Abstract * Foil Index for this file
See also color IMAGE
Given by Geoffrey Fox Wojtek Furmanski Marek Podgorny at HPDC-4 Tutorial on August 1, Pentagon City Virginia. Foils prepared July 23,1995
Abstract * Foil Index for this file
See also color IMAGE
| We discuss current NII technologies including HTML, HTTP, MIME,CGI,PERL4 and Web search engines and the changes expected by including |
| Understood if not Web Integrated conecpts such as RDBMS, Multimedia servers, Compression, Collaboration, GIS/terrain rendering, collaboration(MOO), Agents, PDA's, security, Opendoc, SGML,HyTime, CORBA,OLE, Windows95/NT |
| Hardware trends such as ATM, ISDN, Wireless |
| Integrating Vision such as WebWindows, WebWork(metacomputing), Personal servers, Televirtuality |
| New Web approachs such as Java, VRML, PERL5, Metadata, Webservers |
| Education and other application requirements |
| Current Web/ATM based education including Syracuse's CPS600, Phy105 and Living Schoolbook projects |
| New Web integration ideas including WebTools, Webtop Publishing, WebDBMS, WebSpace, WebFlow, and the interpolating WebScript |
This table of Contents
Abstract
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| HPDC4 |
| Washington DC |
| August 1,1995 |
| NPAC |
| Geoffrey Fox, Wojtek Furmanski, Marek Podgorny with |
| Gang Cheng, Roman Markowski |
| Syracuse University |
| 111 College Place |
| Syracuse |
| NY 13244-4100 |
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| We discuss current NII technologies including HTML, HTTP, MIME,CGI,PERL4 and Web search engines and the changes expected by including |
| Understood if not Web Integrated conecpts such as RDBMS, Multimedia servers, Compression, Collaboration, GIS/terrain rendering, collaboration(MOO), Agents, PDA's, security, Opendoc, SGML,HyTime, CORBA,OLE, Windows95/NT |
| Hardware trends such as ATM, ISDN, Wireless |
| Integrating Vision such as WebWindows, WebWork(metacomputing), Personal servers, Televirtuality |
| New Web approachs such as Java, VRML, PERL5, Metadata, Webservers |
| Education and other application requirements |
| Current Web/ATM based education including Syracuse's CPS600, Phy105 and Living Schoolbook projects |
| New Web integration ideas including WebTools, Webtop Publishing, WebDBMS, WebSpace, WebFlow, and the interpolating WebScript |
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| Browsers have SAME interface on ALL Computers |
| CGI Programs are typically written in PERL but can be essentially ANY UNIX Process and so do simulation, database access, advanced document processing etc. |
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| Clients (such as Mosaic and Netscape) support browsing of hyperlinked documents but have no internal interactive/compute capability |
| Servers read HTTP and deliver requested service to client |
| HTML -- a document format supporting hyperlinks |
| HTTP -- a Transport Protocol defining Interaction between Web servers and Clients |
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Application Specific NII Specific Services for
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| MIME -- a data format allowing agent-like (extended email) communication |
| CGI -- a standard interface allowing sophisticated server extensions |
| PERL -- a rapid prototyping language(script) aimed at text and file manipulation |
| Web Search engines such as YAHOO, HARVEST, WAIS -- early distributed database access technology supporting search and indexing |
| net.Thread, WebTools, RealAudio are early Web Interactive services |
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| Relational databases -- Oracle,DB2 have Web Interfaces |
| Collaboration from Console Units (PIctureTel, CLI), Desktop (SGI Inperson) to MOOs |
| Compression from MPEG and Wavelet to host of proprietary solutions -- a faction of 20 to 200 saving in space and bandwidth |
| Geographical Information Systems |
| Security will enable commerce on the Internet -- essential for Defence as well |
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| ATM, ISDN, Wireless, Satellite will be hybrid physical implementation of NII |
| CORBA, Opendoc, OLE, SGML, Hytime are critical file and document standards |
| High Performance Multimedia servers to enable digital information delivery on demand |
| Data transport from MPI/MSGWAY/PVM to AAL to CBR/VBR |
| Windows95/NT -- the last of the the non social(Web) operating systems -- will follow dinosaurs(IBM mainframes) into extinction |
| Personal Digital Assistants -- WebNewtons done right -- Telescript (agent based communication) and Magic Cap operating system |
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| WebWindows -- the open nonproprietary operating system of future supplanting UNIX, Windows95/NT, Apple etc. -- manages with a single interface all machines either individually or collectively on the NII |
| WebWork -- Implements Computing for both Simulation and Information underneath WebWindows -- the correct implementation of HPCC ideas such as HPF,MPI with pervasive technologies |
| Personal Servers -- Newton was correct but too early. The Web is a server - server technology |
| Televirtuality -- All Web Users are linked into a single virtual world |
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| Like UNIX or MS-DOS or Windows 3.1(NT,95), WebWindows is an operating system for a "computer" |
| The "computer" is a metacomputer consisting of the 50,000 Webservers (currently--eventually hundreds of millions) on Internet for the World Wide Web |
WebWindows can also be used for the metacomputer (collection of heterogeneous networked computers) which is a business enterprise system
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WebWindows is a multi-client multi-server technology
