Using Science Gateways for Bridging the Differences between Research Infrastructures

摘要

Researchers can perform large-scale analyses on diverse computing and data infrastructures such as NGIs (National Grid Infrastructures), XSEDE (Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment) and PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe). Some are national like NGIs and XSEDE, some are international like PRACE and all of them require a more or less restrictive application process to get access to resources. Science gateways integrating diverse infrastructures provide the possibility to re-use methods independent of such underlying infrastructures and thus potentially deliver the technical prerequisite for creating reproducible science. To achieve this goal, science gateways have to be integrated seamlessly with security mechanisms and job, data as well as workflow management of the targeted resources. This paper gives an overview on general findings for porting science gateways as well as the challenges faced for porting the German MoSGrid science gateway (Molecular Simulation Grid) to exploit XSEDE and PRACE infrastructures.