Network Computing Infrastructure to Share Tools and Data in GNEP

Abstract

Network computing infrastructure for sharing tools and data was implemented to support international collaboration. In designing the system, we focused on three issues: accessibility, security, and usability. In the implementation, we integrated existing network and web technologies into the infrastructure by introducing the authentication gateway. For the first issue, SSL-VPN (Security Socket Layer – Virtual Private Network) technology was adopted to access computing resources beyond firewalls. For the second issue, PKI (Public Key Infrastructure)-based authentication mechanism was used for access control. Shared key based file encryption was also used to protect against information leakage. The introduction of the authentication gateway enables to strengthen the security. To provide high usability, WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) was used to provide users with a function to manipulate distributed files through a windows-like GUI (Graphical User Interface). These functions were integrated into a Grid infrastructure called AEGIS (Atomic Energy Grid InfraStructure). Web applications were developed on the infrastructure for dynamic community creation and information sharing. In this paper, we discuss design issues of the system and report the implementation of a prototype applied to share information for the international project GNEP (Global Nuclear Energy Partnership).