SpectroGrid: Providing Simple Secure Remote Access to Scientific Instruments

With the availability of high performance networks and the increase in the number of online scientific instruments, remote instrumentation is a topic with much popularity lately, promising better instrument utilization, easier collaboration between distant organizations and diminution of travel-related costs and overhead. At NRC we needed a simple and secure method for researchers to remotely access nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instruments located at the National Ultrahigh-Field NMR Facility for Solids for data acquisition and visualization purposes. This paper discusses the design and implementation of SpectroGrid: a simple remote instrumentation solution based on open source technologies. VNC (virtual network computing) is used as the remote control implementation, and security is provided by the grid security infrastructure (GSI) and secure shell (SSH). A discussion about the cost-saving potentials of SpectroGrid for the Canadian research community will also be given. SpectroGrid is currently being used by Canadian researchers to remotely access NMR instruments located at NRC in Ottawa.