From the Data Architecture glossary: Data sink: A data resource that receives the data copied by a data transfer mechanism from a source. Data Source: A data resource that contains the data to be copied to a sink via a data transfer mechanism. Informally, Data Architecture, and DMI for that matter, use these terms to denote the end points of a data transfer operation.

A data resource is defined as: An entity (and its associated framework) that provides a data access mechanism or can act as a source or sink. (This is what currently on Grid Forge but source/sink really mean data source/sink). So, a data resource is the "thing" that both holds data and provides mechanisms for accessing its contents. Think of a data resource as something like a relational database or a file system as we have had for decades while the Data Architecture defines interfaces (services) that "front" a data resource, making it a participant in the service oriented architecture being defined by OGSA. Allen Luniewski IBM Cross Brand Services IBM Silicon Valley Laboratory 555 Bailey Ave. San Jose, CA 95141 408-463-2255 408-930-1844 (mobile) guru prasad Sent by: ogsa-wg-bounces@ogf.org 07/05/2007 10:54 AM To Mario Antonioletti , Dave Berry cc ogsa-d-wg@ogf.org, ogsa-wg Subject Re: [ogsa-wg] [OGSA-D-WG] Definition of "data service" This brings me to this question: What is the difference between and data source and a data resource? Is former just the container for data and latter is responsible for managing one or more data sources? Mario Antonioletti wrote: Hi,

Currently we're looking at something like the following:

A service that exposes the capabilities or data of one or more data resources within a service-oriented architecture.

I think it should be "the capabilities and data" as opposed to "or". Similarly for the definition below. However, I think the one above is more succinct and thus gets my vote.

or

A service that exposes the capabilities of one or more data resources within a service-oriented architecture. These capabilities might include data access, data transfer or data management.

Mario +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Mario Antonioletti:EPCC,JCMB,The King's Buildings,Edinburgh EH9 3JZ. | |Tel:0131 650 5141|mario@epcc.ed.ac.uk|http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/~mario/ | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ -- ogsa-wg mailing list ogsa-wg@ogf.org http://www.ogf.org/mailman/listinfo/ogsa-wg Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.-- ogsa-wg mailing list ogsa-wg@ogf.org http://www.ogf.org/mailman/listinfo/ogsa-wg