B2HANDLE

B2HANDLE is the distributed service for storing, managing and accessing persistent identifiers (PIDs) and essential metadata (PID records) as well as managing PID namespaces. The implementation of the service relies on the DONA/Handle persistent identifier solution. B2HANDLE can be used by middleware applications, end-user tools and other service to reliably identify data objects over longer timespans and through changes in object location or ownership. The B2HANDLE service encompasses management of identifier namespaces (Handle prefixes), establishment of policies and business workflows, operation of Handle servers and technical services, and a user-friendly Python library for general interaction with Handle servers and EUDAT-specific extensions. B2HANDLE is mostly transparent to end-users, shielding them from the complexity of infrastructure details. B2HANDLE supports a dedicated Handle record structure (a PID profile) for the safe data management within an infrastructure with a given topology.

Features

• Globally resolvable identifiers via the Global Handle Network (DONA, https://hdl.handle.net/)

• Communities and organisations can obtain Handle Prefixes (ePIC, 21.) for their own use

• PIDs can be hosted at EUDAT service providers

• B2HANDLE operates as a federation of EUDAT service providers based on policies

• PIDs are mirrored across multiple providers for high resolution and high availability

• Handle records can be customised to community and organisational needs (for example include checksums and timestamps to ensure authenticity of the data objects)

• Support for reverse look-ups of Handle records

• REST API for easy registration and minting of PIDs