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Information Services and local HPC support Perspectives on NGS Futures

Information Services and local HPC support Perspectives on NGS Futures. Dr Hugh Beedie CTO ARCCA & INSRV. Disclaimer. My views, not necessarily Cardiff’s An outsider’s perspective – INSRV does not use or support the GRID right now A Word of caution: I remember Cambridge Ring

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Information Services and local HPC support Perspectives on NGS Futures

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  1. Information Services and local HPC support Perspectives on NGS Futures Dr Hugh Beedie CTO ARCCA & INSRV

  2. Disclaimer • My views, not necessarily Cardiff’s • An outsider’s perspective – INSRV does not use or support the GRID right now • A Word of caution: I remember • Cambridge Ring • Coloured Books (Red = JTMP) • X400 • Was that success or failure (or in between) ?

  3. Introduction • National (and International) Context • Cardiff Context • Developing the (HE) market for HPC • Experiences with Condor@Cardiff • Motivations (User and Service provider) • Risks • Authentication issues • Access to Data • Summary – Challenges for the NGS • Questions

  4. National & International Context • EU, JISC, EPSRC, RCUK, etc demand • NGS, HPC-SIG, CG-SIG, UHECSS, RDS – existing support structures • Web 2.0, mashups, etc – new possibilities • Cloud computing ? • What is the user demand ? • Compute Cycles, or • Analysis of Data sets • Collaboration tools

  5. Elephants and Fleas ==

  6. Elephants and Fleas ==

  7. Cardiff Context • Large HPC Cluster • More than enough for Cardiff’s researchers right now (but that can change) • Would consider selling cycles (if we get paid enough ) • Large Condor Pool • Easier ‘way in’ for Windows users • Energy efficient (if you use it right) • Experiences in ‘growing the market’

  8. Reasons for the User to access NGS Services • Not available locally for whatever reason • University or College with no HPC facility • Cost (too expensive locally) • School-based (not for me, local politics) • Wrong type (e.g. MPI, not OpenMP/SMP) • Datasets not available • Shared project or collaborators

  9. Reasons for the User NOT to access NGS Services • Cost (too expensive on NGS) • Complexity • ‘My’ knowledge (can’t make it do what I want) • Documentation (am I a ‘techie’ ?) • GRID Certificates (‘unprintable comment’) • Functionality • Doesn’t do what I want

  10. Reasons for the Service Provider to Sell NGS Services • To make money (probably minor) ? • Cost of providing SLA-based access • Cost of Staff support • Hardware gateways, etc • To make reputation (probably minor) ? • Only in community that understands • To join a club • Possibly more important if it is the only way to get access to something

  11. Reasons for the Service Provider NOT to Sell NGS Services • Fully utilised local resources • Buy more ? • Not prepared to commit to required SLA • OK, so negotiate • Insufficient local skills to support the additional environment • Charge more and employ ? • HE becomes more commercial (why help your competitors ?) • Will it ?

  12. Risks – Support Models • Support effort (local or national) • Local support implies local costs • National implies less hand-holding • Therefore MUST be easy to use • Lack of support delivers • Unsatisfied users (local reputation suffers) • Wasted effort (of researcher learning curve)

  13. Risks - Authentication • NGS must support use of the local (IS) authentication scheme • Shibboleth gives access to >£100M of resources • What does a GRID cert give you (other than a headache) ? • If we have to use GRID certs, automate via IDMan and store in the site’s directory

  14. Risks - Marketplace • Selling and buying implies a marketplace • Is HE intended to become a commercial business (in the UK) ? • What about the losers ? • Is HE good at commercial stuff (NO) ? • Global downturns ?

  15. Risks – Accounting (1) • For the Seller • Is Shibboleth OK for up to £££ ? • What about access to much more £££,£££ ? • Approval workflows inc Finance Office ? • For the Buyer • Have I got what I paid for ? • Was it worth it ? • Compare with running own small cluster ?

  16. Risks – Accounting (2) • For the NGS • Different interpretations of FEC • Cambridge – full cost recovery from grants • Bristol et al – fully top-sliced • Cardiff – mixture of the above • …implies different ISP motivations • Responsibility for services (e.g. bills) ? • NGS staff cost recovery

  17. Access to Data & Services • Data services:- • UKRDS, DCC, etc ? • Grav Waves, LHC data, Domain portals • Other services:- • HPC expertise ? • Training ? • Documentation • Are these actually the greatest need ?

  18. Challenges for the NGS • Building the right model to support the.. • Growing (the) Market • Finding the right marketplace to start with • Not SRIF3 cluster owning ? • Not large research groups ? • Getting real money to change hands • Brokering a sufficiently stable service

  19. Questions ?

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