Enabling community access to TeraGrid visualization resources

Visualization is an important part of the data analysis process. Many researchers, however, do not have access to the resources required to do visualization effectively for large datasets. This problem is illustrated through several user scenarios. To remedy this problem, we propose a Visualization Gateway that provides simplified access to such resources to a broad population of users. The current implementation of this gateway is described, including technology used and services made available. In particular, a detailed description of a ParaView portlet is included. A proposed design for enabling access to community users is discussed. Technology as well as policy issues that were raised, including security and data management, are covered. Methods for providing additional services, scaling to include additional resources, and other areas of future development are conveyed. The paper concludes with a summary of the topics covered.