Please excuse multiple copies of this descending into your in tray.  We are trying to reach as many
UK e-Science grid projects as possible.  If you have replied to my recent emails on this topic, I
apologise.  We have decided to do a more complete survey, e.g. assess interest in training.

If you can possibly arrange for a reply to reach Dave Pearson by 13 December it would
be very much appreciated.

Malcolm


Intended use of Grid Data Services in Projects
The OGSA-DAI programme of work is developing reference implementations of OGSA compliant
Grid data services which provide access to and integration of data held in relational database
management systems and XML repositories. The software will be compatible with Globus
toolkit 3.

The initial implementation release, scheduled for 15th January 2003, will be based on a Tomcat servelet
engine running under Apache Axis. It
will provide access to data held in MySQL and Xindice through the following facilities:

1. A common namespace rooted at http://schemas.nesc.ac.uk
2. Communication via SOAP over HTTP
3. Data service discovery through a registry component
4. Query functions using a supported query language (Minimum SQL ’92, Xpath 1.0)
5. Query results returned to the client application
6. A mechanism for lifetime management
7. Access to core elements of metadata – DBMS product name and version, query language,
    statement operations, physical schema
8. Basic notification framework
9. Name mapping interface for authenticating Grid credentials to local ids (system and relational database ids)

The initial public training course on OGSA-DAI functionality for applications developers and e-Scientists will
be delivered at NeSC in the first week of February. Additional courses will be scheduled to run in April and
June subject to demand.

Further implementation releases at the end of March and June 2003 will extend the Grid data service facilities
to include access to DB2 and Oracle RDBMS, update functionality, extended metadata definition, extended
authentication and authorisation, transport and delivery to multiple destination points over different protocols,
extended notification, accounting information, scripting for combining DDL and DML operations with
data transformation and transport.

Through this email we are keen to solicit feedback on the intended usage of the reference implementations
with UK Grid projects. This information will also be helpful in planning support services as well as
the size and frequency of training courses.

Therefore, please will you reply
to the OGSA-DAI programme manager,
Dave Pearson (dave.pearson@oracleNOSPAM.com)
with answers to the following questions. It would be very helpful to receive responses by end of 13th December 2002.


Grid project name:
1 Indicate which technologies will be used to store Data and Metadata
Metadata: Files:
XML Repositories:
RDBMS:
Other:
Data: Files:
XML Repositories:
RDBMS:
Other:

2 Has the project evaluated any of the Phase 1 OGSA-DAI prototypes
      XML prototype:
      RDBMS prototype:
3 Will the project evaluate the OGSA-DAI reference implementation
      Initial release:
      Intermediate release:
      Final release:
4 Is there an intention to use OGSA-DAI software in the project
      Initial release:
      Intermediate release:
      Final release:
Please indicate if undecided
5 Is there an intention to use Globus software in the project
      GT2
GT3
Please indicate if undecided

6 Indicate number of places anticipated in OGSA-DAI training courses
February course:
April course:
July course:
(These courses will be available free at the UK e-Science Institute in Edinburgh. If there is a significant requirement for other courses in other
locations we will attempt to arrange them. There will also be an OGSA-DAI tutorial at GGF7.)
Any additional feedback/Comments