A lightweight approach for deployment of scientific workflows in cloud infrastructures
AUTHORS: Bartosz Balis, Kamil Figiela, Maciej Malawski, Maciej Pawlik, and Marian Bubak
ABSTRACT
We propose a lightweight solution for deployment of scientific workflows in diverse cloud platforms. In the proposed deployment model, an instance of a workflow runtime environment is created on demand in the cloud as part of the workflow application. Such an approach improves isolation and helps overcome major issues of alternative solutions, leading to an easier integration. The concept has been implemented in the HyperFlow workflow environment. We describe the approach in general and illustrate it with two case studies showing the integration of HyperFlow with the PLGrid infrastructure, and the PaaSage cloud platform. Lessons learned from these two experiences lead to the conclusion that the proposed solution minimizes the development effort required to implement the integration, accelerates the deployment process in a production system, and reduces maintenance issues. Performance evaluation proves that, for certain workflows, the proposed approach can lead to significant improvement of the workflow execution time.
