1. What is Cyberinfrastructure?
Craig Stewart
Indiana University

2. License terms
Please cite as: Stewart, C.A What is Cyberinfrastructure? Presentation. ACM SIGUCCS 2010 Annual Meeting, October, Norfolk, VA.
Except where otherwise noted, by inclusion of a source url or some other note, the contents of this presentation are © by the Trustees of Indiana University. This content is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license ( This license includes the following terms: You are free to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work and to remix – to adapt the work under the following conditions: attribution – you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work.

3. Cyberinfrastructure as defined by Indiana University
Cyberinfrastructure consists of computing systems, data storage systems, advanced instruments and data repositories, visualization environments, and people, all linked together by software and high performance networks to improve research productivity and enable breakthroughs not otherwise possible.

4. The birth of a new word
Derived in late ‘90s from foundational work in computer grids
Gained widespread usage following 2003’s “Revolutionizing Science and Engineering Through Cyberinfrastructure: Report of the National Science Foundation Blue-Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyberinfrastructure” (aka the Atkins Report)
Based on “infrastructure,” a relatively new term

5. Okay, so what’s infrastructure?
Merriam-Webster
Underlying foundation or basic framework (as of a system or organization
Permanent installations required for military purposes
System of public works of a country, state, or region; also: resources required for an activity
Oxford Dictionary of English
Basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for operation of a society or enterprise

6. Put them together and…
Cyberinfrastructure: an infrastructure for knowledge

7. The evolution of language
Cyberinfrastructure consists of computational systems, data and information management, advanced instruments, visualization environments, and people, all linked together by software and advanced networks to improve scholarly productivity and enable knowledge breakthroughs and discoveries not otherwise possible. (2009 joint report of EDUCAUSE Campus Cyberinfrastructure Working Group and Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation)
Slight edit of IU’s 2007 definition given in first slide. This definition is much more general and less research-centric.

8. Break it down Three discrete elements
Technology
People
Effect
A supercomputer may be a component of cyberinfrastructure, but does not in isolation constitute cyberinfrastructure
People are a key element

9. How do you know?
What distinguishes cyberinfrastructure from information technology infrastructure?
People!
Also…
Linkage of technology elements by software and high performance networks into a larger system
Use of cyberinfrastructure having as its outcome the improvement of research productivity and breakthroughs not otherwise possible

10. I’ll take “cyberinfrastructure examples” for $300, Alex…
Open Science Grid
TeraGrid
Other examples at Indiana University

11. Simulation of gas giant planet formation
An astronomer (3) views results of simulations on PSC’s Pople and NCSA’s Cobalt supercomputers (1) as they are written to IU’s Data Capacitor (2)
Further analysis of data takes place on MSU’s Talon supercomputer (4)

12. How is it cyberinfrastructure?
The simulations involve supercomputers, data storage systems, and visualization systems
At different geographical locations
Linked by networks (TeraGrid) and middleware (Globus and the Coordinated TeraGrid Software and Services)
With a researcher as an integral component of execution

13. LEAD II: Bridging the gap
Research solutions often involve analyzing boundaries between systems
Agriculture: How often to apply fungicide to minimize potato blight?
Meteorology: What are the ideal times to apply fungicide?
Cyberinfrastructure bridges the gap between sophisticated data products and information from one domain (meteorology) and application in another (agriculture)

14. Linked Environments for Atmospheric Discovery: LEAD II Science Gateway

15. How is it cyberinfrastructure?
A user composes a computation by connecting tasks through a graphical interface in the LEAD II Science Gateway
The task is handed to a workflow engine, which runs it
LEAD II workflows require hundreds of CPUs and produce gigabytes of data which must be analyzed
LEAD II pioneered the community account as a way for researchers to execute computationally intensive analysis and modeling tools on the TeraGrid

16. Polar Grid Polar ice caps are decreasing
Traditional analysis couldn’t occur till researchers returned from the field
Accuracy and quality unknown until too late
Had to wait a year to repeat experiments
Photo courtesy Keith Lehigh, Indiana University

17. How is it cyberinfrastructure?
Ruggedized equipment allows scientists to begin data analysis in the field
Pinpoint collection errors and identify areas of interest for further collection
Adjust experiments accordingly
Polar Grid equipment in Greenland is used to transfer, process, visualize, and store data collected from air and surface radar and sensors and transmit it back to the US
An excellent example of cyberinfrastructure enabling innovations and discoveries not otherwise possible

18. FutureGrid Cyberinfrastructure for computational science
Creates a hardware, network, and software environment in which researchers can perform and replicate experimental research
Humans interact with cyberinfrastructure to create new software for future cyberinfrastructure

19. Where is cyberinfrastructure going?
Used often since 2003’s Atkins Report
NSF has announced new strategic initiative: Cyberinfrastructure for 21st Century Research
Capability vs. reliability
We accept uncertainty in cyberinfrastructure that we wouldn’t accept in traditional infrastructure such as plumbing or electricity
Cyberinfrastructure – as a term and as a concept – will continue to develop over time

20. Related terms
Science Gateway: interactive interface providing end-to-end support for a particular workflow
Common components
Data search and discovery
Security
User private data storage
Workflow tools
Tracking data provenance
Examples
LEAD II
nanoHUB (Purdue)

21. Related terms
eScience: large scale science increasingly carried out by global collaborations enabled by the Internet
Require access to very large data collections, very large scale computing resources, and high performance visualization
More about cyber-enabled science and less about the underlying infrastructure

22. Related terms
Cybersecurity: measures taken to protect a computer or computer system against unauthorized access

23. Conclusions
Two useful, useable definitions of cyberinfrastructure, depending on context
Cyberinfrastructure consists of computing systems, data storage systems, advanced instruments and data repositories, visualization environments, and people, all linked together by software and high performance networks to improve research productivity and enable breakthroughs not otherwise possible.
Cyberinfrastructure consists of computational systems, data and information management, advanced instruments, visualization environments, and people, all linked together by software and advanced networks to improve scholarly productivity and enable knowledge breakthroughs and discoveries not otherwise possible.

24. Questions?

25. Acknowledgements Research was supported in part by NSF
OCI , OCI , OCI , OCI , CNS , OCI , OCI , CNS , OCI , AGS , OCI , and OCI
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation
Thanks to Thomas Sterling and to CASC/EDUCAUSE workshop organizers and participants who helped develop a definition of cyberinfrastructure