outline.1 Grid Computing Spring 2007 Tuesday/Thursday 11:00 am - 12:15 pm Instructors Dr. Barry Wilkinson University of North Carolina, Charlotte and Dr. Clayton Ferner University of North Carolina, Wilmington Grid Computing, B. Wilkinson, 2007 Jan 22, 2007

outline.2 Grid Computing Using geographically distributed and interconnected computers together for computing and for resource sharing. “The grid virtualizes heterogeneous geographically disperse resources” from "Introduction to Grid Computing with Globus," IBM Redbooks

outline.3 Virtual Organization Usually, grid computing involves teams working together on a common goal, sharing computing resources and possibly experimental equipment. The geographically distributed grid computing team and their resources is called a virtual organization. The resources shared include software and experimental data.

outline.4 Interconnections Usually grid computing employs the Internet to interconnect the computers. Standard Internet protocols are used.

outline.5 Course credit This course can be taken by students at any university connected to the NCREN, for credit at their institution. Course number assigned by the institution. Listed as an undergraduate course but can be taken for graduate credit with my approval and your institution. Graduate students can expect more demanding work.

outline.6 Course virtual organization Current list of sites scheduled to receive course with students: University of North Carolina at Asheville University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of North Carolina at Wilmington

outline.7 Course grid structure UNC-WUNC-AUNC-C coit-grid01.uncc.edu coit-grid02.uncc.edu coit-grid03.uncc.edu coit-grid04.uncc.edu 3.4 Ghz dual Xeon processors Course portal trc.cs.uncc.edu torvalds.cis.uncw.edu

outline.8 Class schedule Each university has its own class schedule, see: UNC-C schedule: First day of classesJanuary 8 Dr. Martin Luther King Day University ClosedJanuary 15 Student Recess - no classesMarch 5-10 Spring Weekend - no classesApril 6-7 Last day of classesMay 1 Reading DayMay 2 Final ExaminationsMay 3-10 It will be necessary for students at sites with breaks that do not coincide with UNC-C's breaks to watch recordings of classes later.

outline.9 Prerequisites Programming skills such as already acquired by a typical junior/senior undergraduate Computer Science student. It is expected that you have a computer (PC or mac)! Some work best done on your own computer. The grid computing platform is a Linux system. Access to Grid is through: a web-based portal, and though an ssh connection. You will need to be able to perform (simple) Linux system commands. Programs are either (simple) C programs or (simple) java programs depending upon the context.

outline.10 Course Home Page for announcements, slides, assignments, reading materials, tests dates, etc. Visit regularly.

outline.11 Course Text There is no assigned course textbook. Materials and links are provided on the home page.

outline.12 Outline of Topics Introduction to grid computing Grid computing system infrastructure design Security Job management, schedulers Data management and workflow High performance scientific programming, MPI Portal design Grid Applications More details of course home page

outline.13 Assignments and Grading Several “simple” 1-2 week prewritten programming assignments (tasks) –Grid services –Globus jobs –Job scheduling –Workflow editor –Portlet design Mini-project (grid application) Class tests (2) Final test Small print: Subject to change. The instructor reserves the right to change the assignments and the grading to make it easier or harder. 45% 15% 25% 15%

outline.14 “Simple” Prewritten Programming Assignments Detailed instructions provided on achieving a task (creating a grid service, running a GT 4 job, etc.) Simply follow instructions. At end, asked to extend the work - e.g. add functionality to a service.

outline.15 Software Course assignments require specific distributed computing software from the NSF NMI package. The software is installed on systems at each sites. Student will access to a primary sites software through remote ssh access and also access to all resources via the course grid portal. Certain software can easily be downloaded and installed on your own PC, so that you can do some work at home. Ideally students should install specified software on their own system to do certain assignments.

outline.16 Class tests and assignment submission WebCT at UNC-C will be used for multiple- choice class tests and for submitting assignments. Everyone will be given an account on this system.

outline.17 Instructors details UNC-Charlotte Barry Wilkinson Department of Computer Science University of North Carolina, Charlotte Home page: Office Hours Monday: 11:00 am – 12 noon Tuesday/Thursday: 12:30 am to 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm

outline.18 Instructors details UNC-Wilmington Clayton Ferner Department of Computer Science University of North Carolina Wilmington Home page: Office Hours Monday/Wednesday/Friday 1 pm – 3 pm

outline.19 UNC-Asheville Dean Brock Department of Computer Science University of North Carolina Asheville Home page: Office Hours ??

outline.20 Expectations Print out slides before class, read them, and annotate them during class. Read key papers and other materials provided. Ask questions during class and participate in class discussion.

outline.21 NCREN facility (North Carolina Research and Education Network) Site interaction Each site will be using their NCREN facility, which provides microphones for individuals to speak. Please feel fee to speak at suitable times but remember that NCREN needs to be able to recognize the site and speaker, so first announce your institution.

outline.22 NCREN facility continued Since most microphones are turned on all the time, any sound will be heard across all sites unless a site turns their microphones off, so try to avoid unnecessary sounds. Fans from laptop can be especially disturbing, so move laptop away from a microphone. Turn cell phones off.

outline.23 NCREN Video Class Recording The lectures are available after 24 hours at: Click on class: ITCS Username: ITCS4146 Password: Wilkinson

outline.24 Acknowledgements Partial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation’s Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement program under grant # / and by University of North Carolina, Office of the President. Their support is gratefully acknowledged.