1 / 11

Is 'Designing' Cyberinfrastructure - or, Even, Defining It - Possible?

Is 'Designing' Cyberinfrastructure - or, Even, Defining It - Possible?. Peter A. Freeman National Science Foundation January 29, 2007. The views expressed are the personal views of the author and are not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation or the U.S. Government. Outline*.

kedem
Download Presentation

Is 'Designing' Cyberinfrastructure - or, Even, Defining It - Possible?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Is 'Designing' Cyberinfrastructure - or, Even, Defining It - Possible? Peter A. Freeman National Science Foundation January 29, 2007 The views expressed are the personal views of the author and are not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation or the U.S. Government.

  2. Outline* • Context • Etymology of “cyberinfrastructure” • Design approach *Draft paper for comment available at Conference website under “Resources.”

  3. Context • Perspective: tool builder • Viewpoint: knowledgeable executive involved in building cyberinfrastructure (CI) • Objective: clarify discussion and suggest design considerations

  4. Etymology • ‘infrastructure’ has a long history • Scientific ‘infrastructure’ fairly recent • Computers a natural part of scientific infrastructure; communications gear more recent • NSF support of infrastructure as an example • Origin of the term ‘cyberinfrastructure’ • Addition of information to the definition is new and very important

  5. History of NSF CI Investments

  6. Defining CI • Constructive approach: take a concrete and practical approach - a platform on which other things are built • Very different definitions for different groups of users • Rapid advance in underlying technology leads to change in characteristics of CI • Today’s ‘advanced CI’ are tomorrow’s commodity tools • Atkins Report and NSF activities provide the context

  7. Cyberinfrastructure: the integration of hardware, middleware, software, data bases of information, sensors, and human resources, all interconnected by a network (the Internet in almost all cases) Initial Definition

  8. Working definition: cyberinfrastructure consists of: • Computational engines (supercomputers, clusters, workstations – capability and capacity) • Mass storage (disk drives, tapes, …) and persistence • Networking (including optical, wireless, ubiquitous) • Digital libraries/data bases • Sensors/effectors • Software (operating systems, middleware, domain specific tools/platforms for building applications) • Services (education, training, consulting, user assistance) All working together in an integrated fashion.

  9. Design Considerations • Separate actual engineering design from speculation about the future • Start with a practical, but general definition • Underlying technology defines the envelope • Policies and laws then shape the result • Change process is crucial

  10. Additional Considerations • Multiple CIs will exist - interfaces are crucial • Policies, laws, procedures should be considered during basic design • Greatly improved communication and cooperation between policy and technical communities needed • Greater understanding of who the ‘users’ are is needed

  11. Summary • It is possible to define CI • It is possible to design CI • All players are important and must communicate • Creating infrastructure has the potential of having great and long-term impact

More Related