Abstract
The Simulation Data Access Layer protocol (SimDAL) defines a set of resources and associated actions to discover and retrieve simulations and numerical models in the Virtual Observatory. SimDAL and the Simulation Data Model are dedicated to cover the needs for the publication and retrieval of any kind of simulations: N-body or MHD simulations, numerical models of astrophysical objects and processes, theoretical synthetic spectra, etc... SimDAL is divided in three parts. First, SimDAL Repositories store the descriptions of theoretical projects and numerical codes. They can be used by clients to discover theoretical services associated with projects of interest. Second, SimDAL Search services are dedicated to the discovery of precise datasets. Finally, SimDAL Data Access services are dedicated to retrieve the original simulation output data, as plain raw data or formatted datasets cutouts. To manage any kind of data, eventually large or at high-dimensionality, the SimDAL standard lets publishers choose any underlying implementation technology.