A grid service broker for scheduling e-Science applications on global data grids

Abstract

The next generation of scientific experiments and studies, popularly called e-Science, is carried out by large collaborations of researchers distributed around the world engaged in the analysis of huge collections of data generated by scientific instruments. Grid computing has emerged as an enabler for e-Science as it permits the creation of virtual organizations that bring together communities with common objectives. Within a community, data collections are stored or replicated on distributed resources to enhance storage capability or the efficiency of access. In such an environment, scientists need to have the ability to carry out their studies by transparently accessing distributed data and computational resources. In this paper, we propose and develop a Grid broker that mediates access to distributed resources by: (a) discovering suitable data and computational resources sources for a given analysis scenario; (b) optimally mapping analysis jobs to resources; (c) deploying and monitoring job execution on selected resources; (d) accessing data from local or remote data sources during job execution; and (e) collating and presenting results. The broker supports a declarative and dynamic parametric programming model for creating Grid applications. We have used this model in Grid-enabling a high-energy physics analysis application (the Belle Analysis Software Framework). The broker has been used in deploying Belle experimental data analysis jobs on a Grid testbed, called the Belle Analysis Data Grid, having resources distributed across Australia interconnected through GrangeNet.