D-Grid FG 5.2 (Accounting)

Description

Existing services are enhanced and/or made available to an extended user community based on past results of the D-Grid project in order to provide a flexible, user friendly and robust platform for the German e-Science community.

Accounting collects data of resource usage and provides an allocation of this data to users and organizations. This information forms the basis for billing. Thus a self-sustaining operation of resources within D-Grid shall be ensured.

Goal

This project is divided into four work packages:

Acquisition of license costs

The use of licensed software in research and development is common and required. In order to allow the users a comfortable usage of Grid resources, it is necessary to enable the use of this software via Grid middlewares. The provisioning of licensed software requires the development of an adequate accounting concept that allows the allocation of software usage and the according users or virtual organizations.

Usage of data liable to charges

The usage of data liable to pay is an integral part of research and development. Digital data, in contrast to software licenses, needs to be available in the original version. Therefore the user has to acquire all rights on this data.

Accounting of storage and data management systems

Currently, it is impossible within the D-Grid to assign the use of storage and data management systems to distinct users or user groups. Accounting of such resources needs to consider different classes of data storage (short or long term storage) and different storage methods. Especially time is a dimension that has to be included within an accounting concept for the dynamic usage of storage resources.

Providing security fort he storage, transport, and access of accounting data

Accounting data is collected and stored in a decentralized manner across separate locations within the Grid infrastructure. In order to satisfy the need of versatile and heterogeneous information by all persons involved, e.g. users, resource providers, and VO manager, the transport of user specific data towards a centralized instance for accumulation, processing, and concentration is required. Access control to user-related data is mandatory. Goal of this work package is to ensure the security of accounting data across the entire process chain, i.e. during storage, transport, and access.

Investors

This project is funded by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF). Other project participants are:

Contact

Prof. Dr. Paul Müller
Room: 34-312
Telephone: 0631/205-2263
Email:

Dipl.-Inform. Joachim Götze
Room: 32-348
Telephone: 0631/205-3676
Email:

D-Grid FG 5.2 (Accounting)

Description

Goal

Investors

Contact

Links