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| Includes World wide multimedia File access and dissemination -- current immediate Browser Services |
| Initial Websearch and agent technology such as World Wide Web Worm, Lycos,Yahoo, Harvest etc. |
WebTools is initial NPAC Project to illustrate future WebWindows
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| WebWindows development team will run using a network of WebTools servers -- each user will run personal server |
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| It does not provide multi-threading/multiu-user support, memory management, device drivers and such base services -- these are supplied by UNIX, Windows or Mac O/S |
| Rather it provides equivalent of higher level O/S services such as available under UNIX shell or applications supplied under Windows |
| In the future one will build applications for WebWindows not UNIX / PC windows etc. |
Very interesting is WebWindows version of Lotus Notes to support Business Enterprise systems -- build from Web components such as those prototyped in WebTools
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| Java -- an interpreted C++ like language (script) allowing fully interactive clients which execute applets. Has full set of classes to make clients such as HOTJava. Licensed by Netscape |
| VRML -- a 3 dimensional HTML allowing universal description of physical objects and allowing interchange of virtual worlds, commercial product designs etc. |
| PERL5 -- an extension of PERL4 with full object oriented characteristics and extended pointer(array) constructs -- allows construction of Web Software obeying good software engineering practices |
| Multithreaded WebServers integrating current Web, Compute and digital multimedia delivery services -- future Enterprise Systems |
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| WebTools -- Early NPAC Prototype of WebWindows Equivalent to Program Manager with Navigation, File manipulation, Mail |
| WebDeskTop Publishing -- an early killer application under WebWindows supplanting Word, Wordperfect, LOTUS123 , Persuasion etc. Java allows clear powerful implementation. |
| WebRDBMS -- Integration of Relational and Distributed databases with both agent based heuristics, formal indices and free text search |
| Metadata -- Common attributes to allow integration and search of heterogeneous databases |
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| WebSpace -- Televirtual implementation of full 3D MOO like environment building on LabSpace at Argonne for the virtual scientific laboratory |
| WebFlow -- NPAC prototype of Web based extended Khoros/AVS supporting dataflow linkage of computers for simulation and people and data for workflow management |
| WebScript -- the evolving Middleware of scripted languages including extended PERL5, Java, Telescript, MOVIE(NPAC compute oriented script) etc. |
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Three Dimensions of Multimedia Extensions for Interactive Services
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| Illustrates 3 base layers of WebWork architecture and all main system components. |
A 4--node compute-web is represented
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| Java/HotJava model is used for WebFlow front-end implementation |
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The paper describing this project is available at SCCS715 in NPAC technical report series |
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Application Specific NII Specific Services for
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Desktop Publishing and Productivity Tools in WebWindows (WebTop Productivity/Publishing)
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InfoVision: Delivery on Demand of Information from:
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| Commerce -- digital Cash and signatures with appropriate authentication and security. Enables both Web Commerce (shopping) and use of Web for proprietary information |
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Interactive and "batch" Collaboration
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Metacomputing -- the collection of world wide computers as a coordinated (in subgroups of computers) computational engine (for simulation or information processing)
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| This is distributed databases for supporting cost effective healthcare with less fraud, better use of existing information for establishing care-plans etc |
| This is collaboration, remote instrument control for telemedicine |
| Could be full televirtuality for virtual-reality controlled remote surgery in battlefield or accident scenarios |
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| This is basis of Virtual University and NII can be expected to be much more succesful than videosystems because interactive, collaborative, explorative and full multimedia information at student and teachers fingertips |
Base of Distance Education is InfoVision for full interactive curricula
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| Rich Collaboration environments including televirtual MOO's for student-student and student-teacher interactions |
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| InfoVision is "successor" to TV with any multimedia information delivered on demand( choice from infinite number of channels) |
| Community Networks will define local societies and will have significant impact on local government |
| Shopping on the Web will include multimedia digital yellow pages , Commerce, online catalogs (which is InfoVision again) as well as perhaps powerful VR interfaces where you can try out new clothes and cars |
| Collaboration (gossip as in computer forums) could be an important and dominant use but perhaps not initial major one |
