CERN openlab Board of Sponsors CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions

1. CERN openlab Board of Sponsors CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions David Foster Deputy IT Department Head CERN May 2011

2. Outline • 7 Strategic Directions in 2011, a high level view • Excluding Physics and EU related activities CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

3. 1. User Empowerment • Long history of constraining end-user devices • Limited hardware combinations • Limited software combinations (Windows) • Times have changed • Users expect greater choice • Users expect support • Security is mandatory • Budgets have not increased CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

4. Mobile Growth CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

5. Desktop Changes Mac’s on the upward slope Linux desktops slightly down Windows (including oscilloscopes) constant CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

6. Implications for IT • IT much more enabling than controlling • Support models have to change • Facilitate “Community Support” which means Social Support Frameworks • Need to grow valuable social networks • Interoperability testing more important • Usability testing more important (design for experience) CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

7. 2. Service Support • More rigorous treatment of service support throughout the organisation as we become a “World Lab” • Based on ITIL methodology. • Applied to all CERN services. • Using SaaS from Service-Now.com CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

8. Single point of entry CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

9. Fast access to required actions CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

10. 3. Exploitation of Networking • Large scale international collaborations need large scale networking. • LHCOPN provides nx10Gbps from CERN to the Tier-1 Centers. • LHCONE intends to provide a world wide network facility to provide high performance capabilities between Tier-1, Tier-2 and Tier-3 centers. • Responds to the new “peer” model of data access across Tier sites. • A blueprint for other sciences. http://lhcone.net CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

11. LHCONE CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

12. High Level Architecture CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

13. Status Today Monitoring of Transatlantic segment (US LHCNet) • LHCONE launched on March 31st • Started shared VLAN service including two initial sites: CERN, Caltech • Verified connectivity and routing • First data exchanged on March 31st • Active Open Exchange Points: • CERNLight, NetherLight, StarLight (and MANLAN)

14. 4. Security • Security has increasingly become part of the overall fabric • Integrated into the overall approach for systems management. • Software updates and exploit fixes. • Increasingly integrated into work practices and policies. • Awareness campaigns and policies on network connections. • Use of intrusion detection mechanisms • Increasing use of data mining techniques, a data management problem in its own right. • At a pure networking level, firewalling and real-time detection lags behind the networking bandwidth increases • Firewalling a 100G connection? • Move firewalling away from the core to the edge? CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

15. 5. Clouds • On-going process for creating another (greener) computer center “elsewhere” • Has evolved to an IaaS type of idea. • Will need to re-visit operational models. • Virtualisation will be key. • Some services may be considered as a “private cloud” • A mix of private and commercial cloud services should be foreseen • Already using SaaS in service management • Some promising trends including possible dedicated R&E networking to cloud centres in the US • Much interest now in evolving Grids to take advantage of Cloud technologies and perhaps visa-versa • Use of commercial offerings in combination with the private facilities. CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

16. Status of the T0 Hosting Call • Significant Interest expressed: • 23 proposals from Belgium, Germany (2), Switzerland (2), Spain (2), Finland, France, Hungary (3), Norway (7), Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom (2) • Significant differences in the proposals • Some proposals require significant capital expenditure • 1.07 < PUE < 1.6 • 100 m2 < floor space < 1000 m2 • 1 KW/m2 < Power Density < 30 KW/m2 • 8 proposals > 2.5 MW • Many facilities are currently non existing • Electricity price vary significantly in Europe • Between 44 CHF/MWh and 320 CHF/MWh • Sometimes much cheaper for academic institutions • Most important factor in the operation costs • Enough interest to launch a formal call for tender this year CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

17. 6. Content • Information management increasingly important • What is the reliability and authenticity of information? Important for external image including branding. • Structure is important for SEO • Content management for improved maintenance (and lower cost) • Long term digitization, archiving and preservation of information • Matching tools to roles is something new • Designers, Implementors, Authors • Investing in Drupal and Sharepoint • Structuring the information space is difficult • The role of “cern.ch” • Internal vs external, departmental vs public etc … • Allow users to manage their information space • Create “My” portals to reduce the information space to a relevant and manageable amount for the individual CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

18. Open Access • CERN heavily involved in the “Open Access” movement • Liberalisation of access to information on scientific results. • CERN leading the Scoap3 initiative negotiating with the publishers to maintain rights of the authors. • http://scoap3.org/ • Open Access publishing now becoming the norm for the experiments. • Invenio technology used extensively for digital repositories and libraries. • arXiv are migrating to Invenio. • http://arxiv.org/help/support/arxiv_busplan_Apr2011 • NASA astronomical data system (ADS) are migrating to Invenio. CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

19. 7. Knowledge and Technology Transfer apart from openlab In house (software) Technologies • Invenio-Indico • Quattor • Castor • LFC/DPM Collaboration with institutions • WHO • UNOSAT Knowledge & Outreach • HepIX • CSC • VIPs • ISF • Advisory Groups CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

20. Did you know...? • WHO is connected via CERN to the Commodity Internet • UNOSAT staff and servers hosted at CERN CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster

21. Collaboration with the General Public:Citizen Cyberscience Centre • Philosophy: promote web-based citizen participation in science projects as an appropriate low cost technology for scientists in the developing world. • Partners: CERN, UN Institute for Training and Research, University of Geneva • Sponsors: IBM, HP Labs, Shuttleworth Foundation • Technology: open source platforms for internet-based distributed collaboration • Projects: • Computing for Clean Water optimizing nanotube based water filters by large scale simulation on volunteer PCs • AfricaMap volunteer thinking to generate maps of regions of Africa from satellite images, with UNOSAT • LHC@home new volunteer project for public participation in LHC collision simulations, using VM technology • Plans: Training workshops in 2011 in India, China, Brazil and South Africa CERN IT: Some Strategic Directions – David Foster