Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The AMC-NSG is built upon existing data and computing resources that are
already deployed and in use: data is stored in a local data server that is connected to
a scanner, and the data processing is performed on the Dutch e-Science grid
resources [SURFsara]. The gateway is designed to support the following usage
scenario: Users log into the system to interact with a simple web interface. They
browse, search, and
filter their data and metadata in the data server through the
gateway. They select a data element to process with an application that is already
deployed in the gateway. The gateway manages the transport of input and output
data between the data server and the DCI storage resources. It also manages the data
processing on DCI computing resources. The outputs are stored in the data server
with proper provenance information for later reference. During this scenario the
gateway also handles the authentication with the data server and DCI resources
transparently.
This chapter describes the design and architecture of the AMC-NSG with
emphasis on how it has been built using the WS-PGRADE/gUSE framework. It
also describes the additional features that have been developed to address the
requirements of the BIC research community at the AMC. The detailed explanation
of the evolution of gateways and their requirement analysis are available at Shahand
(2012b, 2014).
10.2 System Architecture
The architecture of the AMC-NSG is illustrated in Fig.
10.1
. The computing and
data resources that are utilized through middleware services are illustrated at the
bottom. Illustrated in the middle are high-level services, such as the processing
manager service, workflow management system, and data transport that provide
abstraction layers to interact with the middleware services. Finally, the presentation
layer illustrated at the top contains the user interfaces to interact with the gateway.
Some of the high-level services and the presentation layer components are provided
by the WS-PGRADE/gUSE generic SG framework. Some others illustrated in grey
are implemented to complement the functionality of WS-PGRADE/gUSE frame-
work for the speci
c case of the computational neuroscience gateway. The new
components are designed and implemented in a generic way, such that it would be
possible to extend and reuse them in other scienti
c applications, too.
10.2.1 Resources and Middleware Services
The AMC-NSG utilizes several data and computing resources to store and process
data. The medical imaging data
files and their metadata are stored in an in-house
data server that is managed with the eXtensible Neuroimaging Archive Toolkit
(XNAT) (Marcus 2007). XNAT is an open-source information management system
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