1. EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Enabling Grids for E-sciencE www.eu-egee.org EGEE and gLite are registered trademarks The EGEE User Support Infrastructure Torsten Antoni, Diana Bosio, Mario David, Günter Grein

2. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 2 User support is: User education Simple access to a broad range of information Day-to-day support for the users of grid data, compute, networking and VO specific services Application integration and support

3. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 3 User support in a grid Distributed nature of the Grid : experts located everywhere, sometimes in specific centres; spread of resources and services; different policies and laws Variety of users : beginners, system administrators, operators, network specialists, Virtual Organization communities Variety of applications : high energy physics, biomedical, earth observation, astrophysics, computational chemistry, etc

4. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 4 Services expected by the user A single access point for support Correct, complete and responsive support A portal with a well structured sources of information and updated documentation concerning the VO or the set of services involved Tools to help resolve problems (search engines, monitoring applications, resources status, etc.) Integrated interfaces with other Grid infrastructures’ support systems

5. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 5 EGEE approach Global Grid User Support (GGUS) is the EGEE support infrastructure for Grid users, deployment and operation problems It offers a large variety of services to satisfy user needs at all levels It does not substitute but integrate existing infrastructures and coordinates support efforts

6. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 6 A little history GGUS starts in 2003 as a prototype support system in LHC Strictly hierarchical structure in LCG (tier model) Transition to EGEE meant migration to a different operations model: The federative approach 11 Regional Operation Centres instead of a Grid Operation Centre Different approach was needed in user support also

7. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 7 RC A RC B RC C RC A RC B RC C The EGEE support infrastructure ROC C ROC B ROC N RC A RC B RC C TPM VO TPM C VO TPM B VO TPM A GGUS Central System Middleware support Middleware support Middleware support Deployment support Middleware support Deployment support VO Support C VO Support B VO Support A Middleware support Middleware support Middleware support ROC C ROC B ROC N Network Support Other Grids COD CIC Portal

8. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 8 Central Application (GGUS) Global Support Units Support workflow

9. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 9 Support workflow Central Application (GGUS) Automatic Ticket Creation Local Helpdesk Local Problem? RC Global Support Units

10. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 10 ROC-Portal Regional Support Units GGUS Regional support workflow

11. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 11 TPM + VO TPM VO Support Units ROC Support Units Services Support Units First Line Support Middleware Support Units Deployment Support Units Network Support Software Support Units Other Grid Infrastructures External Support Units Support workflow inside GGUS

12. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 12 Operator-on-duty Purpose/role –Detect problems by monitoring the grid –Report them by creating and assigning GGUS tickets –Provide help and follow-up on problems Operations Support teams : “COD” –Teams from the ROCs –Weekly shift CIC-Portal/GGUS interface –Based on Web services at GGUS side –“COD dashboard”: graphic user interface for operators, hosted at IN2P3 Computing Centre (Lyon, France)

13. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 13 FZK, Karlsruhe, GermanyIN2P3-CC, Lyon, France COD  ROC basic workflow CIC PORTAL COD dashboard UK FRDECHIT … Regional Support Units Operator on duty - Create() - Set(ticket) SOAP -Get(ticket) - Get_all() Ticket Central Helpdesk CIC Helpdesk WSDL GGUS Problem detection & reporting Ticket follow-up GGUS Interface

14. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 14 ENOC tasks Collect tickets from NRENs which agree to send them to the ENOC; Forward to GGUS the ones that seem relevant (possible impact on the grid infrastructure); Receive tickets assigned to ENOC by the GGUS TPM (1 st level support); Troubleshoot them provided that the ENOC has access to suitable monitoring tools; Contact identified faulty domains or reassign ticket to the associated site if there is no evidence of a backbone problem (e.g. LAN issue).

15. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 15 Current ENOC status Interface with NRENs is running like in EGEE: –ENOC receives Trouble Tickets (incident, maintenance) from GÉANT and the NRENs (currently France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and United Kingdom);  More to come: Poland, the Netherlands, Czech Republic; –Forward it to GGUS after analysis and if relevant to EGEE. Identified as the Network Support unit in GGUS: –2 nd level support for network related issues. GGUS Users Support Units ENOC NRENs GÉANT2 EGEENetwork

16. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 16 The supporters Ticket Processing Managers (TPM): Grid experts as first line support VO TPM: First line support for VOs Specialized Support: Middleware, Deployment, Specialized VO Support ROCs and RCs: Local support and services ENOC: Network support

17. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 17 EGEE and OSG ticketing systems connected OSG Footprints Regional Helpdesk Regional Helpdesk Regional Helpdesk Regional Helpdesk Service support centre Service support centre VO support centre VO support centre

18. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 18 GGUS provides an entry point for reporting problems and dealing with the grid GGUS offers a portal where users can find documentation, and search engines to find answers to resolved problems Solutions are stored in GGUS and Wiki pages are compiled for frequent or undocumented problems/features Meeting the needs – some key points

19. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 19 GGUS offers hot lines for users and supporters and a VRVS chat room for supporters GGUS is interfacing other grids’ support infrastructures GGUS is used for daily operations to monitor the grid and keep it healthy Specific user problems can be directly communicated to the Grid Operations and broadcasted to the entire grid community Meeting the needs – some key points

20. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 20 Future challenges Involve more partners in support –Share the workload –Spread the knowledge Improve supporters responsiveness –Training –Raise awareness for support issues –More resources (more supporters) Improve usability

21. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-II INFSO-RI-031688 Torsten Antoni EGEE-II Conference 2006 25-29 September 2006 21 Future challenges Improve accuracy of answers and solutions –Training –Monitor support groups’ performance Improve response times –Training –Define SLAs together with operations Keep the support infrastructure up to date –Fill holes –Include new areas