Advanced Resource Connector (ARC)

The Advanced Resource Connector (ARC) [2] middleware integrates computing resources (usually, computing clusters managed by a batch system or standalone workstations) and storage facilities, making them available via a secure common Grid layer. In the past this middleware was called NorduGrid middleware, since it is being developed by the NorduGrid Collaboration. This software solution uses Grid technologies to enable sharing and federation of computing and storage resources distributed across different administrative and application domains. ARC is used to create Grid infrastructures of various scope and complexity, from campus to national Grids. It is distributed under the Apache v2.0 license [3]. ARC solution is tailored for data-intensive computational tasks, optimising resource usage by having built-in services for file-based data handling. The core of ARC is the so-called ARC Compute Element (ARC-CE) which is a service providing common interface for computational job submission and management for a large variety of computing facilities. By providing data transfer services and cache for frequenly used files, ARC-CE makes efficient use of both computational resource and bandwidth. A set of client tools provides the necessary job and data management functionality, including resource discovery through the distributed information system. By using distributed clients and hierarchial information system, ARC solution works without centralised services, and thus implements a fully decentralised distributed computing infrastructure. It can use many 3rd party products for additional services, like e.g. storage services, authorisation and accounting.