Linking Heterogeneous Biodiversity Information Systems on the GRID: the GRAB Prototype

In the field of biodiversity informatics a wide range of diverse databases and tools already exists. The challenge is to integrate such resources in order to support scientists wishing to explore complex problems of relevance to biodiversity, and to create new resources where necessary. In this paper we outline the relevance of biodiversity informatics requirements to the future development of the GRID, identifying the main issues that need to be addressed in this area. We present GRAB (GRid And Biodiversity), which is a prototype demonstrator illustrating how one particular biodiversity-related task, namely bioclimatic modelling, can be supported in a Globus-based environment. We also describe a much larger-scale GRID application project that is just commencing (BiodiversityWorld) in which a flexible problem-solving environment is to be built for full-scale investigations by scientists working in a number of biodiversity research areas

Agent-based virtual organisations for the Grid

The ability to create reliable, scalable virtual organisations (VOs) on demand in a dynamic, open and competitive environment is one of the challenges that underlie Grid computing. In response, in the CONOISE-G project, we are developing an infrastructure to support robust and resilient virtual organisation formation and operation. Specifically, CONOISE-G provides mechanisms to assure effective operation of agent-based VOs in the face of disruptive and potentially malicious entities in dynamic, open and competitive environments. In this paper, we describe the CONOISE-G system, outline its use in VO formation and perturbation, and review current work on dealing with unreliable information sources

Linking heterogeneous biodiversity information systems on the grid: The grab prototype

In the field of biodiversity informatics a wide range of diverse databases and tools already exists. The challenge is to integrate such resources in order to support scientists wishing to explore complex problems of relevance to biodiversity, and to create new resources where necessary. In this paper we outline the relevance of biodiversity informatics requirements to the future development of the GRID, identifying the main issues that need to be addressed in this area. We present GRAB (GRid And Biodiversity), which is a prototype demonstrator illustrating how one particular biodiversity-related task, namely bioclimatic modelling, can be supported in a Globus-based environment. We also describe a much larger-scale GRID application project that is just commencing (BiodiversityWorld) in which a flexible problem-solving environment is to be built for full-scale investigations by scientists working in a number of biodiversity research areas.</p

Using the GRID for biodiversity research: The GRAB demonstrator

In the GRAB (Grid and Biodiversity) project we are developing a prototype to illustrate some aspects of the GRID's potential for collaborative biodiversity research. A catalogue of life, two species information systems (SISs) and a climate database are made available in a problem solving environment that demonstrates how bioclimatic modelling can be performed by bringing together such resources. We use Globus to provide access to these resources, in a secure environment. We also discuss more generally the GRID's potential for biodiversity research, and identify the main areas of development within the GRID that are needed to support such research.</p

Supporting Formation and Operation of Virtual Organisations in a Grid Environment

The ability to create reliable and scalable virtual organisations (VOs) on demand in a dynamic, open and competitive environment is one of the challenges that underlie the Grid concept and research. In this paper, we describe the agent-based mechanisms that we are currently developing within the CONOISE and CONOISE-G projects for supporting VO formation and operation

Spice: A flexible architecture for integrating autonomous databases to comprise a distributed catalogue of life

In the SPICE project we are building a distributed catalogue of life, which will eventually be formed from up to 200 autonomous taxonomic databases. We are faced with a number of challenges, which include the scalability of the system; the accommodation of partial or missing data; queries which are potentially very expensive computationally, where it is difficult to determine which databases will contain data matching the queries, and the effective integration of heterogeneous databases at the knowledge level. In this paper we present the architecture on which SPICE is being built, and we explain how, within our SPICE architecture, we will be able to explore and develop new techniques to enhance access to the SPICE distributed database.</p

Experiences with a hybrid implementation of a globally distributed federated database system

The SPICE project is developing a globally distributed federated database of biological knowledge, forming a ‘catalogue of life’ by harnessing specialist expertise on classification of groups of organisms. The component databases are heterogeneous, and are joined to the federation in various ways. We explain how our federated approach partitions the task of maintaining a consistent classification into manageable sub-tasks. We use both CORBA and XML and, while CORBA is widely used for interoperable systems and XML is attractive for data exchange, some problems have arisen in practice. We discuss the problems encountered when incorporating CORBA ORBs from multiple vendors, compromising true platform independence. We also discuss the nontrivial effort required to achieve stability in CORBA-based systems, despite the benefits offered by CORBA in this respect. We present preliminary results, illustrating how performance is affected by various implementational choices.</p

Monitoring, Policing and Trust for Grid-Based Virtual Organisations

A key challenge in Grid Computing is the ability to create reliable and scalable virtual organisations (VOs) which operate in an open, dynamic and competitive environment. In response, in the CONOISE-G project, we are developing an infrastructure to support robust and resilient virtual organisation formation and operation. Specifically, CONOISE-G provides mechanisms to assure effective operation of agent-based VOs in the face of disruptive and potentially malicious entities in dynamic, open and competitive environments. In this paper, we describe the architecture of the CONOISE-G system, and provide details of its implementation