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OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) such as approving and recording credit card transactions. This is a type of InfoVision and Commerce which is operational today
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| Decision Support varies from fraud detection, inventory planning and market segmentation for optimizing shopping by mail |
| Decision support can vary from search of a single giant relational database to galaxy-wide search of heterogeneous distributed database |
| Workflow Support as in LOTUS Notes integrates Collaboration, Project Management and Distributed Databases. This supports ongoing distributed enterprise -- this is also essential in collaboratory |
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| Critical feature is realtime, "come as you are" adaptive linked computers and people |
| Judgement support extends decision support into an "exploratorium" scenario as crises tend to be unexpected |
| Major need to search community and government databases for immediate information on resource location and availability etc. Metadata(summaries) essential |
| Collaboration between commander in field , specialized anchor desks (domain experts) and those in field. |
| User Interface essential as user will be tired and searching unfamiliar data |
| Geographical Information Systems and browsing multiple video sources (InfoVision again) will be critical as judgements will depend critically on spatial data. |
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| This is future model for (inter)national distributed research |
| Rich Collaboration environment essential as collaborative research requires nontrivial person to person interactions |
| Searching distributed databases basis of much scholarly work (infoVision and Digital Library) |
| Metacomputing for multidisciplinary, multi-institutional simulations and for control and data storage and analysis from remote instruments whether satellites, telescopes, accelerators etc. |
| Distributed (people) Software Engineering support for production of distributed computing software |
| Needs workflow support as distributed enterprise |
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| Critical feature is closely integrated collaboration of very many people and computers requiring |
| Metacomputing Simulation and distributed database support as in Collaboratory |
| Workflow support including configuration management and central CAD databases |
| Rich collaboration environment to support distributed design decisions |
| Standards and Security to allow interlinking of people and software from different organizations |
| Key special requirement is distributed coordination |
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| A set of manufacturing companies -- Rockwell International, Northrop Grumman, McDonnell Douglas, General Electric and General Motors is studying the NII implications for a particular MAD system "Affordable Systems Optimization Process" (ASOP) |
Interesting parameters are that next major aircraft to be built could involve:
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| ASOPnet -- physical network infrastructure -- presumably constructed from linking existing infrastructure from government and commercial sources |
Needed general capabilities (WebWindows) of NII and
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| including some such as metacomputing and configuration control where ASOP has driving requirements |
| ASOP Information Infrastructure (AII) which are NII services tailored and presented for ASOP |
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Link Collaboraters by communication system ASOPnet -- a microcosm of the NII
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| Use COTS (World wide Web) Software and Systems where-ever possible and so physical network should not have special features not supported by "Open NII" |
| Security (proprietary data) needs to be determined |
| Parts should have performance (ATM ) needed by high speed distributed applications |
| Appropriate database/storage and compute servers needed on ASOPnet |
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| Evaluate, Install, Maintain, Enhance as necessary WebWindows and base NII Services |
| Security -- special needs of large data transfer of proprietary information |
| Object and Database services including access, search, dissemination and especially configuration control |
| Collaboration services including linking of people, computation and databases in configuration controlled systems engineering environment |
| Metacomputing services linking many thousands of programs (with wrappers/agents to allow re-use of existing code) in distributed groups as needed for specific multi-disciplinary optimizations |
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| A set of manufacturing companies -- Rockwell International, Northrop Grumman, McDoinnell Douglas, General Electric and General Motors is studying the NII implications for a particular MAD system "Affordable Systems Optimization Process" (ASOP) |
Interesting parameters are that next major aircraft to be built could involve:
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| NPAC WebTools is a CGI-extended Web server that offers a HyperWorld based metaphor for organized content authoring and navigation, currently implemented in terms of the following tools: HyperWorld Manager, HyperWorld Navigator, On-Line HTML Editor, WebMail and CASE tools for HySource Worlds authoring. |
HyperWorld Manager offers database management support for the server document tree, integrated with browser GUI tools for remote file/document and directory/folder handling (create, destroy, copy etc.). The model assures concurrency control, atomicity and integrity of the document datatbase.
