1. EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Enabling Grids for E-sciencE www.eu-egee.org EGEE and gLite are registered trademarks EGEE NA4 SSC Workshop A&A SSC Proposal C. Vuerli (1,2) and F. Pasian (1,2) On behalf of the EGEE-NA4 A&A Cluster (1) INAF – Astronomical Observatory of Trieste (2) INAF – Information System Unit Athens, Tuesday 5 May 2009

2. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 2 SSC Participation List NGIs that you expect will support the SSC – “support” in the sense that they will commit to provide manpower and/or other resources –At a first stage all NGIs that include A&A groups currently active in EGEE-III A&A cluster: Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia List collaborating projects –Planck, Magic, LOFAR, AUGER, others… List any ESFRIs the SSC is expected to be working with –It is expected to work at least with ELT and SKA A&A projects, but also with PRACE (Computer and data treatment) Have you begun regular discussions with these parties? –The mentioned collaborating projects are already actively involved in the EGEE-III A&A cluster –Contacts have to be initialized with ESFRI projects instead

3. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 3 SSC Governance Will there be a governing body for the SSC? –Yes. At least the SC composed by one representative for each NGI that supports the SSC (and the SC Chair nominated within the SC) is foreseen. Other technical SSC bodies (GPB, UTS and Front Desk have to be confirmed) If yes, will it be open just to “supporting” NGIs or all? –Because the SC is made of one representative for each supporting NGI it is open to just these NGIs If all, how do you expect relations with “non-supporting” NGIs will evolve –One of the main goals of the SSC is to consolidate the presence of the astronomical community in EGI, but also to expand it by progressively involving astronomical institutes/groups of all NGIs. As the SSC evolves it is expected that all NGIs will support it and consequently will have a member in the SC

4. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 4 SSC Technical Organization Will the SSC have its own Grid Planning Board (i.e. local MCB), and if so, would you be interested in having “specialized” representatives from the middleware consortia and operations (e.g. a development coordinator specifically assigned to your thematic area)? –Yes. At present the structure proposed for the SSC includes a GPB; the opportunity to maintain it however must be carefully evaluated with all partners of the A&A cluster The currently envisioned general interfaces with EGI are: The User Forum Steering Committee, the User Tech Support teams (=USAG), the MCB and perhaps a “Front Desk Liaison” team. Are there other interfaces you would like to see? –Not in this moment If you are planning a scientific gateway/portal, do you expect to sustain it entirely within the SSC, or do you expect some dedicated assistance from EGI (e.g. within the Operations budget)? –Some dedicated assistance from EGI is expected in this case

5. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 5 SSC Effort Estimate Please provide some detail, not just a total number of FTEs –28 FTE. This is a very preliminary estimation, to be further evaluated carefully with all partners of the EGEE-III A&A cluster and compared with estimations given for other SSCs in NA4  Porting of scientific applications to EGI : 8 FTE  GPB man power : 8 FTE Grid middleware experts : 4 FTE Tools/services experts : 4 FTE  UTS man power : 8 FTE VOs coordination and management : 2 FTE Resources sharing and procurement : 2 FTE Training/dissemination activities : 4 FTE  Front Desk : 4 FTE

6. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 6 Relations with other SSCs Which other SSCs can you envision having contact with? –We plan to closely keep in touch with all SSCs of disciplinary clusters currently in EGEE-III, namely: HEP, Life Sciences, Earth Sciences, Grid Observatory, Computational Chemistry, Fusion If you are a “horizontal” SSC, are you planning on having specific tasks in support of individual SSCs (for instance, someone who can work with journals or professionals in a specific field)? –N/A

7. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 7 SSC Evolution Do you have a timetable for the evolution of the SSC? –Yes, until April 2010 (end of EGEE-III). The related timetable is reported in the next slide How do you expect the SSC to function in 2 - 4 years? –Starting from May 2010 the main goal of the SSC is to expand and consolidate at the same time the presence of the astronomical community in EGI. Therefore a growing number of astronomical research groups from all NGIs that routinely use the grid to run their applications. This requires:  An intense training/dissemination activity  The consolidation of the A&A-related VOs currently in place (more contributed resources, more registered users, etc.) and when requested, the creation of new ones  Tight contacts and collaborations with other disciplinary SSCs, with horizontal SSCs to exploit their tools/services and in general with EGI.org bodies and contributing NGIs

8. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 8 SSC Timing MonthStep Mar 2009 Apr 2009 Identification of the targeted community (partners of the SSC) Identification of possible stakeholders Update of the preliminary draft of the SSC document Update of the subtask AA2 (Migration to EGI) of the A&A cluster work plan May 2009 June 2009 EGEE NA4 SSC Workshop in Athens Get the status of all currently active A&A-related VOs Identification of the individual who will lead the preparation of the SSC proposal (Chair of the Editorial Committee) Selection of people who will form the Editorial Committee (in charge of the Chair) Jul 2009 Dec 2009 The Editorial Committee will provide to: Finalize the A&A SSC structure Prepare the A&A SSC proposal Jan 2010 Feb 2010 Agreed structure of the A&A SSC in place Organization of the first SSC general meeting Mar 2010 Apr 2010 Fixing of possible issues highlighted during the first general meeting May 2010SSC is in place and fully operative

9. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 9 SSC Activities and Members Scope –Consolidate and make permanent the presence of the European Astronomical Community within EGI, the European Grid Initiative Activities –Consolidation and maintenance of A&A VOs already in place and, if necessary, creation of new A&A VOs –Interactions with other VOs in EGI –Porting of new applications on the EGI Grid infrastructure –Development of tools and services to make the Grid as “user friendly” as possible –Considerable effort spent in training/dissemination activities Members –At a first stage member groups are those that currently contribute to the A&A cluster but the expansion process is already in progress

10. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 10 SSC Structure / I A&A SSC SC (Steering Committee) SSC SC Chair EGI UFSC GPB (Grid Planning Board) MW Development/Maintenance User Community Tools/Serv. GPB Coordinator EGI MCB UTS (User Technical Support) Operations Direct User Support Training/Dissemination UTS Coordinator EGI UTSG NGI-1NGI-2 NGI-3 ……. NGI-k SSC Front Desk EGI Users Community EGI Users Community

11. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 11 SSC Structure / II SC (Steering Committee) –Governs the whole SSC –Members are nominated by supporting NGIs (one for each NGI) –SC members interact with their respective NGIs A&A SSC SC Chair –Chosen within the SSC SC itself –Should be member of the EGI UFSC (User Forum SC) GPB (Grid Planning Board) –Mainly deals with development/evolution of the Grid MW –Groups active in GPB:  MW development/maintenance  UCS (User Community Tools/Services) –GBP driven by a coordinator –The GPB coordinator should be member of the EGI MCB

12. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE EGEE-III INFSO-RI-222667 Tuesday 5 May 2009 - A&A SSC Proposal 12 SSC Structure / III UTS (User Technical Support) –Mainly deals with “Operations”, “Direct User Support” and “Training/Dissemination” that is extremely important for the evolution of the SSC –UTS driven by a coordinator –The UTS coordinator interacts with EGI UTSC (User Technical Support Group) SSC Front Desk –Gives support to:  members of the EGI main bodies  members of other SSCs  users who ask information about the A&A SSC  others…