Web Services
Built on industry standards, Web services technologies allow applications to interoperate
across programming languages, platforms, and operating systems.
Loosely Coupled HPC Applications
Web services enable certain classes of HPC applications, specifically those that
are very loosely-coupled, to distribute computation and data from a desktop or
mobile device to remote servers or “workers.” Each “worker” solves only one
part of the larger problem.
Finance and life sciences are among the fields with loosely coupled
applications that may be excellent candidates for Web services architectures.
Advantages
Web services technologies can provide ease of development and deployment
advantages.
A Web service can:
- enable client programs to call your program remotely
- launch your program via a Web browser
- load balance parallel codes or many runs of code that you want to enable your collaborators to run
Deployment Examples
The Center used XML-based Web services architectures,
SQL Server, and Excel to design and deploy an
application for the Northeast Regional Climate Center. This application enables NOAA to deliver
more accurate, higher resolution climate data.
In another example, the Center used Web services to price callable-bond portfolios with an
Excel front-end launching computations on a remote HPC cluster. Each bond was
priced by one processor in the cluster, independently of all other bonds. As the bonds
were priced, the results were returned to the client.
Web Portals
Web services are a framework technology that can be used to build computational and data Web portals.
CAC offers Web portal design services to Cornell faculty and researchers. For example, CAC helped to develop and/or host science portals such as Adapt-N, Pathogen Tracker, and the Citrus Greening-HLB Genome Resources.
In a new project NSF-funded project, the Center will be developing a macromolecular database and portal for synthetic polymers and supporting it by creating an Virtual Workshop that trains researchers and students on how to effectively use the data. Creating a custom portal utilizing developer Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)will expose the functions at a variety of levels, ensuring that the needs of researchers are met while also providing an interface friendly to undergraduate and high school students interested in learning about materials science, copolymers and the data involved.
If a science portal is required for your proposal, CAC will help write that proposal section and develop and/or host the portal upon contract award.
