Customized Virtual Machines for Software Provisioning in Scientific Clouds

Scientific applications require special data computing and analysis software, which may not mature enough at a production level. Software provisioning, especially in a cloud computing environment, bring new challenges. In this work, software package management systems are summarized. A customized software provisioning service is developed using virtualization technology. According to users´ requirements, virtual machines with required software deployed ready-for-use can be obtained in a very straightforward way. This work is being applied in the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) Scientific Collaboration for gravitational-wave data analysis. With software virtual machines available, scientific applications can benefit from cloud computing technology and resources.