[seek-dev] Simple WS vs Globus Grid Service w/ factory.

[Kevin Ruland]

Hi.

I looked into converting the Digir Ecogrid code from using the Globus
Grid Service w/ factory pattern to being a simple Axis generated web
service.  There are distinct advantages to using Axis alone which I'll
enumerate here:

1)  easier development
2)  eaiser deployment
3)  easier maintenence
4)  reduced hardware requirements
5)  reduced complexity

Somebody should be able to come up with a better list.  Lets just say,
removing globus makes it easier to develope ecogrid services.  It also
allows us to migrate to newer versions of axis or other web service
server implementations (less "vendor lock-in", if you will).  In any
case, removing Globus from the picture drops the barrier to entry for
new Ecogrid enabled data sources which should make some people happy.

Globus provided two benefits Security infrastructure and the Factory
pattern.  Both of these subsystems can be added to an Axis based system
through additional OpenSource (apache) modules (using the same code that
globus uses, I might add).

My goal in trying to migrate Digir Ecogrid was to test the assumption
that the factory pattern was necessary for satifying heavy loads.  I
have found that there is essentially no difference between using the
factory enabled grid service (using my new code base) or a simple axis
generated web service.  The performance of both implementations were
essentially equivalent.

It is my opinion we should move forward with deploying the existing
ecogrid services (as implemented without security) under a simple Axis
server.

Kevin