1. Key prototype applications Grid Computing Grid computing is increasingly perceived as the main enabling technology for facilitating multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary collaborations. By sharing unique resources amongst organizations and by providing uniform and ubiquitous access to these facilities to both scientists and industrial end- users, a new generation of challenges can be addressed. As clusters of commodity compute systems become more widespread and high-speed networks extend to an ever larger part of the community, Grid middleware and grid portal services are deployed at an increasing number of sites in the Netherlands. Building Virtual Organizations The real and specific problem underlying Grid technology – well described by Ian Foster and Carl Kesselman – is coordinated resource sharing and problem solving in dynamic, multi-institutional virtual organizations. This sharing involves direct access to computers, software, data, and other on-line resources, as required by a range of collaborative strategies in science, industry and engineering. This sharing is necessarily highly controlled, operating security over the wide-area Internet, with resource operators and users negotiating detailed contracts on what is to be shared, who can use their resources and on conditions of use. Such a set of individuals and institutions forms the Virtual Organization. Grid Protocol Architecture Applications Grid Services GRAMGSI Grid Fabric CondorMPIPBSRoutersLinux Application Toolkits DUROCMPICH-G2Condor-G GridFTP Information Services Solaris Cactus The Grid protocols define the fundamental way by which applications can `talk’ to the resources. Taking key concepts from the Internet architecture, a small number of resource and connectivity protocols allow different applications to access a diverse range of resource types in the Fabric. DutchGrid Platform DutchGrid is the platform for large-scale distributed computing in the Netherlands. Open to all institutions for research and test-bed activities, the goal of DutchGrid is to coordinate the various deployment efforts and to offer a forum for the exchange of experiences on Grid technologies. DutchGrid Platform collaborators meet regularly, usually at get-togethers organized by of one of the existing Grid projects in the Netherlands: DataGrid, ASCI/DAS-2 and ICES/KIS Virtual Lab. Besides, the platform provides limited hands-on support for organizations seeking to use Grid for their application. This support is provided through collaborations with one of the participating projects. If you (or your organization) is actively considering to use and deploy Grid services, you are cordially invited to join the DutchGrid Platform. See http://www.dutchgrid.nl/ Some Resources NIKHEFDataGrid Application Test Bed: 70 dual-processor Pentiums 2 Terabyte caching disk store, NCFGrid Fabric Research Cluster: 66-node dual-processor AMD Athlon ASCI (UvA, Vrije Universiteit, TU Delft, Univ. Leiden, Univ. Utrecht) DAS-2 distributed cluster computer 200 dual-processor IBM netfinities SARASGI Origin 3800 “Teras” (1024-node supercomputer) 200 Terabyte tape robot; NCFGrid production cluster: 32-nodes Other partners: NWO/NCF, KNMI, ASTRON, JIVE, ESA/ESTEC, DutchSpace, FOM AMOLF Biomedicine and bio-informatics LHC: Petabytes of data Earth Observation: Ozone http://www.dutchgrid.nl/ DutchGrid ENVISAT 3500 MEuro programme cost 10 instruments on board 10 instruments on board 200 Mbps data rate to ground 200 Mbps data rate to ground 400 Tbytes data archived/year 400 Tbytes data archived/year ~100 `standard’ products ~100 `standard’ products 10+ dedicated facilities in Europe 10+ dedicated facilities in Europe ~700 approved science user projects ~700 approved science user projects 3500 MEuro programme cost 10 instruments on board 10 instruments on board 200 Mbps data rate to ground 200 Mbps data rate to ground 400 Tbytes data archived/year 400 Tbytes data archived/year ~100 `standard’ products ~100 `standard’ products 10+ dedicated facilities in Europe 10+ dedicated facilities in Europe ~700 approved science user projects ~700 approved science user projects http://www.esa.int/ KNMI Nijmegen Delft Leiden Amsterdam VU WCW Utrecht Telin NIKHEF SARA UvA AMOLF CWI DutchGrid site map 20021104 David Groep, NIKHEF ASTRON, JIVE WCW Amsterdam