The LONI Pipeline is a distributed system for constructing, validating, executing and disseminating scientific workflows on grid computing

Grid computing

Grid computing is a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. The grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve a large number of files...

 architectures. A major difference between this and other workflow processing environments

Workflow technology

Workflow technology is a new field of software products designed to improve the design of information systems. It involves use of workflow engine to execute models of processes....

 is that the LONI Pipeline does not require new tools and services to include, or be built against, the core Pipeline libraries. The Pipeline environment references all data, services and tools as external objects. This allows the Pipeline to run as a light-weight middleware, but at the same time, restricts the scope of its applications. For example, the Pipeline does not provide a set of internal core libraries, filters and processes for rudimentary image processing (e.g., image addition). All tools necessary to complete an analysis protocol must first be built as external stand-alone applications or services, whose interface methods are then described in the Pipeline XML language. Users may choose to share these XML module descriptions to avoid duplicate work. Typical pipeline server installations include a suite of core resources that are available to all users with access to the specific server, however, different servers will have different suites of default module and module-group (pipeline) definitions. Version 5 of the LONI Pipeline provides a mechanism for integrating heterogeneous and incongruous data including images, clinical charts and demographic meta-data.

See also

• Laboratory Of Neuro Imaging
  Laboratory Of Neuro Imaging
  The Laboratory of Neuro Imaging is a research laboratory within the Department of Neurology at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. The laboratory conducts a wide variety of brain imaging studies of normal brain anatomy and function, development, aging, and disease...
  
  
• Kepler scientific workflow system
  Kepler scientific workflow system
  Kepler is a free software system for designing, executing, reusing, evolving, archiving, and sharing scientific workflows.Kepler's facilities provide process and data monitoring, provenance information, and high-speed data movement solutions...
  
  
• Taverna workbench
  Taverna workbench
  Taverna Workbench is an open source software tool for designing and executing workflows, created by the myGrid project and funded through the OMII-UK...
  
  
• Bioinformatics workflow management systems
  Bioinformatics workflow management systems
  A bioinformatics workflow management system is a specialized form of workflow management system designed specifically to compose and execute a series of computational or data manipulation steps, or a workflow, in a specific domain of science, bioinformatics....