Computing and Information Systems - Research Publications

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    A functional and performance-oriented comparison of AFS and SRB
    BAYLISS, CHRISTOPHER ; SINNOTT, RICHARD (National e-Science Centre, University of Glasgow, 2008)
    In this paper the Storage Resource Broker (SRB) [1] and the Andrew File System (AFS) [2] are compared and contrasted in terms of their use as a data storage for Grid based systems. Both the SRB and AFS are distributed file systems capable of storing data produced and consumed by applications and Grid services. The SRB is well established and deployed by many projects globally include widespread deployment across the UK e-Science National Grid Service. AFS is also a distributed file system initially developed as part of the Andrew Project by Carnegie Mellon University and IBM in 1983. AFS is currently being used by the nanoCMOS project [3, 4] for providing secure access to data and applications through usage of Kerberos tokens. While both SRB and AFS can be used as data back ends they have specific properties that make them better suited for different types of usage. In some cases this may be a critical issue where some feature is required but not available in one or both of the candidates. This paper provides a description of these differences, focusing in particular on the security models, their relative performance with a range of file sizes and their general usability. Based on this analysis we present the key criteria that projects should consider for adoption of file based data management.
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    The drug discovery portal: secure matchmaking and collaboration for biologists and chemists
    Bayliss, C ; Breslin, C ; Clark, R ; Johnson, B ; Mackay, S ; Sinnott, R (UK e-Science, 2008)
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    Towards data grids for microarray expression profiles
    SINNOTT, RICHARD ; BAYLISS, CHRISTOPHER ( 2006)
    The UK DTI funded Biomedical Research Informatics Delivered by Grid Enabled Services (BRIDGES) project developed a Grid infrastructure through which research into the genetic causes of hypertension could be supported by scientists within the large Wellcome Trust funded Cardiovascular Functional Genomics project. The BRIDGES project had a focus on developing a compute Grid and a data Grid infrastructure with security at its heart. Building on the work within BRIDGES, the BBSRC funded Grid enabled Microarray Expression Profile Search (GEMEPS) project plans to provide an enhanced data Grid infrastructure to support richer queries needed for the discovery and analysis of microarray data sets, also based upon a fine-grained security infrastructure. This paper outlines the experiences gained within BRIDGES and outlines the status of the GEMEPS project, the open challenges that remain and plans for the future.
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    Security-oriented data grids for microarray expression profiles
    SINNOTT, RICHARD ; BAYLISS, CHRISTOPHER ; Jiang, Jipu (IOS Press, 2007)
    Microarray experiments are one of the key ways in which gene activity can be identified and measured thereby shedding light and understanding for example on biological processes. The BBSRC funded Grid enabled Microarray Expression Profile Search (GEMEPS) project has developed an infrastructure which allows post-genomic life science researchers to ask and answer the following questions: who has undertaken microarray experiments that are in some way similar or relevant to mine; and how similar were these relevant experiments? Given that microarray experiments are expensive to undertake and may possess crucial information for future exploitation (both academically and commercially), scientists are wary of allowing unrestricted access to their data by the wider community until fully exploited locally. A key requirement is thus to have fine grained security that is easy to establish and simple (or ideally transparent) to use across inter-institutional virtual organisations. In this paper we present an enhanced security-oriented data Grid infrastructure that supports the definition of these kinds of queries and the analysis and comparison of microarray experiment results.
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    Integrating Security Solutions to Support nanoCMOS Electronics Research
    Sinnott, R ; Bayliss, C ; Doherty, T ; Martin, D ; Millar, C ; Stewart, G ; Watt, J ; Asenov, A ; Roy, G ; Roy, S ; Davenhall, C ; Harbulot, B ; Jones, M (IEEE COMPUTER SOC, 2008)