GT 3.9.5 Development Release Notes for Data Replication Service

Component Overview

The Data Replication Service (DRS) is a technical preview provided with the Globus Toolkit 3.9.5 and first appears in the GT 3.9.5 Beta release. The primary functionality of the component allows users to identify a set of desired files existing in their Grid environment, to make local replicas of those data files by transfering files from one or more source locations, and to register the new replicas in a Replica Location Service. The DRS conforms to the WS-RF specification and exposes a WS-Resource (called a "Replicator" resource) which represents the transactional state of the requested replication activity and allows users to query or subscribe to various Resource Properties in order to monitor the state of the resource. The DRS is built on the GT 3.9.5 Java WS Core and uses the Globus RLS to locate and register replicas and the Globus RFT to transfer files. The service also depends on use of a standard database server via JDBC interfaces. A client tool is included that allows users to submit a request file as a command line paramater that contains a list of data files to be replicated at the site. The client tool creates a Replicator resource to maintain state for the replication operation.

Feature Summary

Features new in release GT 3.9.5:

  • Initial implementation of the Data Replication Service: a WS-Resource, called the Replicator, which accepts a request from a client to locate, transfer, and register new replicas of data files in the Grid environment.
  • A simple command-line tool to request replication activities: the tool globus-replication-create accepts a replication request file, initializes a replication request, delegates the user credential, creates a Replicator resource, and starts the Replicator. See globus-replication-create --help for command-line options. The replication request file is expected to contain tab-delimited rows where the first field is the LFN name that the user wishes to locate and replicate, and the second field is the URL of the destination for the new replica and is also used as the PFN name when registering the new mapping.
  • APIs to create and start the replication operations: The APIs are specified as SOAP operations createReplicator and start as defined in the service's WSDL and XML Schema (for more details, click here for a file listing from the Globus CVS repository).

Other Supported Features

  • Supports secure transport, secure conversation, and secure message communication as provided by GT 3.9.5.

Deprecated Features

  • None

Technology Dependencies

DRS depends on the following GT components:

  • Java WS Core
  • WS Authentication and Authorization
  • Delegation Service
  • RFT
  • RLS

DRS depends on the following 3rd party software:

  • PostgreSQL 7.1 or later

Supported Platforms

Tested Platforms for DRS

  • Linux

Backward Compatibility Summary

Protocol changes since GT version 3.2:

  • None

API changes since GT version 3.2:

  • None

Exception changes since GT version 3.2:

  • None

Schema changes since GT version 3.2:

  • None

For More Information

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