1. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University Access Grid Conference Facility at Boston University Jennifer Teig von Hoffman

2. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University Getting Oriented Where are the cameras? Where are the microphones? Do I need to press anything to talk? What do I do if I want to say something?

3. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University What is the Access Grid? An experimental suite of hardware, software, and tools to facilitate group collaborative experiences over the Internet A project of the National Computational Science Alliance A partnership among computational scientists, computer scientists, and professionals in education, outreach, and training at more than 50 U.S. universities and research institutions Led by NCSA at UIUC Funded by National Science Foundation

4. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University Introductions TLTR participants Boston University Access Grid technical staff Remote participants

5. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University A Walk on Another Side of the Street Focus of TLTR technology discussions so far Asynchronous Wide-spread use by faculty Fairly ubiquitous Access Grid a different creature Synchronous Currently used mostly by computational scientists Still pre-alpha (1.0 release scheduled for Q2)

6. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University Synchronous Users, Unite? We’re certainly not the only ones doing this sort of work Jim Lengel, College of Communications Boston University Corporate Education Center/KnowledgeNet Dominic Screnci, Boston University Medical Campus Marny Lawton and others using PictureTel Opportunities to share experiences and learn from each other have been limited

7. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University Glimpse into the Future “The Access Grid is one of the most compelling glimpses into the future I’ve seen since I first saw NCSA Mosaic.” - Larry Smarr, Alliance Strategic Adviser

8. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University The Facility Established in January 2000, after various temporary Access Grid installations at BU Hosted over 40 events since January, with more than 600 participants at local and remote sites Two Alliance Chautauqua 2000 conferences Lectures and seminars from remote sites including University of Kentucky and National Computational Science Alliance Multi-day tutorials on Computational Science Scores of meetings, both formal and informal

9. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University The Current Installation Three commodity PCs One running Windows 2000 Two running Red Hat linux Three projectors, custom built rear-projection screen Audio mixers and echo-cancellation devices Speakers, cameras, microphones All software open source and/or commodity Connection to Abilene network Cost: About $60,000 (equipment)

10. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University Who Runs and Uses the Facility? Operated by the Scientific Computing and Visualization Group of the Office of Information Technology Used most frequently for Alliance-sponsored trainings and Alliance meetings Available to the BU community for one- or two- time experimental use More dedicated or consistent use would require additional staff, and funding support

11. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University Boston University and the Access Grid Not just a product we bought – we’re part of the community Among the first to install an Access Grid node Among the most active Access Grid sites Leaders in planning and implementing large- venue events Member of Access Grid Deployment Team

12. National Computational Science Alliance Boston University Today’s Speakers Lisa Childers, Argonne National Laboratory Leslie Southern and Steve Gordon, OSC