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Requirements (1). Home directories NICE ALNTS NT based (no Novell) No Yes File sharing, single password etc. Support ~400 users Yes No Same environment for all users yes yes Backup/restore yes yes 24 hour assistance no no Reboots scheduled with users (no) (no) Disk space / quotas
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Requirements (1) • Home directories NICE ALNTS • NT based (no Novell) No Yes • File sharing, single password etc. • Support ~400 users Yes No • Same environment for all users yes yes • Backup/restore yes yes • 24 hour assistance no no • Reboots scheduled with users (no) (no) • Disk space / quotas • Under experiment control no yes • Backup of local disks? no no • Web access: http://lhcb.cern.ch/~user (no) yes • Quality of service currently better on ALNTS, but cannot scale to 400 users
Requirements (2) • Desktop software • MS Office, Netscape, Phone book, Printing etc. • Stability: • Users • should be encouraged to use new versions, but should be able to choose timing • should be able to install their own software and configure it, without fear of losing it after next NICE update • Mirroring not acceptable - can choose when to mirror but not what to mirror. And it does not work... • Support • Mirroring to local server means no support • No central support (mirrored system different from central system) • No local support (no expertise) • Local solutions mean poor support • e.g. Printers • Major cause of unhappiness, both NICE and ALNTS have pros and cons
Requirements (3) • Physics software (LHC++, CERNLIB) • Must be able to choose version to use • Possible with NICE and ALNTS • Must be able to access latest features/bug fixes in “new” area • Requires remirroring on ALNTS • Compiler options and versions must be consistent • Currently not possible to link together NICE versions of CERNLIB and LHC++ • Access to central repository is a reasonable solution • Provided LHCb and IT/ASD can agree on compiler options • Central software repository (c.f. ASIS) • For both desktop and physics software • Notification of ALL changes • To allow informed choice on what/when to update • Automatic update should be possible with high granularity
Requirements (4) • LHCb production software • “Project” space needed, accessible to all LHCb users • Currently on ALNTS • Could be provided on central service • Includes homegrown software, but also commercial software required (and supported) by LHCb • (Who manages licenses?) • Software Development Environment • Should be accessible to all LHCb users • LHCb specific configuration, requires support within LHCb • LHCb specific desktop environment needed • Identical for all LHCb users • c.f. HepiX
Requirements (5) • Development server • In parallel to production service for LHCb community, computing group needs a “private” server to: • Test new tools • Develop and test new software • Test new configurations • etc. • By definition less stable, strange behaviour and “random” reboots should be acceptable
Conclusion • Production service for ~400 users best provided on centrally maintained server • But requires major changes in NICE to allow • Experiment specific services • Experiment specific service configuration • In parallel, “small” development server needed to support R&D activities of well defined computing team. • (c.f. Zodiac cluster in Aleph Online)