Role of Web Services for Globally Distributed Information Retrieval Systems in a Grid Environment (Implementation and Performance Analysis of a Prototype)

Abstract

Information retrieval is an important aspect of any data storage system. As the data storage capability increases there will always be need for an information retrieval (IR) system, which caters to the growing needs of information search and retrieval. IR System in a Grid environment provides a common hierarchical solution to the information retrieval problem for globally distributed networked systems. It sits on top of Grid middleware and provides a general purpose solution by implementing Web Services in the process of document search. In this thesis, I present a detailed study of the issues related to the information retrieval in Grid Environment; from the basic need for a grid information retrieval system to the working model that enables locating information resources. This document covers the capabilities and limitations of the system and the role of Web Services in the course of developing an information retrieval system for the Grid environment.