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HyperWorld Navigator offers a consistent navigation metaphor.
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| On-Line HTML Editor offers remote authoring support for documents, created by the HyperWorld Manager. |
WebMail offers the Web interface to the MH mailing system and initial support for collaborative forums.
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CASE tools offer disciplined WebTools software development environment, integrated with the HyperWorld database.
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User-level WebWork metaphor is given by WebFlow -- a distributed dataflow model built in terms of WebWork modules and MIME object/document communication channels.
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| WebWork users will build and control distributed computing applications (compute-webs) using Web browsers based visual interactive editors and monitors. |
| We are currently prototyping such WebFlow front-ends at NPAC using Java/HotJava model. WebWork modules are represented by Java threads (Screen 6) and visualized as interactive interconnected icons (Screen 7) |
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| Early prototype of AVS or Khoros like visual compute-web editor. |
Two interactive modes are supported:
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| In mode a), each click in the active editor window places a new module box there. |
| In mode b), each click on module port generates links with all other modules. |
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| One current WebWork/WebFlow application, prototyped at NPAC, is Software Project Manager (Screen 8). Each software developer runs his/her WebTools server and uses HySource CASE tools. These servers are WWVM-connected to agent and manager servers. Agent server receives automatic notifications from developers servers on each software volume update, and uses customizable thresholds to decide when to fire a report to the manager or a deadline reminder to a developer. |
| Software Project Manager tools contains a simple agent server that mediates between client/consumer ( here manager) and servers/producers (here developers). |
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| A front-end for the software project manager tool. |
Three types of modules are supported:
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| Developer modules are linked to the agent module and report automatically all changes in the software volume (handled by WebTools CASE toolkit integrated with WebTools editor). |
| The agent module integrates the results and uses customizable threshold to decide when to fire a report to the manager or a deadline reminder to a developer. |
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| WebWork is an open, world-wide distributed computing environment based on computationally extended Web Technologies |
| The backend computation and information infrastructure is provided by the World-Wide Virtual Machine -- a mesh of computationally extended Web Servers (called Compute Servers) |
| These servers manage (via CGI mechanisms) a collection of standardized computational units called WebWork Modules. |
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| Geographically distributed and Web-published WebWork modules interact by HTTP/MIME based message/object passing and form distributed computing surfaces called Compute-Webs |
| The front-end user/client interfaces are provided by evolving Web browsers with increasing support for two-way interactivity (e.g. Java, VRML) that facilitates client side control and authoring. |
| A natural user-level metaphor -- WebFlow -- is supported in terms of visual interactive compute-web authoring tools. |
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| Implements the "Viable Base" Enterprise Model of HPCC Software identified in Pasadena2 workshop |
| This will allow good programming tools to be developed and mnaintained as larger enough base to support software industry |
| Implements a powerful software engineering framework for parallel computing by integrating parallel programming with the World Wide Web Productivity Tools |
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| This implies that we look at both Grand Challenges and National Challenges but we suggest this is not enough: |
| WebWork Builds HPCC technologies on a broad not niche base starting at bottom (Web,PC's) |
| not top (MPP's, Supercomputers) of computing pyramid |
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| WebWork is based on a three-layer architecture shown in figure 2, including: World_Wide Virtual Machine (WWVM) in the (bottom) layer 1, Middleware layer 2 of agents, wrappers, mediators etc., and high level programming environments (e.g. HPFCL) and user interfaces (e.g. WebFlow) in the (top) layer 3. |
| All base WebWork concepts can be implemented in terms of today's Web technologies (HTTP, MIME, CGI) and a prototype is under development at NPAC. |
| The overall design is open and ready to upgrade the existent (e.g. browsers or servers) and include new (e.g. agents or distributed object brokers) Internet/Web technologies |
