INformation Flow & Operation Resource Management on the NET
INFORMNET is funded through the
NSF Middleware initiative
grant # ANI-00223043
Motiviation:
The goal of INFORMNET is to produce a service-based workflow system that operates in conjunction with established real-world applications like the GAMESS quantum chemistry code. We have focused on the low-level interdependencies among the application and how to describe them in a general way. A flexible XML-based workflow description language has been defined and enables late binding to computational resources. A grid service engine executes teh tasks in the workflow and exposes control to the clients through a WSDL interface.
Workflow Composition:
An XML Schema was designed to specify the workflow components, including the order of execution and file dependencies for each task. The schema allows the general task information (like required input/output files) to be separated from the host-specific details of application execution (like full executable path, IP address, and filesystem details) so that multiple hosts can be associated with a task. The XML document can be verified and sent to the Workflow Engine Grid Service for execution
A Java tool in development may be used to visually composes the workflow description.
Pure Java for platform-independence.
Visual arrangement of tasks.
Double-clicking a task opens it for further configuration.
Screenshots seen below:
Clients:
Assemble the workflow into an XML document specified by the XML schema
Submit to the workflow engine through the grid service interface
Receive notifications about the status of the workflow execution
Optionally send further control commands to the engine
A client can be the workflow composition tool (above), a portal, or any application that can speak the grid service portocols.
Service Architecture:
Exposes functionality as a Globus Toolkit 3 Grid Service. Persistence provided by the grid service allows clients to disconnect and reconnect again later.
Decomposes workflow sent by clients and executes tasks locally or on the grid
Sends notifications to clients (errors, status updates, output)
Accepts XML workflow descriptions and control commands from clients
Uses Exolab's Castor to unmarshall XML to Java objects
Computational Chemistry Framework:
The workflow XML schema was designed with the quantum chemistry software GAMESS as an application driver. Our new version of GAMESS now outputs XML documents based on a well-defined schema and interfaces with the workflow engine.
Benefit to the Chemistry Community:
The combined workflow infrastructure simplifies the process of using GAMESS on grid architectures. It handles the file transfer, intelligent job building and submission, and the ability to interoperate among various diverse resources.
Schemas
Click to download the XML Schemas defining the Workflow Description Language
More Info: (Talks, presentations, etc)
Architecture Presentation in pdf format [417k]
36" x 24" Poster in pdf format [4.5MB]
Presentation on workflow description language from GGF11 in pdf format [1.7MB]
Contributors:
Stephen Mock, mock@sdsc.edu
Jerry Greenberg
John Wang
Allen Chu
Phil Papadopoulos CO-PI
Kim Baldridge CO-PI
Site sponsored by the
San Diego Supercomputer Center
