Abstract
The Canadian Brain Imaging Research Platform (CBRAIN) is a web-based collaborative research platform developed in response to the challenges raised by data-heavy, compute-intensive neuroimaging research. CBRAIN offers transparent access to remote data sources, distributed computing sites, and an array of processing and visualization tools within a controlled, secure environment. Its web interface is accessible through any modern browser and uses graphical interface idioms to reduce the technical expertise required to perform large-scale computational analyses. CBRAIN's flexible meta-scheduling has allowed the incorporation of a wide range of heterogeneous computing sites, currently including nine national research High Performance Computing (HPC) centers in Canada, one in Korea, one in Germany, and several local research servers. CBRAIN leverages remote computing cycles and facilitates resource-interoperability in a transparent manner for the end-user. Compared with typical grid solutions available, our architecture was designed to be easily extendable and deployed on existing remote computing sites with no tool modification, administrative intervention, or special software/hardware configuration. As October 2013, CBRAIN serves over 200 users spread across 53 cities in 17 countries. The platform is built as a generic framework that can accept data and analysis tools from any discipline. However, its current focus is primarily on neuroimaging research and studies of neurological diseases such as Autism, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, Multiple Sclerosis as well as on normal brain structure and development. This technical report presents the CBRAIN Platform, its current deployment and usage and future direction.
Highlights
For the past decade, scientists in all fields of research have had to cope with the effects of accelerated data acquisition and accumulation, large increases in study size and required computational power (Bell et al, 2009), and most importantly, the need to connect, collaborate, and share resources with colleagues around the world
The current production deployment of Canadian Brain Imaging Research Platform (CBRAIN) consists of 12 computing sites, totaling more than 100,000 CPU cores
Active data currently hosted on the central storage system provided to all CBRAIN users amounts to approximately 13.1 TB in over 100,000 datasets representing 8.4 million files
Summary
Scientists in all fields of research have had to cope with the effects of accelerated data acquisition and accumulation, large increases in study size and required computational power (Bell et al, 2009), and most importantly, the need to connect, collaborate, and share resources with colleagues around the world. Neuroimaging platforms and applications have emerged that address common issues using drastically different approaches; from programmatic frameworks (Gorgolewski et al, 2011; Joshi et al, 2011) to advanced workflow interfaces, abstracting technological decisions away from users to various degrees (Rex et al, 2003; Olabarriaga et al, 2010) These applications excel in addressing different aspects of the problem; workflow building, leveraging data or compute grids, data visualization, collaborative elements (topic reviewed in Dinov et al, 2009). While the global nature of current scientific collaborations requires broader integration and platform interoperability, efficient integration of heterogeneous and distributed infrastructures across multiple technological administrative domains, in a sustainable manner, remains a major logistical challenge
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
