DTN Dockerised Environment

This page focuses on the implementation of a dockerised environment to support specific file transfer services (i.e. Xrootd, GridFTP and FDT).

In parallel, the participating NRENs who are interested in the development of the data transfer service can deploy their own DTN servers following some general specifications. More specifications and guidelines can be provided on our main page and a good reference is: http://fasterdata.es.net/science-dmz/DTN/reference-implementation/.

Once this code is ready for testing, the participating NRENs who have servers will be able to do the initial testing and evaluation of the DTN software, which would include criteria like:

• Performance of data transfers for different data workflow characteristics: large bulk transfers, lots-of-small-file transfers, and streaming data transfers.
• Ease of use for end-users.
• Trust negotiation between the end hosts and security of the transfer.

Docker is a set of platforms as a service (PaaS) product that uses OS-level virtualisation to deliver software in packages called containers. Containers are isolated from one another and bundle their own software, libraries and configuration files; they can communicate with each other through well-defined channels. All containers are run by a single operating system kernel and therefore use fewer resources than virtual machines. The service has both free and premium tiers. The software that hosts the containers is called Docker Engine. It was first started in 2013 and is developed by Docker, Inc.

Docker architecture [https://docs.docker.com/get-started/overview/]

The docker architecture is very straightforward, it is a client-server architecture. The client communicates among the Docker daemon (that can be installed on the identical or separate remote machine), which does the building, running, and distributing of the Docker containers. The Docker client and daemon communicate using a Rest API, over UNIX sockets or a network interface.

Figure 1.1 Docker architecture [from https://docs.docker.com/get-started/overview/]