Orateur
M.
André Schaaff
Description
VOSpace is the International Virtual Observatory Alliance interface to distributed storage. It is the visible side of the storage system. To make a VOSpace usable in the real life we need an efficient storage mechanism. After a few experiences we have focused on iRODS which is a new data grid software system developed by the SDSC Storage Resource Broker team and collaborators. Our first aim was to create a storage area for Aladin but also for the new CDS Portal which is under development. In a first step we have developed an Aladin plugin giving an access to the iRODS implementation (through the Jargon Java API) and in a second step the VOSpace interface has been added over iRODS. We have developed a VOSpace Explorer in Java to access and manage the files. It is possible to do the common actions on the files. If a VO Tool supports drag and drop it is also possible to interact through this way with the explorer.
iRODS is easy to implement and provides a good solution to ensure the robustness of a VOSpace. The installation is simple and can be done without much manpower. It is possible to start with a small configuration and to follow the evolution of the needs.
A PLASTIC compliant tool like VOSpace Explorer is useful to provide a simple access to the stored files for VO Applications.
As the main conclusion of this work we think that iRODS is a very good solution for the implementation of a robust VOSpace. And for many reasons (Open source, easy to use, flexible (definition of micro-services), follows the evolution of the architecture, etc.).
