Developing an End-to-End Scientific Workflow: a Case Study of Using a Reliable, Lightweight, and Comprehensive Workflow Platform in e-Science

Abstract

Service-oriented workflow provides a mechanism to automate the coordination of a sequence of tasks within a process, whereas each task is presented as a Web service and integrated into the workflow. It has become increasingly important to have an appropriate workflow platform to manage the scientific workflow lifecycle. In order to address this need, we propose to use Pipeline Pilot to manage the lifecycle of grid-based scientific workflow using SOA approach. Pipeline Pilot is a commercial software package dedicated to scientific research. It is reliable, lightweight and comprehensive. We then describe a case study of how we employ Pipeline Pilot to manage a workflow lifecycle for calculating material dielectric properties in grid environment. We also discuss lessons we learned in managing lifecycle of a service-oriented scientific workflow within e-Science.