1. A preliminary definition
The CEOS Wide Area Grid
A preliminary definition

2. Cooperation today Agencies want (and sometimes need) to cooperate
Examples:
one agency produces data that will be used by another agency, e.g.,
one agency produces level 1 data relevant to a space mission
another agency processes these data up to level 2
agencies develop applications that will be used by others, e.g.,
a research institute implements an algorithm in a software suite
The software suite is applied by an agency to some collection of datasets
agencies decide to distribute a space mission control facility
the agency that owns the satellite implements the platform control facility
each agency that owns an instrument part of the satellite payload implements the instrument specific control facility
commands and telemetry flow between the platform control facility and the instrument control facility
Cooperation between agencies is established in most cases on an ad hoc basis with
dedicated hardware and software
dedicated networks
Paul Kopp – WGISS 21

3. Cooperation Tomorrow
There is a long term trend for cooperation amongst agencies
almost all space missions are now developed/operated in cooperation
It is time for agencies to think about the best way to organize future cooperation in order to
save time and money
not reinvent the wheel
Tomorrow cooperation will be based on generic resources, i.e.,
not specifically set up for a particular cooperation, but
organized as a pool from where they may be drawn and used on demand by an agency
agencies that own the pool of resources make a federation (also called a virtual organization)
Paul Kopp – WGISS 21

4. What is needed for cooperation amongst agencies?
Political will
agencies must be prepared to view and organize their resources and activities in the perspective of cooperation within a federation
some agency resources will become part of a pool of resources permanently granted to cooperation
Characterization of the cooperation
agencies need to analyse their cooperation in the perspective of a future system enabling cooperation: system view
each function of such a system must be identified and analysed, e.g.,
ability to exchange files between two agencies
ability for an agency to query a distant data base owned by another agency
ability for agency to launch an application owned by another agency
etc.
Paul Kopp – WGISS 21

5. Components of a system enabling cooperation
Resources provided by each agency
computers, data storage facilities
software
connectivity (each resource must be connected to the other ones)
Resources shared by agencies
network connecting the resources
middleware
that makes a single system of all resources, with components from entities like
Globus
EGEE
GRID5000
with the level of security expected by the agencies
upper level software (ex.: RDBMS)
Paul Kopp – WGISS 21

6. A starting point for permanent cooperation: the Wide Area Grid
Federation of CEOS agencies
sharing a common view on cooperation
volunteer to set up a federation (or ‘virtual organization’)
pooling some of their resources
building a common system upon these resources (the Wide Area Grid), based on
a network
a grid middleware
general purpose additional software
…and on the CEOS grid past experience
Paul Kopp – WGISS 21

7. Next steps 2006 2007 Set up the initial federation of agencies
at least 2 agencies
3 agencies is fine
more agencies are welcome
Define the main functions of the Wide Area Grid
user requirements
system definition
Define the Wide Area Grid architecture
resources, middleware, etc.
2007
Implement and deploy the Wide Area Grid
Experiment the Wide Area Grid
Paul Kopp – WGISS 21

8. Thoughts?
Paul Kopp – WGISS 21