High-Performance Secure Database Access Technologies for HEP Grids

79364B U.S. high energy physicists demand efficient performance of grid computing applications in Large Hadron Collider physics research, where remote participation is vital to their success. To extract rare signals of new physics, grid computing applications require access to large amounts of data in relational databases. However, the database access technologies available for grid computing are inadequate for delivery of binary data in large quantities required. To address the problem of integrating grid computing with high-performance secure database access technologies, this project will develop an innovative architecture where, instead of surrounding databases with external security layers, authorization and access control are pushed into the database system core, eliminating inefficient data transfer bottlenecks. Phase I will demonstrate feasibility by developing a proof-of-concept prototype followed by validation in large scale computing environments. Demonstrations will be performed, increasing in scope and complexity from local environments of systems and clusters to distributed environments of computational grids facilities on national and global scales. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Efficient secure database access technologies for computational grids should be applicable to many data-intensive sciences, with significant spin-offs and economic benefits for commercial domains and the national information security infrastructure.