GridFTP GUI: An Easy and Efficient Way to Transfer Data in Grid

Abstract

GridFTP is the de facto standard for providing secure, robust, high-speed bulk data transport. It is based on the Internet FTP protocol, and it defines extensions for high performance operation and security. However, GridFTP lacks an easy-to-use graphical user interface client that is fault tolerant and hides all the complexities from the end users. It is not straightforward to conduct data transfer, monitor transfer status, and recover from transfer errors. Many e-science applications must transfer large datasets that are, in many cases, are partitioned into lots of small files. However, existing GridFTP client tools cannot do such a transfer efficiently and reliably. To address these issues, we developed GridFTP GUI, a Java web start-based GridFTP client tool. It does not require explicit installation and can automatically update to the latest version. It provides an easy and efficient way for users to get credentials, transfer data through drag and drop, optimize transfer parameters, view transfer progress, move a lot of small files in an efficient way, recover from transfer errors, manage files and directories remotely, and establish cross-domain trust relationships. Our experiments show that GridFTP GUI is able to transfer files and directories with very good performance.