Framework for Bringing Data Streams to the Grid

Data streams are a prevalent and growing source of timely data, particularly in the scientific domain. Just as it is common today to read starting conditions such as initial weather conditions, for a scientific simulation from a file, it should be equally as easy to draw starting conditions on-demand from live data streams. But efforts to date to bring streaming data to the grid have lacked generality. In this article we introduce a new model for bringing existing data streams systems onto the grid. The model is predicated on the ability to identify stream systems that meet the criteria of being a "data resource". We establish the criteria in this article, and define a grid service architecture for a data streams resource that leverages standardization efforts in the Global Grid Forum. We discuss key research issues in realizing the data streams model. We are currently developing a prototype of this architecture using our dQUOB system