New Ideas for Computing Environments Networking Information Communication Engineering EnginFrame as a multi-purpose framework for computational and data Grids Institute of Physics - Prague - Czech Republic - 12 Dec 2002

OUTLINE n NICE Company Profile n IT Evolution and visions n Enginframe Architecture & Features n Service overview n Case Studies n Future Perspectives and Outlook n Summary and Conclusions

NICE Background n Distributed Resource Management –LSF, projects, consulting n System Administration –VENUS, consulting, support –Unix - Windows NT integration n Computing Portals –EnginFrame, projects and consulting –Web, Java, XML competence –Expertise in Citrix MetaFrame on NT & Unix

NICE Customers/Partners n ResearchINFN, ENEA, ICTP, CASPUR, CILEA, CNR, Astronomical & Astrophysical Observatories n MechanicalFerrari, FIAT Avio, CRF, Comau, Iveco, ELASIS, Marelli, UTS, Teksid, Brembo, Lear n EnergyABB, Ansaldo, Nuovo Pignone, ENEL, EniChem, Enterprise Oil, Agip n BioTechPharmacia, (ENEA) n AerospaceAlenia, Galileo, IDS n ElectronicsSTMicroelectronics, Accent, Alcatel, Ericsson, Siemens n TelecomTelecom Italia, Italtel, CSELT n EducationScuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Polit. Of Milan, Universities n PartnersCompaq/HP, IBM, NEC, SGI, Sun, Avaki n ConsultingAccenture, Elsag, ITGlobalValue

Where We are ITALY Main Office: Camerano Casasco ASTI Other sites (consultants): TURIN, MILAN, CATANIA

OUTLINE n NICE Company Profile n IT Evolution and visions n Enginframe Architecture & Features n Service overview n Case Studies n Future Perspectives and Outlook n Summary and Conclusions

ICT evolution The two driving forces: n Semiconductors technology evolution –Moore’s Law = 2x increase every 18 months n Networking and Communication technologies –Communication speed growth is faster than Semiconductors’ evolution –Internet and World Wide Web

Mainframe-centric vision Pros n Uniform access n Easy Admin. n Full Resource Allocation Control Cons n High Costs n Limited Scalability n Fast obsolescence n Single point of failure

Desktop-centric vision Pros n Costs n Scalability n Incremental growth n Freedom for users Cons n Partial utilization n Limited local power n Complex management

Company Network Company Network Linux Compute Clusters Application Servers Application Servers Powerful Workstations Powerful Workstations... Dedicated Servers Dedicated Servers Network-centric vision n The Network is the Computer! –LSF (Resource Optimization & Analysis) –VENUS (System Administration) –FlowGuide (Job-flow Management) –Avaki (Data Management)

The Web-centric vision Dedicated Servers Dedicated Servers LSF Compute Farm MetaFrame Inter/Intranet Server(s) Clients Standard Web Browser Globus/Gri d Machines

Computing Environment(s) Company Network Company Network Today ASP(s) on the Internet ASP(s) on the Internet Tomorrow? LSF Compute Farms MetaFrame Servers MetaFrame Servers Powerful Workstations Powerful Workstations... Dedicated Servers Dedicated Servers Globus/Gri d Machines Globus/Gri d Machines

User Problems n Are Technical Computing environments getting more and more complex? n Do we need to be System Administrators to do our job? n Do we really need to type this command line?!? n Isn’t there an easier way to access computing resources?

System Administrator Problems n How do we manage this complexity? n How can we integrate heterogeneous Unix/Windows resources? n How can we reduce start-up costs for new applications and methodologies? n How can we cut training, ownership and maintenance costs?

OUTLINE n NICE Company Profile n IT Evolution and visions n Enginframe Architecture & Features n Service overview n Case Studies n Future Perspectives and Outlook n Summary and Conclusions

Why EnginFrame? n Common problems: –Distributed Resource Managing solutions acceptance and usability –Client access: Windows-Unix integration –Policy enforcement –Collaboration with customers or partners –Data management on WAN –Pressure from Enterprise-wide projects n No expertise for Technical Computing problems among “traditional” web players

What is EnginFrame? n Inter/Intranet access to computing resources n Any-client can connect through any browser –Thin/Fat clients, appliances, PDA, Wireless,... n High scalability & flexibility for any resource –Access an arbitrary number of HW & SW resources (clusters, stand-alone hosts, …) n Based on the existing command-line n Flexible in content presentation n Easy to use, setup and manage

