OGSA-DAI provides a highly-extensible open source framework - designed for the exposure of structured data resources, whether these be databases, files or other types of data, onto a Grid. It allows these to be accessed via Web services. Most importantly, it provides a workflow engine for the execution of data-centric workflows involving data access, update, integration, transformation and delivery operations.

OGSA-DAI is highly extensible and is designed to support:

Execution of application-specific operations in workflows.
Interaction with application-specific structured data resources whether these be relational, XML, file system-based, or Web service-based.
Enforcement of application-specific authentication and authorization security policies.
Development of application-specific presentation layers.

By default, OGSA-DAI can work in conjunction with many major relational and XML databases, for example MySQL, IBM DB2, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostGres, and eXist.

OGSA-DAI is written purely in Java 1.4 and can run on UNIX/Solaris, Linux or Microsoft Windows platforms.

OGSA-DAI comes with a detailed documentation set including both reference guides and tutorials and the project regularly offers workshops and tutorials at high-profile conferences.

OGSA-DAI 3.0 (7th September 2007) is available from http://www.ogsadai.org.uk/downloads .

Maintained By

The OGSA-DAI project - a partner in OMII-UK . The OGSA-DAI project is based at EPCC, The University of Edinburgh and the National e-Science Centre, Edinburgh.

License

The OGSA-DAI Open Source Licence which allows the software to be used by anyone and for any purpose. See http://www.ogsadai.org.uk/downloads/licence.php .

Status

OGSA-DAI 3.0, released on 7th September 2007, is available from http://www.ogsadai.org.uk/downloads . Versions are available that are compliant with Apache Axis 1.4, Apache Axis 1.2.1 and Globus Toolkit 4.0.5.

OGSA-DAI has been used, and continues to be used, in dozens of projects world-wide. A selection of these is available at http://www.ogsadai.org.uk/about/projects.php .

Security

In OGSA-DAI authentication and authorization are the responsibility of the presentation layer and application developers can implement application-specific authentication and authorization depending upon the OGSA-DAI version and the presentation layer supported by this version. These can be used in conjunction with OGSA-DAI APIs to control access to data resources and control the individual operations that can be executed in workflows. OGSA-DAI 3.0 (GT 4.0.5 version) contains components demonstrating the use of Globus Toolkit security with OGSA-DAI.

SLA

There is no current support for SLAs.

Data Management

OGSA-DAI is a data management product for structured data resources.
It supports the execution of workflows that implement complex data access, update, integration, transformation and delivery scenarios.

User Integration

OGSA-DAI provides a command line interface as well as a Java API.
OGSA-DAI will endeavour to preserve APIs between major versions from release 3.0 onwards.

Core Functionality

Workflow: OGSA-DAI provides its own workflow engine for the execution of data-centric workflows targeted against single or multiple data resources.
Monitoring: OGSA-DAI's Axis and Globus Toolkit-compliant versions include basic monitoring support via compliance with the WS-ResourceProperties specification. The OGSA-DAI server allows an application-specific event monitor to be plugged in to allow workflow execution to be monitored.
Accounting: There is no current support for accounting. Howoever, OGSA-DAI supports application-specific resources and monitoring components as well as generic application-specific components. Application-specific accounting can therefore be implemented within OGSA-DAI.
Steering: No explicit support.
Interactive access: Users can access OGSA-DAI services through command line and Java APIs. Also as OGSA-DAI services are Web services this allows for the construction of clients using any language that supports interaction with Web services via SOAP over HTTP.
Addressing (WS-Adressing compliant?): Yes.
Transactions: No specific support for transactions.
WS-RF compliant?: Yes.
Charging: No explicit support.