Storage resource broker global data grids

1 International collaborations now manage globally distributed data collections based on the data and trust virtualization mechanisms provided by the Storage Resource Broker data grid. We examine the key requirements that have emerged from four production environments and illustrate how the desired capabilities have been implemented in the SRB. 1. Introduction. Globally distributed data reside in a complex heterogeneous environment characterized by multiple institutions, multiple administrative domains, multiple types of storage systems, multiple types of storage access protocols, multiple types of networks, and multiple types of access clients. The data at each site are typically managed by local site administrators, using different name spaces for identification of both users and files, and are accessed by user accounts local to a particular storage system. Sharing of data requires either the movement of files into an anonymous FTP access cache, or the creation of a user account and the explicit