SITools2, a framework for archival systems

Jean-Christophe Malapert (CNES),
Matthieu MARSEILLE (Akka Technologies)


Abstract


CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) develops generic software systems to set up different data centres. SITools2 is a web application under GPLV3 license, built in this generic way and where its purpose is to offer a data access layer as a new element of an existing archival system. CNES is helped on this project by an Akka Technologies team, providing its expertise on web services development using Java technologies.

An archival system is composed of four main entities: access, data management, data storage, ingest. Each entity is then managed through an administration entity. SITools2 implements the access part and its administration as well as interfaces between access and other entities.

To reach these goals, SITools2 is highly tunable. It allows connecting at different data sources and to expose their contents in different ways: a REST API and/or graphical user interfaces based on AJAX. With its opened architecture, SITools2 is also a framework that permits developers to extend the server API, simply integrating their own applications as plug-ins. Thus developers can act at each steps of the data research, request and retrieval, but also create highly-specific services. In addition, the client part of SITools2 is also extensible by adding modules and advanced graphical components.
Some instantiations of SITools2 are already being customized in several data centers as LAM (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille) and IAS (Institut d'Astrophysique Spatial d'Orsay) to make available their data to the scientific community. But, as a generic tool to interface data and information sources, SItools2 intends to take part of larger projects in the scientific community.

Slides in PDF format

Paper ID: O22



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