| One starting point for the WebWork construction is provided by NPAC WebTools -- a CGI-extended Web server with enhanced content authoring and database navigation functionalities. WebTools Server is used as a prototype WebWork node server. |
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| Illustrates 3 base layers of WebWork architecture and all main system components. |
A 4--node compute-web is represented
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| Java/HotJava model is used for WebFlow front-end implementation |
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The paper describing this project is available at SCCS715 in NPAC technical report series |
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| NPAC WebTools can be viewed as an instance of Web Productivity Tools (navigators, editors, databases), developed collectively by the Internet/Web community. |
| We view these emergent open tools as central to develop and maintain Web based World-Wide Metacomputing. |
| Software exchange and integration tools are urgently needed. Without it, 'pervasive Web' will become soon too complex to maintain and will be dominated by closed corporate products. |
| One such attempt is made by the HySource CASE package in NPAC WebTools. So far, we developed HyPerl World (Screen 3) of the WebTools source code and we now integrate it with Java (Screen 4) in the form of HyJava World (Screen 5) |
| These tools will evolve towardsVirtual Software Laboratory -- a collective distributed CASE framework for virtual corporation of WebWork developers. |
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| HyPerl World page, generated automatically by the WebTools CASE package, and integrating documentation with the source. |
| More generally, we call by HySource the hypertext documentation with navigable source code included. |
| Function calls and external variable references are 'blue' and point to the corresponding HySource pages. |
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Java documentation shares some common aspects with HySource,
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| Java and VRML CASE support will be included as next steps in WebTools CASE package. |
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NPAC REU(Research Experience for Undergraduates) project develops
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| Tables are hierarchical and offer links both to the original Sun documentation and to NPAC information pages. |
| NPAC Java pages are focused on educational applications of individual classes and applets and offer suitable metric information. |
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| WebWork pilot project is a collaboration between NPAC, Boston University and Cooperative Systems Corporation, MA. It will prototype a candidate VSL, WWVM, Java based user interfaces, and port selected Grand/National Challenge applications to this platform. |
| The project will use NPAC WebTools to bootstrap the software process and will prototype WWVM in terms of current Web technologies (Screen 1) |
| Technically, early WWVM will include existent Web Servers with add-on CGI (Perl) scripts that build server-to-server communication and offer document database management, and module publication and linkage/instantiation support. |
| This base model will be further extended and refined by using and driving evolving Web technologies. For example, the disk-based model in Screen1a will likely evolve towards memory-mapped model based on multi-threaded interpreted compute-servers (Screen 1b) |
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Illustrates implementation of WebWork message passing in terms of
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| This diagram illustrates point-to-point communication between Web servers, used to implement a webflow channel between compute-web modules. Two extreme implementation modes are described: a) based on today's Web server technology, and b) based on thread memory mapped high performance implementation, expected in future Web compute-servers. Subsequent steps, represented by a sequence of labelled lines in the figure, are described below in both implementation modes. |
| a) Today's Web server mode: (1) -- M1 locks O1 on S1 disk. (2) -- M1 sends POST HTTP message to S2 with M2 URL in the header sector and with O1 URL in the body sector. (3) -- S2 activates M2 via CGI and passes O1 URL as a command-line argument. (4) -- M2 sends GET method to S1 with O1 URL in the header. (5) -- S1 fetches O1 from its document tree. (6) -- S1 sends the content of O1 to M2 which completes the GET exchange. (7) -- M2 saves O1 by overwriting current I2 on the S2 disk. If I2 is locked, M2 waits (blocks). (8) -- After O1 is saved on the S2 disk, M2 returns 'end-of-transfer' acknowledgment to M1 which completes the POST exchange. (9) -- M1 unlocks O1 and exists. |
| b) Compute-server (future Web server) mode: (1) - M1 locks its memory object O1. (2) - M1 checks if socket connection to M2 is in M1 connection table. If yes, go to (5) below. Otherwise, M1 connects to S2 and sends M2 creation script. (3) - S2 spawns M2 and acknowledges. (4) - M1 receives acknowledge message and saves new socket in connection table. (5) - M1 gets O1 handle. (6) - M1 writes O1 to M2 using socket lib calls. (7) - M2 reads O1 using socket lib calls. If I2 is free, O1 buffer is copied directly to I2 buffer. If I2 is locked, M2 creates O1 clone and blocks. (8) - M2 sends acknowledge to M1. (9) - M1 unlocks O1 and blocks. |
