Collaborative Tools for Grid Support Laura F. M c Ginnis Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Pittsburgh, PA, USA July 20, 2002 NeSC Workshop on Applications and Testbeds on the Grid

This Talk The Software Tools Collaboratory, an NIH funded project at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, has recently completed a protein folding simulation, utilizing 4 major systems at 3 geographically distributed sites. This presentation will discuss the issues related to setting up and running the simulation, from the perspective of establishing and maintaining the infrastructure and communication among participants before, during and after the simulation. As many sites have found, coordinating the resources for grid computing is more than just a matter of synchronizing batch schedulers. This presentation will share the collaboratory’s experience in supporting and managing communication among participants, especially in the back channels, using common, publicly available tools. The Experiment The Tools Alternatives 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

The Experiment: The Task Simulate protein folding for a 400- point surface using CHARMM Using the 4 systems, the elapsed time for this experiment was estimated to take 30 hours 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

The Experiment: The Cast 1 Scientist at The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, California 1 Legion Administrator at the University of Virginia 4 machines of different architectures TCS Alphacluster at Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center T3E at Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center IBM SP at San Diego Supercomputing Center Linux Cluster at University of Virginia The Chorus – 4 Collaboratory support observers at 2 locations in Pittsburgh 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

The Experiment: Prep Work Establish the protocol Test the components Including the collaborative tools Coordinate dedicated time On all platforms With all necessary support staff 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

The Experiment: The Run Launch jobs to each machine via Legion Monitor progress of jobs as they run Collect results back to the scientist’s site for evaluation 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

The Tools: Prep Tools Majordomo Mhonarc Document Management: Enotes (US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory) 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

The Tools: Run Tools Application Sharing Microsoft NetMeeting, SGI’s SGIMeeting Communication: AOL Instant Messenger Majordomo 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

The Tools: AIM Chatroom Activity over time 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

The Tools: AIM Participation by Cast Member 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

The Tools: AIM Statement Types 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

Alternative Tools: Document Management DoE Electronic Notebooks: DocShare UServ CVS (Concurrent Versions Systems) Shared Disk Space PCs Unix 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

Alternative Tools: Document Sharing Available from Cost Ease of Use Sharable Document Types Web-Based Interface Web Client Support Cross-Platform Client System Requirements Server System Requirements Shared Editing Editing Method Object Handling Method Source Code Availability History Tracking Other features/notes Evaluation Criteria 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

Alternative Tools: Communication Instant Messenger Services AOL Instant Messenger Yahoo Instant Messenger Microsoft Instant Messenger ICQ Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Zephyr Imici 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

Alternative Tools: Communications Provider Cost Size of Download Ease of Signup File Transfer Ability Logging Chat Rooms SPAM Problems People Locator Information Required Auto-ID Firewall/Proxy Usage Platform System Requirements Internet Notes Evaluation Criteria 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

Lessons Learned Running applications on a grid is still a people- intensive activity Participants require strong communication tools Custom solutions are still the norm Use cases should be analyzed to identify commonalities which can be addressed (and differentiators that cannot be) Tools are available to support back-channel communications Don’t overlook “popular” software There are also low-overhead tools available Know your risk and annoyance threshold

The Cast: Credits The Scientist – Mike Crowley The Legion Administrator – Glenn Wasson The System Administrators TCS Alphacluster and PSC – Chad Vizino IBM – Kenneth Yoshimoto Linux – Glenn Wasson The Chorus Sergiu Sanielivici (PSC) Cindy Gadd (UPMC) Robb Wilson (UPMC) Laura McGinnis (PSC) 20-July-2002 NeSC Applications Workshop Glasgow, Scotland

Appendix 1: Contact Information for Communication Tools AOL Instant Messenger (aol.com) Yahoo Instant Messenger (yahoo.com) ICQ (ICQ.com) Microsoft Instant Messenger (microsoft.com) Internet Relay Chat (mirc.com, ircle.com) Imici (imici.com) Zephyr (mit.edu)

Appendix 2: Contact Information for Document Management Tools ( ( ( DocShare ( (must Userv ( CVS (Concurrent Versions Systems) (