What is the Virtuoso Universal Server?
A new-generation, multi-purpose server that delivers native and built-in RDF, XML, and SQL Data Management, Full Text Indexing, Web Services Deployment (SOAP or REST styles), Web Content Management, Runtime Hosting (PHP, .NET, Java, etc.), and more, in a single product.
Why is it important?
It delivers a simple and cost-effective solution for managing and integrating disparate data sources across using a plethora of industry standards. A single Virtuoso instance can produce a conceptual level oriented Linked Data Network, using HTTP as its wire-protocol. This for form of data targeted virtualization delivers holistic views over disparate data sources across private (e.g. Enterprise) and/or public (e.g. World Wide Web) networks. For instance, you could have a Customer Entity as a focal point of interaction in your Web Browser while remaining oblivious to the underlying virtualization of data and relationships across disparate sources such as: ERP, CRM, Accounts, Inventory, Sales, Marketing etc.What is the Virtuoso Universal Server (Cloud Edition) AMI for EC2?
An Amazon Elastic Computing Cloud platform brand of virtual machine - also known as an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) - that hosts a pre-installed and pre-configured instance of Virtuoso.
Why is it important?
It delivers a simple and cost-effective solution for exploiting Virtuoso's data management and integration prowess via the Amazon EC2 Cloud Computing platform using the "Data as a Service" (DaaS) model.Database Administrator & User Perspective
It provides you with one or more pre-configured instances of Virtuoso that enable immediate exploitation of the following services:
- RDF Database with support for SPARQL & SPARUL Languages and Protocols, and Providers for Jena, Sesame, and Redland
- SQL Database including drivers and providers for use by ODBC, JDBC, OLE-DB, ADO.NET, and XMLA client applications
- XML Database incorporating XML Schema, XQuery, Xpath, & XSLT
- Full Text Indexing over any or all of the above
Middleware Administrator's & Integration Professional's Perspective
It provides a powerful workbench that offers:- RDF Views (Wrappers / Semantic Covers) over SQL, XML, and other data sources accessible via SOAP- or REST-style Web Services
- Built-in RDFization Middleware ("The Sponger") for converting non-RDF information resources into RDF Linked Data "on the fly" via a large and expandable collection of pre-installed and updatable RDFizer Cartridges (Drivers for Entity Extraction and Domain Ontology Mapping)
Web Server's & Content Manager's Perspective
It provides an alternative to the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack components such as MySQL and Apache by incorporating the following built-in components:- Relational Database Engine
- RDF Quad Store (a Graph Model Database Engine)
- SPARQL (SPARQL Query Language) with powerful extensions for Updates, Deletes, Aggregates, Transitivity, and Full Text Indexing
- HTTP and RDF Model based Linked Data Deployment Server
- Native support for OpenID, OAuth, and FOAF+SSL
- Free Text Search & Full Text Indexing
- Native HTTP Web Server
- Native WebDAV Server
- Web Application Server (through PHP and other runtime hosting)
- SOAP- or REST-style Web Services Deployment
- Virtuoso Hosted PHP packages for MediaWiki, Drupal, Wordpress, and phpBB3 -- just install the relevant VAD (Virtuoso Application Distribution) Package
- OpenID-based single sign-on, transparently linked to FOAF-based Profile data
General System Administrator's Perspective
It provides:- Online Backups to S3 buckets, FTP, or HTTP/WebDAV server Backup Set locations
- Synchronized Incremental Backups to Backup Set locations (no human interaction required after schedule setup)
- Backup Restoration from Backup Set location (without exiting to EC2 shell)
Knowledge and Information Workers' Perspective
- OpenLink Data Explorer front-end for serendipitous exploration of the burgeoning Linked Data Web
- Ability to "Mesh" rather than "Mash" data via the Web (see: Science Commons Video)
Web 2.0 / 3.0 User's or Developer's Perspective
It includes Distributed Collaboration Tools & Social Media functionality, courtesy of the bundled OpenLink Data Spaces (ODS), which provides:- Transparent integration of Web 2.0 data silos including Weblog, Wikis, RSS/Atom Feeds, Calendars, Shared Bookmarks, Discussion Forums, etc.
- System-generated Social Network Profile and Contact Data via FOAF
- System-generated Data Space (that includes a Social Graph), exposing all your Web data in RDF Linked Data form
- System-generated OpenID, transparently bound to a FOAF profile
- Transparent Integration with Facebook and other external data spaces
- Built-in support for SyncML, enabling data synchronization with Mobile Phones
- Complete collection of Web Services for programmatic interaction with ODS
- Collection of Ubiquity Commands for command-line interaction with ODS, for use with the Ubiquity extension for the Firefox Web browser.
Web Entrepreneur's Perspective
It offers:- A low-cost access point to a game-changing Web 3.0+ (and beyond) platform that combines SQL, RDF, XML, and Web Services functionality
- A variable cost model, tightly bound to the revenue generated by your services
- Federated and/or centralized model flexibility for SaaS-based solutions
- A simple entry point for developing and deploying sophisticated database-driven applications (oriented to the SQL or RDF Linked Data Web )
- A complete framework for exploiting OpenID & OAuth (including Role enhancements) that simplifies exploitation of these vital Identity and Data Access technologies
- Instant alleviation of challenges associated with Data Portability and Open Data Access across Web 2.0 data silos
- LDAP integration for extranet style applications
How Do I Get Started on EC2 with Virtuoso?
Choose the combination of installation guides that suits your particular needs from the list below:- Virtuoso Universal Server instance creation
- Pre-configured & Pre-loaded Virtuoso instances (DBpedia, BBC Music & Programmes etc.)
- OpenLink Data Spaces instance creation
- DBpedia knowledgebase instance creation
- NeuroCommons knowledgebase instance creation
- MusicBrainz knowledgebase instance creation
- Bio2RDF knowledgebase instance creation
Additional Information
- Virtuoso Universal Server
- OpenLink Data Spaces
- Amazon Web Services Simple Monthly Cost Calculator
- Backup Your Virtuoso EC2 AMI to an S3 Bucket
- Configure your Virtuoso EC2 AMI for use with Amazon Elastic Block Storage (EBS)
- Cloud Computing in Plain English - Video
- Using the AWS Console with Amazon EC2 - Video