Purpose:

The purpose of the teleconference(s) is to develop a HPCMP vision for an Information Environment based on current initiatives and projected user requirements. Initial functionality will include, but will not be limited to, browser access to legacy databases at each site. From these teleconferences we hope to arrive at a list of common features that all centers want and a plan for building the system. We will then put together a presentation for the Program Office and the center directors at SC99

Through interactions with users, academic and industry partners, each Center has developed goals and initiatives that influence the implementation and direction of Information Environments for their Center. The purposed teleconference(s) will be used to formulate a plan that will take individual initiatives to the next level. This level would provide a unified HPCMP vision, enabling a broader, wider, cross section of the HPCMP community to utilize and benefit from one or more Information Environment(s). Exchanging ideas, identifying areas of common concern, and leveraging HPCMP resources between the Centers is essential in developing a cohesive vision and demonstrating an overall requirement to the Program Office.

Goal:

The goal of the teleconference(s) is to formulate a HPCMP vision for Information Environment(s) and make recommendations to the Center Directors and Program Office. The vision and recommendations would address future directions, implementations, scalability, and sustainment of HPCMP community requirements in areas of distributed secure web-based access to, distributed web servers, distributed databases, and distributed information servers. The teleconference results will be socialized and submitted for consideration at the "Corporate Initiative" priority-funding meeting hosted by the Program Office at SC99.

Start-up Meeting- Monday, October 18, 1999, 3:00pm - 6:00pm EST (open to all)
All HPCMP staff and affiliates are welcome to attend the start-up meeting. In order to foster a productive discussion, time will be allotted to overview each sites current initiatives and projected user requirements. Focus discussion on how your initiative can be used towards a HPCMP Information Environment initiative. Discuss if relevant to project 1) Security/Access; 2) Distributed/Scalable capabilities; 3) Maintenance/Sustainment; 4) Users/Requirements.

Follow-up Meeting- Monday, October 25, 1999, 3:00pm - 6:00pm EST (Active participants)
In order to focus available HPCMP resources, discussions will be limited to staff and affiliates who are willing to be an active contributor of time and resources to the agreed upon vision and implementation. Discussion will focus on 1) Any open/unresolved issues, concerns, or potential problem areas; 2) Common vision, objectives, goals; 3) Overarching policies; 4) Priorities for actions; 5)Recommendations (including needed funding)

Brief-out meeting - Monday, November 1, 1999, 3:00pm - 6:00pm EST (1 representative/site)

• Introduction: We want to build a web-based information management system that will serve as a common entry point for all participating centers. Such a system will be usable by PET personnel, MSRC administrative and system support personnel, and (ultimately) the MSRC user community. Several centers already are funding projects, such as web-based access to particular database information, that can be viewed as pieces of an overall project.

• Purpose of Meeting: We plan to request one year’s funding from the program office for this project. It is our goal in these meetings to (a) find ways to leverage as much of the current efforts by ARL, ASC, and NAVO into the generic system, and (b) arrive at a consensus among the participating centers as to what features they would like to have in the generic system that can be reasonably produced by the academic institutions in a year.

• Overview of Current Efforts: Each of the centers below will discuss web-based information systems that they currently have funded or are considering developing. Other centers with initiatives may be added to the list. Presentations should describe capabilities, but should also cover the following topics: web security, access control, maintenance, and scalability to a distributed environment.
• ASC: Training Management Database System, Information Environment Initiatives.
• ARL: The Intranet Operating Environment
• NAVO: Web-based access to S/AAA and queue status information

• Technical Orientation from Academic Leads: Should discuss technologies that are being used in the current projects (CGI scripts, Java servlets, XML). Should explain what each does so that we have some idea of the capabilities that are available to us. Should also make suggestions for other features, capabilities that we should consider adding into the system.
• NACSE
• NCSA
• NPAC

• Discussion Items: From the background provided by the previous presentations, we would like to formulate a battle plan for a presentation to the Program Office and the center directors at SC99. As stated above, we want funding for one year, so it is essential that we identify the features of a system that all centers would like to have. We should also outline future capabilities that can be added in subsequent funding years, assuming the initial success of the current proposed system.


• Security: The system must be kerberized. We have to be clear on exactly what this means.


• Commonality: Of the tools presented above (both developed and proposed), we need to determine which are desired by all centers.


• Adaptability: NACSE’s S/AAA access system was written specifically for NAVO. NPAC’s Training Management Database System was written specifically for ASC. What will it take for these projects to be adapted to other centers?


• Interdependency: We do not envision this as a tool that runs independently at each center. The system will provide a common entry point (or portal) to distributed databases. Site-specific information will remain in site databases and will be accessible by site personnel only. However, it is also important that we design this so that site-spanning information can be accessed (with proper authentication and access permission) by users at all centers. An example is a repository of PET documents that can be accessed by PET personnel at all sites.

• Conclusion: It is hoped that as a result of this teleconference, we are able to get firm commitments to participate in the project from as many centers as possible. We also hope to identify a list of common features that the participating centers would like to have implemented. Interested centers will be asked to participate in a follow-up meeting next week to further refine the requirements and help focus the results of these discussions into the SC99 presentation.