Midland: a service-oriented cluster computing infrastructure

Midland is a service-oriented software infrastructure that enables the clustering of arbitrarily large collections of computing resources. The resulting clusters may be integrated to form an open, dynamically configurable computational grid system where each cluster defines a self-reliant and independent management domain. Web Services make up the primary integration mechanism both at the cluster and grid levels, respectively. This is complemented by a light XML based messaging protocol exclusively used for cluster bound interactions. The paper describes Midland’s architecture, and the service-oriented approach taken to develop the associated resource management mechanisms. It also includes an exposition of the model of service capacity which is one of the enablers of the service-centric strategy underlying the cluster management mechanisms. The operational performance of Midland is illustrated experimentally in the context of a Grid test-bed comprising three clusters. The experimental results highlight the performance of the model of service capacity as well as some aspects of Midland operational performance.