Gridbased interoperability of workflow systems

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Grid-based interoperability of workflow systems

• Moustafa Ghanem,
• InforSense Ltd
• Nabeel Azam Mike Boniface
• InforSense Ltd IT Innovation

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Background SIMDAT
www.simdat.org

• Developing and applying Grid technology to
  support
• Distributed, Cross-organizational, product and
  process development

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Example Auto design workflows
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Example Aero design workflows
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SOA and Workflows A programmers view
Services
Services
Services
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Key challenge for workflow in SIMDAT

• There are 26 partners in SIMDAT
• At least 3 workflow systems in use
• InforSense KDE
• Taverna/Freefluo
• LMS Optimus
• Other approaches include
• Various hard-coded wf applications
• BPEL
• Agreeing/Using a common workflow system (or
  language) is difficult
• Migration may require huge re-investments
• Continued debate on open source vs. proprietary
• In general, virtual organizations are dynamic
• What happens when we add new partners?

SIMDAT partners
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Workflow Systems Are they really similar?
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Workflow systems quick comparison

• Similarities
• All have drag-drop GUIs
• All use XML-based languages
• Similar conceptual model
• Differences
• Different language paradigms/semantics
• Pure Data Flow vs. Control Flow
• Iterations (not available, implicit, explicit ?)
• Data types and operators supported
• Varying degrees of abstraction
• Node granularity
• Service call vs. abstract task
• Different systems specialized to particular
  applications
• Specialized viewers
• Specialized helper nodes for data manipulation

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Grid-based interoperability of workflow systems
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Calling Grid Services vs Web Services
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Example Using of GRIA services

• GRIA uses a fully decentralized management
  approach, with minimal dependency between sites.
  
• Each site offering GRIA services makes its own
  business decisions about which users to trust and
  on what terms, and is responsible for enforcing
  its own access policies and deciding which
  applications to support.
• Sites can interact with each other, but this is
  driven by their common consumers, and those
  consumers are responsible for managing the
  resulting dependencies.
• There are no global agreements to set up, and no
  virtual organizations need be established, though
  users can interact according to virtual
  organization models if they want.

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Example Pharma application

• Five basic Sub-workflow nodes
• Allocate Resources
• Upload Inputs
• Execute
• Retrieve Result
• Finish Conversation

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Grid-based workflows and interoperability

• Run-time interoperability
• Workflow-based applications as services
• Workflow enactment as services

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Method 1 Workflow-based application as service
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Example Aero application
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Method 2 Workflow enactment engine as service
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Interoperability interaction patterns
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Current Status
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Next Steps Moving from abstract to heterogeneous
executable workflows
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Overall approach

• User specifies high-level steps
• Steps iteratively instantiated using services and
  workflow templates
• Use service registries and workflow warehouses
• Use existing run-time interoperability mechanisms

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Architecture

• Heterogeneous workflow warehouse
• InforSense Workflow warehouse
• Service Registries
• NEC Semantic Broker
• Authoring advisor high-level steps for
  application domains
• Authoring assistant map from abstract tasks to
  workflow fragments and services

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Workflow warehousing and mining
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Summary

• Using industrial strength workflow systems for
  cross-organization product design
• Run-time interoperability mechanisms
• Supporting the design of heterogeneous workflows