EnginFrame (R)evolution 1.x - LAN Integration (1998) »Unix-Windows NT Integration »Simplified parallel and distributed computing, … –Developed in collaboration with Compaq 2.x - WAN MetaComputing (1999) »Standards convergence »Dynamic contents management Computing Portal Infrastructure

CLIENT Users “browse” the Computing resources as easily as a Web site. Standard Web browsers allow broad accessibility and very positive user experience RESOURCES Agents “publish” service offerings as XML and act on servers’ request XML can describe many different kinds of services (LSF clusters, standalone, …) WEB SERVER Collects Resource offers and creates HTML pages and forms to interact with. Web servers with servlet engine are becoming a standard WHY? HOW? EnginFrame three tier model

Application Server Application Server LSF Compute Farm Web ServerClients Standard Web Browser MetaFrame + NFuse MetaFrame + NFuse EnginFrame Server and Repository Browsing request HTML Rendering XML Output Service request X / ICA connections Computing Portal with EnginFrame GLOBUS Grids EnginFrame GlobusAgent LSF Agent NFuse Agent... ASP on the Internet ASP on the Internet

ClientWeb Server NICEDeliverables NICE Deliverables Resources Web BrowserWebSphere Web front-end S+C VENUS System Admin UNIX, Linux UNIX, Linux, W2KAny OS Operating SystemHardware PC, WS, Laptop,...Server, Web FarmServer, WS, Rack,... Citrix MetaFrameCitrix ICA Client GUI applicationsGrid Mgmt PCC LSF/GlobusAvaki DataGrid / AFS Data ManagementApp. & Data Integr. EnginFramePCC Intelligence Analysis InfoMiner License Mgmt LicenseBrokerLicenseMiner*

EnginFrame features n Built on standard technologies –Open to Grid standards (Globus, GridML) –Easily extensible to Open Grid Service Architecture (OGSA) specs n Interfaced with leading 3rd party tools n Flexible data management –Support for input/output data transfer –Support for remote access to centralized data –Native XML representation of data n Flexible security management –Support data encryption (via SSL server) –Authentication: NIS, Domain, AFS, Grid/Globus, etc.

EnginFrame service description n Describe service options, actions and information n Intuitive design n Fast and easy prototyping n Use your preferred XML editor SCREEN CAPTURE OR OTHER IMAGE

EnginFrame user experience n User logs in and provides his/her credentials n Browse through service offerings n Fills the required data form and (if needed) specify his/her input files n Submits his/her request for the job

Security n Open architecture to support different security policies n Directly supports HTTP authentication and plain-text authentication n Connection can be secured with SSL or VPN n Security plug-ins available for most common protocols (AFS, Globus GSI, Nfuse, …)

EnginFrame Benefits n Hide the complexity of Technical Computing environments n Instant migration to the Computing Portal paradigm from a command based world n Enhance resource Manageability for System and Application managers n Enable smooth NT-UNIX-appliance integration n Ease deployment of new software and methodologies n Automatic and transparent enforcement of company policies n Simplify resource Accessibility in the Virtual Workplace n Enhance collaboration with remote sites and partners n Protect your Intellectual Property n Shorten Time-To-Market/Time-To-User

Why working together? n Customers request solutions! n The suite of products in this room is an industrial-strength Grid solution n The whole picture of the Grid Portal is more understandable than each of its parts... …but it needs all the parts to get real! …and if we don’t sell, our competitor sells

OUTLINE n NICE Company Profile n IT Evolution and visions n Enginframe Architecture & Features n Service overview n Case Studies n Future Perspectives and Outlook n Summary and Conclusions

Service overview n The basic building block of the portal is the Service n A Service is an XML representation of any Computing related action –a Service might be a FEM solver execution, a parallel Job based on MPI, a query to the LSF master to find my pending jobs, etc. n Services are designed focused on their users –A Service should be self-explaining –It should make life easier for the user

Service structure n The Service is basically described by –a service name –a service description or help (info) –the options requested to the user –the command (action) to be executed when the service is requested n None of these items is required n Service behavior highly depends on the presence of such items

XML terminology n Tag or Element - an item enclosed in <>, which is part of an XML document –e.g., –e.g., n Attribute - an option of a tag, which has a name and a value enclosed by single or double quotes –e.g. –e.g. n Name space - an optional naming convention that groups tag related to a common context –e.g., –e.g.,

