PresentsresourceGrid

Transparent access to distributed,cross-platform resources

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resourceGrid

Transparent access to distributed, cross-platform

resourcesMake multiple resources available to many users

over existing networks using inferno Grid technology

• Resource interfaces represented by a hierarchical namespace• Import data, devices and programs• Intuitive, per process composition of namespaces• Secure, platform independent communication protocol

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resourceGrid

What is a namespace?A namespace is a hierarchical collection of

namesThese names may represent actual physical files

sales.db customers.db

ctl images

img0001.jpg img0002.jpg

database

camera

or a resource interface

ctl images

img0001.jpg img0002.jpg

sales.db customers.db

customers.db

sales.db

ctl images/

Each resource is accessed with the same mechanisms, irrespective of type and locationls /database

ls /camera/images

ls does not need to know what kind of resource it is talking to

The file system returns a list of files in the /database directoryThe camera interface returns a list of images on the camera

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resourceGrid

Exporting and Importing NamespacesComplete or partial namespaces may be exported and used over a network

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resourceGrid

Each device on the network has its own local namespaceA device may export all or part of its local namespace

ctl imagesctl images

books camera

Exporting and Importing Namespaces

history

medieval modern

history

ancient mythical Another device may then import this namespace

into its own local namespace

Namespaces may be built up from multiple imported local or remote namespaces

history

ancient medieval modern

ancient

Once a namespace has been composed, the user may access each resource without needing to know where it comes from

Local

Remote (imported

)

cp /camera/images/0001.jpg /books/history/ancient

As far as cp knows, it is just copying a local file

0001.jpg

copy

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resourceGrid

Why Files?Representing all resource interfaces as files has several advantages:• File systems have simple and well understood interfaces across a wide variety of operating systems• Interfaces to files generally consist of a small set of well-defined operations such as open, read and write• Reliance on file systems reduces the amount of interface code and keeps the system small, reliable and highly portable• Naming conventions for files are well known, uniform and easily understood • Access rights and permissions to files are simple, yet can be used to ensure multiple levels of security

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resourceGrid

Device Interface Example

ctl Control messages are written to this file

status Can be read to provide status information

images/Directory containing the images on the camera

A device interface exports a namespace which is used to interact with the device.

These synthetic files may be accessed using standard file operations and commands.

echo snap > ctl

echo zoom 250 > ctl

cat status

ls -l images

cp images/* /pics

rm images/0001.jpg

Take a photo

Set zoom to 2.5 x magnificationRead the status

Get a list of images on the cameraCopy all camera images to /pics

Delete image 0001.jpg from the camera

images/

status

ctl

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resourceGrid

Read Image

open images/open ctlopen images/p0001087.jpg

images/

status

close statusclose images/close images/p0001087.jpg

write ‘snap’

open status

Read images/Read StatusTake PhotoChange Zoom

close ctl

Device Interface ExampleA graphical user interface for the device simply needs to interact with the same files

File Operations

write ‘zoom 300’read

images/

ctlctl status

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resourceGrid

“[We wanted] the ability to access file resources distributed across multiple machines, securely and intuitively. Until we discovered the Inferno Data Grid this was not a simple task. We are very pleased with the outcome.”

Brian HancockDigital Projects Librarian at Rutgers University