Transcript Slide 1
The HDF Group
Introduction to HDF5
Session Two
Data Model Comparison
HDF5 File Format
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Our Purpose Today
1) Familiarize you
with HDF5 and its
capabilities.
2) Help you understand
how HDF5 might be
applied to your data
management challenges.
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HDF5 Data Model
File
Link
Dataset
Group
Datatype
Dataspace
Attribute
HDF5 Objects
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Developing a Project Data Model
Project Domain Concepts
Relational
Logical Data Model
HDF5 Data
Model
A Relational
Database
Physical Instantiation
HDF5 File
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Logical Data Models
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HDF5 / Directories and Files
HDF5
Directories (Folders) and Files
file
filesystem
dataset
file
datatype
~ file type or extension
dataspace
~ file size
attribute
~ properties (Windows)
group
directory (Unix) or folder (Windows)
link
hard links & symbolic links (Unix); ~shortcuts (Windows)
• Both support hierarchies for organizing information
(and to some degree, directed graphs)
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HDF5 / XML
HDF5
XML
file
document
dataset
element
datatype
simple or complex type definitions in XML Schema
dataspace
~ minOccurs, maxOccurs in XML Schema
attribute
attribute
group
~ element with sub-elements
link
~ IDREF
• Both support rich metadata and allow new types to be
defined
• HDF5 objects designed for numeric data; XML objects
designed for text
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HDF5 / Relational Databases
HDF5
Relational Database
file
database
dataset
data table
datatype
char, varchar, number, blob, raw, date, …
dataspace
~ records
attribute
?
group
?
link
?
• HDF5 supports multi-dimensional arrays with common
datatypes in the cells; locate by offset
• RDB support rows with different data types in fields;
locate by primary key
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HDF5 Technology Platform
• HDF5 data model
• The “building blocks” for data
organization and specification
• HDF5 software
• Library, language interfaces, tools
• HDF5 file format
• Bit-level organization of HDF5 file
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HDF5 File Format
• Defined by the HDF5 File Format Specification
• Specifies the bit-level organization of an HDF5 file on
storage media
• Maps the data model objects to a linear address space
• Other representations of the data model objects are also
possible, but those are not the HDF5 format
• Self-describing
• All the information necessary to read and reconstruct the
data model objects is specified by the format
• Designed to work well with other technologies
• Designed for speed and storage efficiency
• Binary format
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HDF5 File Format Specification
Introduction
You can have the power of the format without worrying about
the details of the specification.
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Developing a Project Data Model
Project Domain Concepts
Relational
Logical Data Model
HDF5 Data
Model
A Relational
Database
Physical Instantiation
HDF5 File
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Physical Instantiations
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HDF5 / Filesystem
• Both allow traversal of objects in the hierarchy
• Both include internal metadata for fast access to
subsets of the data
• Both can handle variety of data
• HDF5 file can be easily migrated or shared
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HDF5 / “Binary Flat File”
• “Binary Flat File” = A sequence of bytes representing
(primarily) numeric data. Often written by scientific
and engineering applications to save results from
simulations or experiments.
• A binary flat files usually represents the fastest way to
write numeric data. Read performance varies
depending on access patterns.
• Unlike HDF5, binary flat files are not self-describing or
portable across architectures.
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HDF5/XML
• Both HDF5 and XML are self-describing and portable
• XML is text-based and requires contents to be
accessed sequentially
• HDF5 is binary and supports random access and
subsetting
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HDF5/PDF
• Both HDF5 and PDF formats are published and open
• Both can include heterogeneous types of information
• PDF focused on documents
• HDF5 focused on collections of different types, with strong
support for multi-dimensional arrays of numeric data
• Both are portable across architectures
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HDF5 / Relational Databases
• RDB provides access control features; HDF5 does not
• RDB transaction based; HDF5 is not
• Transactions / Logging introduce overhead that may not be
needed
• HDF5 not designed for many writers to ‘random’ locations
• RDB provides built-in indices to values
• HDF5 provides navigation to datasets / subsets within
datasets
• HDF5 files portable across platforms
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Discussion
• How could daily temperature measurements made at
various locations throughout a building be modeled in
different formats? Filesytem, Binary Flat File, XML,
PDF, Relational Database
• What are some pros/cons
of each?
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Review
• HDF5 consists of
• file format
• self-describing
• many internal structures to support high-performance
• software
• data model
• file, dataset, datatype, dataspace, attribute, group, link
• HDF5 designed to support
• management of high-volume, complex data
• data sharing and preservation
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The HDF Group
HDF5 Data Model
Example
ENSIGHT
Automotive Crash Simulation
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Automotive Crash Simulation
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Automotive Crash Simulation
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Automotive Crash Simulation
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Solid Modeling
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Solid Modeling
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Modeled in HDF5
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Mesh Example in HDFView
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Stretch Break
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