In this session of Call the Doctor, The HDF Group's Matt Larson introduces the REST VOL (Virtual Object Layer) in the HDF5 library, focusing on its role as a VOL connector that maps API calls to rest requests sent to external servers, particularly HSDS instances. He emphasizes the flexibility of the VOL layer, allowing users to develop their own connectors, and compares REST VOL to alternative options for cloud-based HDF5 work. The talk covers REST VOL's history, recent updates, and performance advantages, showcasing its support for multi-read and multi-write operations. Matt also highlights new features, including support for fill values and enhanced symbolic link traversal, while discussing ongoing developments like automatic numeric type conversion and multi-server connectivity with a single REST VOL instance. The presentation concludes with an opportunity for questions, addressing topics such as dynamically loading multiple distinct REST VOL instances concurrently.

You can also watch this episode online.

Call the Doctor is a series of weekly, unscripted, live events! The HDF Group’s staff members will answer attendee questions and, for example, go over the previous week’s HDF Forum posts. The HDF Clinics are free sessions intended to help users tackle real-world HDF problems from a common cold to severe headaches and offer relief where that’s possible. As time permits, we will include how-tos, offer advice on tool usage, review your code samples, teach you survival in the documentation jungle, and discuss what’s new or just around the corner in the land of HDF.

Join us every Tuesday at 12:20 p.m. central (US/Canada.) on Zoom!