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| WebWork Interpolates and Integrates pervasive Web HPCC and (nonHPCC) commercial software as in following table comparing computing concepts in three "worlds"; HPCC -- Commercial mainstream -- Web |
| Current Web model needs computational extensions for banking/financial applications, manufacturing, interactice shopping/videogames etc |
| HPCC can provide Web both parallel computing programming models, libraries and language/runtime concepts which coordinate components of distributed or parallel system |
| HPCC needs the Web (or equivalent) to give it viable distributed computing and software engineering base |
| The Web interpolates between "flaky" research software and solid but closed corporate solution. Clear trend away from proprietary towards open software models. |
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| Current HPCC, Current Commercial Mainstream, Current and conjectured future Web |
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Print this from Postscript Version |
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The paper describing this project is available at SCCS715 in NPAC technical report series |
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| RSA155 requires about 300 teraops hours to solve with NFS |
| RSA129 needed about an order of magnitude less time. Can be done today faster if use Number Field Sieve |
| We have roughly one to five million independent calculations which form the rows of matrix (after clever graph theory manipulates and combines) |
Set of master servers publish problem to solved with suitable demos, description of algorithm and full marketing attention.
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| Clients return results -- not so easy except by email and cut and paste |
| Best done as a set of cooperating servers where server performing factorization publishs it solution as a file on the WWW. |
| Cooperating servers also better for computer administrators as can control set of clients at a given site |
| Initially use humans but replace by agents when software ready |
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| In WebWork, we also propose an interpreter of HPFCL -- High Performance Fortran Coordination Language, which will support coarse grain distributed HPF computation. Compiled HPF modules, published on individual nodes of the WWVM, will be easily invoked by HPFCL scripts, integrated with GUI front-ends (such as Khoros etc.) and employed in collective computation on the WWVM. |
| In WebHPL we further explore the concept of interpreted HPCC language environments and we propose an object-oriented Web based parallel programming environment supporting HPF and C++ for distributed metacomputing. |
| WebHPL, or Web based High Performance Languages, is our most ambitious project in the area of Web and HPCC integration. It addresses both base software engineering and applications, and it refers both to backend and frontend layers of language compilers and interpreters, seeking a uniform programming model for interactive HPCC. |
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Agent
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Application
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Bottom-Up Process
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Channel
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Client
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Compute-Server
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Compute-Web
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Database
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Document
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Editor
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HPFCL -- HP-Fickle for High Performance Fortran Coordination Language
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Middleware
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Module
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Object
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Object Type
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Port
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Problem
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Problem Solving Environment
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Publication
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Server
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Software Process
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Solution
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Top-down Process
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VSL or Virtual Software Laboratory
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WebFlow
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Web Productivity Tools
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WebScript
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WebTools
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WebWork
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WWVM or World Wide Virtual Machine (Layer 1 of WebWork)
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