The same bGrids Toolset components reside on clients and servers, differing only in their mode of operation. Components of the Toolset include:
- Condor-G and Globus Toolkit
- Customer node installation tools
- Globus Gatekeeper (resource mapping system)
- Globus MDS (directory services)
- Storage management l by the Storage Resource Broker (SRB).
- Custom bGrid Toolset API's
- Certificate Authority software
- Monitoring tools
Operational Overview bGrids users access the grid computing network through web-based portal software set up as a front-end for each customer, making it easy for you to configure groups of users, add resources and monitor the use of grid resources. Users connect through a secure link within an IP transport stream. Servers on the network use Globus Monitoring and Discovery Service (MDS) to access a directory of grid network services that have been identified by the Gatekeeper, the network's resource mapping and management system. Gatekeeper performs mutual authentication with client nodes via the SSL secure transport and IP layer. The Grid Resource Allocation and Management (GRAM) API allows programs to be started on remote resources, despite local heterogeneity. Gram uses Resource Specification Language (RSL) to communicate these requirements. The server uses GRAM via the HTTP, SSL and IP layers. GridFTP is a high-performance, secure, and reliable data transfer protocol optimized for high-bandwidth wide-area networks. The GridFTP protocol is based on FTP, the highly-popular Internet file transfer protocol, and supports parallel data transfer. File systems use the Storage Resource Broker (SRB), which brings together storage components located across the grid into a single interface and front end - again using the SSL and IP layers. |
