Framework for Development and Execution of Scientific WorkFlows: Designing Service-Oriented Applications

Abstract

The development and use of scientific applications have become an integral part of conducting large-scale experiments in various fields of research that require high-performance computing and big data processing. In the context of developing such applications, non-trivial problems arise in the concerted description and further use of schemes, software, and computational resources to solve subject domain problems of a specific application. Research productivity has become highly dependent on the degree of automation in the preparation and execution of experiments in a computing environment whose resources may be distributed and heterogeneous. Many approaches to the experiment automation are based on workflows as a structure for formalizing and specifying data processing and high-performance computing using distributed applications. Within such approaches, developers and end-users work with workflow management systems for the collaborative development and use of distributed scientific applications. Nowadays, service-oriented applications are coming to the fore. However, there is a wide range spectrum of problems related to the support of modular scientific applications, the standardization of their components and interfaces, the use of heterogeneous information and computing resources, and organization of interdisciplinary research within service-oriented architecture. Known workflow management systems do not fully address the above problems. In this regards, we consider relevant aspects of organizing service-oriented computing in a heterogeneous distributed computing environment. We propose a new framework for creating service-oriented and workflow-based scientific applications. The paper shows that the proposed framework significantly extends and complements the capabilities of systems for such purposes. We also demonstrate the reduction in labour costs associated with the preparation and execution of experiments.