Towards a common authorization infrastructure for the grid

Abstract

In this paper we report results of the ongoing effort to provide a seamless authorization for the UNICORE and Globus Toolkit middlewares using the UNICORE Virtual Organizations System (UVOS). The UVOS is already well integrated with the UNICORE middleware. We have designed and created a set of native Globus Toolkit 4 modules which enable a UVOS based authorization, with a similar functionality as its UNICORE counterpart. Actually the same authorization data stored on the UVOS server can serve both middlewares simultaneously. The paper provides an overview of existing approaches to the user management problem in the Grid environment with a special emphasis on those which can be used across different grid middlewares. The paper presents the UVOS system, its features and how its adoption helps to manage users of the UNICORE and Globus 4 middlewares. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.