Rapid: Giving Computational Science a Friendly Face

Rapid is a cost-effective and efficient way of designing and delivering portal interfaces to tasks that require remote compute resources. The aim of Rapid is to make completing these tasks as simple as purchasing a book or booking a flight on the web.

The philosophy of Rapid is to deliver customised graphical user interfaces that enable domain specialists to achieve their tasks. These tasks make use of domain-specific applications that run on remote compute resources; a requirement which is satisfied by translating the task into one or several computational jobs to be performed on Grid and Cloud Computing infrastructures, and High-Performance Computing facilities.

Customised interfaces allow tasks to be performed without referring to terminology about the underlying computational infrastructure. Moreover, the system allows to expose particular features of applications as not to overwhelm the user.

Where to start
Have a look at what Rapid can produce in the form of a video. If you like it, then have a look at a short video that explains how to install Rapid and deliver your first portal. Move on to the basic tutorial and finally, consult the manual to unlock advanced features.

Relevant files and media

• Download the latest stable release: rapidportlet-2.0.tgz
• Manuals and tutorials: Rapid Manual (pdf), Rapid Tutorial (pdf), Screencast of installation (with LifeRay)
• We recommend to use Rapid in conjunction with LifeRay
• Screencast videos of successful portals: Image Processing Example, Microscopy, Seismology, Earthquake Prediction, Nano-Engineering, Chemistry and Brain Imaging
• Media and dissemination: European Seismology Newsletter, OMII-UK News Article, Flyer, Beliefproject: Zero-In
• Publications: Inorganic Experiments, Portals for the life sciences and IEEE e-Science
• Development pages: SourceForge

Funding and support
The development and application of Rapid is funded by EPSRC, BBSRC, NERC, JISC, ENGAGE (JISC) and OMII-UK (EPSRC)

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