Topaz: a Firefox Protocol Extension for GridFTP based on Data Flow Diagrams
Richard Zamudio, Daniel Catarino, Michela Taufer, Brent Stearn, Karan Bhatia · scholarworks - UTEP (The University of Texas at El Paso) · 2006
Abstract—As grid infrastructures mature, an increasing challenge is to provide end-user scientists with intuitive interfaces to computational services, data management capabilities, and visualization tools. The current approach used in a number of cyber-infrastructure projects is to leverage the capabilities of the Mozilla framework to provide rich end-user tools that seamlessly integrate with remote resources such as web/grid services and data repositories. In this paper we apply rigorous software engineering tools, Data Flow Diagrams or DFDs, to guide the design, implementation, and performance analysis of Topaz, a GridFTP protocol extension to the Firefox browser. GridFTP servers, similar to FTP servers used on the Internet, provide a data repository for files and are optimized for grid use (support for very large file sizes, high-performance data transfer, third-party