Overview

ScotGrid Phase I, involving the Universities of Durham, Edinburgh and Glasgow, was funded by SHEFC (now SFC) and PPARC (now STFC). An expression of interest was submitted by 8 universities on 31 May 2006, outlining the following plans:

Expression of Interest

Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow (lead), Heriot-Watt St. Andrews, Stirling, Strathclyde

1. wide variety of disciplines
2. computing-enabled research
3. portals
4. training
5. accounting
6. infrastructure management
7. distributed computing provision
8. three-year project
9. approximately £5M from SFC
10. comparable equipment resources from partners

Objectives

• Added Value: a grid-enabled software infrastructure, providing added value to institutional hardware
• Integration: integrated with existing projects in the UK, Europe and internationally
• Leverage: standardised middleware will be exploited
• Virtual Communities: nurture and support
• Outreach and Training: reach new research communities
  • Scottish companies will also be able to benefit

Development Plans

• Pilot phase: prototype grid service (www.scotgrid.ac.uk)
• Boost: R&D at NeSC (www.nesc.ac.uk)
• Prototype: e-infrastructure in operation for four years
• Growth: support for growing number of activities
• Evolution: technology development required
• Challenges:
  • Grid accessible to non-computing researchers
  • development of discipline-specific portals
  • information management
  • integration of different authentication systems

Accounting and Monitoring

• Ensure fairness and balance of the institutional resources between the different research communities
• Effective distributed accounting provides the basis by which partners can have confidence in resource sharing and in additional resource provision and consumption
• Annual ScotGrid accounts provided to SFC will enable each partner institute to determine their usage charges, providing a basis for long-term sustainability via research grants and the rolling equipment programmes in each university

SFC Support

• Institutional equipment investments are comparable to the support required from SFC for staff to develop and realise the full potential of ScotGrid
• In addition, support will be needed for meetings, travel, etc
• The full economic cost over three years, starting July 2007, is estimated at around £5M
• Project Management: (1.2FTE) A dedicated project director plus a fraction of the PI to coordinate the complex technical developments and specialised discipline requirements
• System Management: (4 FTE) Local technical management of the key facilities forming part of ScotGrid
• Grid Operation: (6 FTE) A distributed team of technicians to achieve agreed levels of service across the entire ScotGrid infrastructure
• Accounting Support: (1 FTE) Development of accounting support to ensure fair and well-managed use of ScotGrid facilities
• Portal Development: (4 FTE) A team of specialists to develop the specialised portals required by client disciplines
• Training and Outreach: (2 FTE) A team of specialists to determine the development and training needs of client disciplines

Sustainability

• There is a long-term demand for a Grid over the next ten years
• Medium-term sustainability will depend upon close co-operation
• The project is designed to be fully inclusive
• The ScotGrid resource will help sustain the leading position Scotland has in e-Science and Grid research, and ensure that the Scottish research community is well positioned for future research funding opportunities
• Continued support via grant applications for new research growing out of the project and from the rolling equipment programmes in each University
• A summary report of research income generated and/or supported using the infrastructure will be compiled in 2009 to enable SFC and the partners to determine the most appropriate sustainable funding model from 2010 and beyond

Grids and Buisness - key points

• Trust: Not used to sharing resources
• Security: Sensitive data with sensitive applications
• Business models:what can be charged for as a service
• Guaranteed QoS: Service Level Agreements
• Accounting: tracking resources usage in multi-admin context
• Standards: to encourage long-term investment
• Applications: need to support legacy applications
• Portability: across multiple platforms and implementations
• Open source support: robust reference implementation
• Software license management: how to generate revenue in a grid context

EGEE-II provides an excellent framework for collaborating with business on these subjects