as the opensocial gadgets for Grid task management and file transfer. Overall, Grid developers will have another tool at their disposal that projects a simpler way to distribute and maintain cyberinfrastructure related software, while simultaneously delivering advanced interfaces and integrating social services for the scientific community

Dynamic Manipulation of Spatial Weights Using Web Services

Spatial analytical tools are mostly provided in a desktop environment, which tends to restrict user access to the tools. This project intends to exploit up-to-date web technologies to extend user accessibility to spatial analytic tools. The first step is to develop web services for widely used spatial analysis such as spatial weights manipulation and provide easy-to-use web-based user interface to the services. Users can create, transform, and convert spatial weights for their data sets on web browsers without installing any specialized software.

COEL: A Web-based Chemistry Simulation Framework

The chemical reaction network (CRN) is a widely used formalism to describe macroscopic behavior of chemical systems. Available tools for CRN modelling and simulation require local access, installation, and often involve local file storage, which is susceptible to loss, lacks searchable structure, and does not support concurrency. Furthermore, simulations are often single-threaded, and user interfaces are non-trivial to use. Therefore there are significant hurdles to conducting efficient and collaborative chemical research. In this paper, we introduce a new enterprise chemistry simulation framework, COEL, which addresses these issues. COEL is the first web-based framework of its kind. A visually pleasing and intuitive user interface, simulations that run on a large computational grid, reliable database storage, and transactional services make COEL ideal for collaborative research and education. COEL's most prominent features include ODE-based simulations of chemical reaction networks and multicompartment reaction networks, with rich options for user interactions with those networks. COEL provides DNA-strand displacement transformations and visualization (and is to our knowledge the first CRN framework to do so), GA optimization of rate constants, expression validation, an application-wide plotting engine, and SBML/Octave/Matlab export. We also present an overview of the underlying software and technologies employed and describe the main architectural decisions driving our development. COEL is available at http://coel-sim.org for selected research teams only. We plan to provide a part of COEL's functionality to the general public in the near future.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl