What is OGSA and OGSI in Grid Computing?

OGSA stands for Open Grid Services Architecture. It is developed by The Global Grid Forum from 2002 to 2006.

• It defines a set of rules that make up a grid service.
• It aims to define a common, standard, and open architecture for grid-based applications.
• It is an architecture designed for building and managing distributed computing environments.

Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) is a set of standards defining the way in which information is shared among diverse components of large, heterogeneous grid systems. In this context, a grid system is a scalable wide area network (WAN) that supports resource sharing and distribution.

Origin of OGSA

OGSA was first introduced in 2002 as a specification for building service-oriented grid computing architectures.

• The OGSA initiative was led by the Global Grid Forum which was a community-driven organization that aimed to develop and promote open standards for grid computing.
• Global Grid Forum worked in collaboration with other organizations such as the Open Grid Forum (OGF) and the European Grid Infrastructure (EGI) to develop OGSA.

Features of OGSA

• OGSA is built on ‘Service-Oriented Architecture’ principles which means that it provides a way to access and use services distributed across a network.
• In OGSA each service is designed to perform a specific function and services which can be combined to create more complex applications.
• It is specifically designed for grid computing which involves sharing computing resources across a network. OGSA provides a way to manage these resources and ensure that they are used efficiently.

What does OGSA do?

OGSA provides a flexible and scalable framework for building Grid computing environments that can be used to tackle a wide range of scientific and engineering problems.

• OGSA is based on a service-oriented architecture where Grid resources are exposed as services that can be accessed and combined to create higher-level applications.
• OGSA provides a secure environment for sharing resources and executing applications, with support for authentication, authorization, and encryption.
•  OGSA defines standard interfaces and protocols for managing resources, publishing and discovering services, and executing distributed applications.

What is OGSI?

OGSI stands for Open Grid Services Infrastructure which is a specification that defines a set of interfaces and protocols for building grid services.

• It provides an infrastructure layer for the Open Grid Services Architecture.
• OGSI is based on web services technologies, such as SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and WSDL (Web Services Description Language).
• It is designed to provide a standard way to build and manage grid services.
• It is based on WSRF (Web Services Resources Framework).

Features of OGSI

• It was intended to provide an infrastructure layer for the Open Grid Services Architecture.
• OGSI defines a metadata model for describing the properties and capabilities of Grid services, which can be used to discover and select services based on their characteristics.
• OGSI provides mechanisms for managing the lifecycle of Grid services, including creation, deployment, and retirement.

What does OGSI do?

• OGSI provides a standardized programming model for building Grid services. which allows developers to create powerful and scalable distributed computing environments. 
• By providing a consistent set of interfaces and protocols for managing Grid resources, OGSI helps to simplify the development, deployment, and management of Grid applications.

Example

Let’s try to understand the concept of both words with the example of a house. 

• OGSA is the blueprint that the architect creates to show how the building will look.
• OGSI is the structural design that the engineer creates to support the architect’s vision for the building.