Service Example gzip sample maximum medium none EF_SPOOLER_NAME="gzip $file” export EF_SPOOLER_NAME ${EF_ROOT}/plugins/lsf/bin/bsub -o output.txt gzip -$level \"$FILE\” gzip sample maximum medium none EF_SPOOLER_NAME="gzip $file” export EF_SPOOLER_NAME ${EF_ROOT}/plugins/lsf/bin/bsub -o output.txt gzip -$level \"$FILE\”

EF Rendering pipeline n The rendering pipeline enriches and then transforms the EF XML files n Customization can be at Agent-level and/or through an XSLT style-sheet EF XML file EnginFrame Agent Service results are added EnginFrame Server Special tags are expanded XSLT Processor Templates are applied To browser

Choosing the right layout n One very effective method is to select one existing page from your Intranet/Internet site n You need to identify a page where you can figure out the space for the service navigation bar and the service content area

OUTLINE n NICE Company Profile n IT Evolution and visions n Enginframe Architecture & Features n Service overview n Case Studies n Future Perspectives and Outlook n Summary and Conclusions

Case study: Consolidation Company in the Defense sector n Different companies have merged into one n Sites and customers spread over WAN n Projects need common coordination and collaboration –No common design methodology –Duplicated licenses across different sites –Insufficient local resources –Limited communication

Solution: EnginFrame Centralized eDesign Services

n Savings in management cost and complexity n Simulation from anywhere, in any moment –No training needed –Application-independent Collaborative engineering n Project-specific cost control n Integration with project management, workflow and existing Intranet Portal (Oracle-based) n Full control over resource allocation n Unified and efficient resource administration Benefits

Case Study: Intellectual Property n Scenario: –Accent is designing a chipset for Siemens –Siemens needs to test the firmware & software for this chipset Chipset IP + + FirmWare n Problem: –Intellectual Property cannot be disclosed

Solution: EnginFrame Black-box for Firmware simulation

Before & After LSF Compute Farm LSF Compute Farm Internet Firewall Internal users Secure HTTP

Benefits n Great savings in time, travel and logistic costs n Simulation from anywhere, in any moment n All existing infrastructure is left intact –no additional/dedicated HW and software –no administrative efforts to set-up a new farm n Intellectual property is fully protected –only specific files can be returned to the user –pre-coded simulation scripts n No training needed

Case Study: Time to User Full ASP set-up in 1 day!

Case Study: Data Exchange Collaboration problem in the supply chain n Many suppliers with different supported 3D models n Complex operations to convert files n Management not comfortable with uncontrolled data exchange n User friendliness

Solution: EnginFrame DataGate

Case study: a portal for DataGrid Problems: n Scientists only care about their applications and not about the technicalities to run them n They are too lazy to learn new command line interfaces n The middleware services and the ways to access them change very rapidly

The solution: EnginFrame GENIUS: The Grid Portal for DataGrid

Benefits n Independence from MiddleWare changes: –Transparent to the users –The user is guided in his/her choices n Independence from Layout changes: –The services mantain the same structure –New graphic look & feel can be easily implemented n Intuitive use

OUTLINE n NICE Company Profile n IT Evolution and visions n Enginframe Architecture & Features n Service overview n Case Studies n Future Perspectives and Outlook n Summary and Conclusions

Development strategy n EnginFrame evolves at two levels –Architectural evolution –Project driven enhancements n Future technological focuses: –OGSA/WebServices –Enterprise/Science Portal integration –DB integration –B2B and workflow integration –3D visualization integration

Roadmap n EnginFrame Q4 02 –Data management enhancements –Portlet integration n EnginFrame Q2 03 –Authorization system –Early DB integration n EnginFrame Q4 03 –WebServices & early B2B functions

Summary & Conclusions n This New Portal Technology provides an easy way to access user’s applications in a distributed environment (e.g., Computational and Data Grids) n The standard W3C languages compliance guarantees a very high compatibility and flexibility in multi-purpose development of service architecture n Benefits for the end-user: –Ubiquitous access to computational & data resources –Intuitive interaction with services –High abstraction do not imply any specific IT technical knowledge

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What does XML mean? n XML files must be well-formed n An XML is well formed when: –There is exactly one element, called the root –the elements, delimited by start- and end-tags, nest properly within each other –each element attribute is delimited by single or double quotes n XML files are case sensitive n All XML files in EF must be well formed