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Data Providers

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Natacha Beck edited this page Apr 5, 2017 · 4 revisions

Introduction

A Data Provider is a data storage area on CBRAIN. This section describes Data Providers and how to create them. CBRAIN supports different types of Data Providers, for example SshDataProvider and VaultSshDataProvider; they differ in how they structure their files on their respective storage areas.

Table of contents

  1. How to create a Data Provider
  2. Types of Data Providers
  3. LocalDataProvider
  4. SshDataProvider
  5. VaultSshDataProvider
  6. VaultLocalDataProvider
  7. VaultSmartDataProvider
  8. IncomingVaultSshDataProvider
  9. IncomingVaultLocalDataProvider
  10. IncomingVaultSmartDataProvider
  11. EnCbrain*DataProvider
  12. S3DataProvider
  13. Reports

1. How to create a Data Provider

  • Go to the "Data Providers" tab.
  • Open the "Create new Data Provider" panel.
  • Fill in the form:
    • Name: Name of the Data Provider.
    • Description: First line should be a short description, which will be used in the Data Provider table. After that you can add any special notes for the users.
    • Time Zone: The time zone of the Data Provider
    • Type: Type of Data Provider - see section 3 for more information.
    • Owner: The owner of the Data Provider.
    • Project: You can limit the access to a Data Provider to members of a specific project. For more information see the Projects page.
    • Status: The Data Provider can be "online" or "offline". When "offline", the Data Provider will not be made available to users.
    • Mode: A Data Provider can be "read/write" or "read only". If it is "read/write" users with access to it can write on it, but if it is "read only" the users with access to it can just read the data stored on it.
    • Syncability: Robust synchronization and caching mechanisms were built into the core platform to avoid unnecessary data transfers. The portal and execution servers maintain a local cache of the files that have been asynchronously transferred to them. Synchronization status for all data in all caches is maintained in the metadata database by CBRAIN. Resources will use cached versions of files until the version on the Data Provider changes, at which point all cached versions will be flagged as invalid. Resources caching invalid data will simply resynchronize with the Data Provider upon the next requested data operation. Users can manually trigger cache deletion of their data if desired. A Data Provider can be "Fully syncable" in this case the synchronization mechanisms of CBRAIN are used or "Not syncable".
    • SSH parameters for remote Data Providers: Fill in this part if you configure a SshDataProvider with the Remote Hostname, the Remote Username and finally a Remote Port Number if necessary.
    • Cloud Storage Configuration: Fill in this part if you configure cloud storage, such as Amazon S3. In this case you should specify your Client Identifier and Client Token. Note: Cloud storage is in the prototyping stage in CBRAIN. It is implemented as a proof of concept, but performance and reliability is not guaranteed.
    • Physical data location: With the "Full Directory Path" this field is not used for cloud storage.
    • Other properties:
      • Files must be copied/moved upon registration, only for browsable Data Providers.
      • Files will always be erased upon de-registration, only for browsable Data Providers.
      • Files can be browsed only by members of this project, only for browsable Data Providers.
      • Cannot be used for uploading files in the file manager.
      • Files cannot be viewed in the file manager, in this case no viewer will be available for files on this data provider.
  • The Public SSH Key for this CBRAIN Portal for the CBRAIN installation is shown in a box, and this need to be installed on the remote host for SSH-based DataProviders (or Smart ones with a SSH personality).

2. Types of Data Providers

This section describes different types of Data Providers implemented in CBRAIN. Not all of them are useful. In production environments, the recommended types are EnCbrainSmartDataProvider for official data storage and SshDataProvider for user-specific personal storage.

i. LocalDataProvider

This is an abstract class which represents Data Providers where the remote files are local to the currently running rails application. Here, subclasses are not meant to cache anything! The 'remote' files are in fact all local, and accessing the 'cached' files means accessing the real provider's files. All methods are adjusted so that their behavior is sensible.

ii. FlatDirSshDataProvider (a.k.a. SshDataProvider)

This class provides an implementation for a Data Provider where the remote files are accessed through ssh and rsync. The provider's files are stored in a flat directory, one level deep, directly specified by the object's remote_dir attribute. The file "hello" is thus stored in a path like this: /remote_dir/hello.

iii. VaultSshDataProvider

This class provides an implementation for a Data Provider where the remote files are accessed through ssh and rsync. The provider's files are stored in a flat directory, two levels deep, directly specified by the object's remote_dir attribute and the user's login name. The file "hello" of user "myuser" is thus stored in a path like this: /remote_dir/myuser/hello.

iv. VaultLocalDataProvider

This class provides an implementation for a Data Provider where the remote files are local to the currently running rails application. The provider's files are stored in a flat directory, two levels deep, directly specified by the object's remote_dir attribute and the user's login name. The file "hello" of user "myuser" is thus stored into a path like this: /root_dir/myuser/hello, where root_dir is the data provider's remote_dir (a local directory). This Data Provider does not cache anything! The 'remote' files are in fact all local, and accessing the 'cached' files mean accessing the real provider's files. All methods are adjusted so that their behavior is sensible.

v. VaultSmartDataProvider

This class implements a 'wrapper' Data Provider that acts either as a VaultLocalDataProvider or a VaultSshDataProvider depending on whether or not the current hostname matches the value of the attribute remote_host. This means that in the case where the current Rails application runs on the same machine as the Data Provider, the faster and more efficient VaultLocalDataProvider will be used.

vi. IncomingVaultSshDataProvider

This class behaves like the VaultSshDataProvider, except that it is browsable. When browsing, only the subdirectory named like the login name of the current user will be visible. It is perfect for accessing a jailed remote_dir for incoming content, where users can upload files to these subdirectories on other channels.

vii. IncomingVaultLocalDataProvider

This class is exactly like VaultSshDataProvider, but it also has the ability to browse a subdirectory named after a user when calling provider_list_all(user).

viii. IncomingVaultSmartDataProvider

This class implements a 'wrapper' data provider that acts either as a IncomingVaultLocalDataProvider or a IncomingVaultSshDataProvider depending on whether or not the current hostname matches the value of the attribute remote_host. This means that in the case where the current Rails application runs on the same machine as the data provider, the faster and more efficient VaultLocalDataProvider will be used.

ix. EnCbrain*DataProvider

This class includes EnCbrainSshDataProvider, EnCbrainLocalDataProvider, and EnCbrainSmartDataProvider. These three providers are enhanced variations of each other that differ in how they transport data. How they store their files is based on the IDs of those files. The path to a file is uniquely determined by the file's ID. A file named "hello" with ID 41233 will be stored like this: /root_dir/04/12/33/hello. Such Data Providers have the advantage that files can be renamed and reassigned to new owners with minimal modifications on the filesystem's structure. The EnCbrain*DataProviders are the officially recommended data providers for production deployment.

x. S3DataProvider

This class connects to Amazon's S3 cloud storage service. The files will be stored in a bucket named gbrain_{name} where name is the name of the Data Provider. Usage of this Data Provider requires obtaining an access key and secret token. Do not rename this Data Provider if files are registered with it, unless you also rename the bucket!

3. Reports

On the Data Providers index page you can find links to different reports: the "User Access Report", the "Transfer Restrictions Report" and the "Automatic Tabular Report Maker". You should consult the Reports And Monitoring section of this guide for more information about the reports.

Note: Original author of this document is Natacha Beck.

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