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Commercialisation at NeSC An operational perspective

Commercialisation at NeSC An operational perspective. Dr Rob Baxter Software Development Group Manager NeSC Review, 30/09/2003. Overview. NeSC project strategy The GCPs and edikt Some highlights of the year How do we do it? Where are we going?. NeSC project strategy.

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Commercialisation at NeSC An operational perspective

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  1. Commercialisation at NeSCAn operational perspective Dr Rob Baxter Software Development Group Manager NeSC Review, 30/09/2003

  2. Overview • NeSC project strategy • The GCPs and edikt • Some highlights of the year • How do we do it? • Where are we going?

  3. NeSC project strategy • The Grid must be built on standards • cf. the Internet, the World Wide Web • Core middleware is fundamental • cf. TCP sockets libraries, http servers • Our strategy has been • identify e-Science application needs • develop standards and core middleware • build applications, leveraging middleware • This has proved very successful for e-Science • and provides a solid foundation for e-Business

  4. Software projects at NeSC • NeSC has two flavours of project • development - the GCP projects • research and development - the edikt programme • GCP projects • funded by £3.6m EPSRC/DTI (+ equal in-kind) • allow focused development on key e-Science problems • demand direct engagement with business • edikt • funded by £2.3m SHEFC RDG • allows exploration of new ideas, some good, some bad

  5. NeSC project portfolio • edikt: • BinX - m/w • Eldas - m/w • AstroBinX - app • Osage - app • [chronological starts] GCP: • SunDCG - m/w • OGSA-DAI - m/w • GridWeaver - fabric • MS.NETGrid - m/w • FirstDIG - app • PGPGrid - app • BRIDGES - app • ODD-Genes - demo

  6. Collaborators roll-call • In the last two years we’ve worked with • IBM, Sun Microsystems, HP • Oracle, Microsoft • First plc, Pepper’s Ghost Productions ltd, Raytheon Company inc • and • AstroGrid, myGrid • ESNW, NEReSC, LeSC, GSC • Scottish Centre for Genomic Technology & Informatics, MRC Human Genetics Unit

  7. Some highlights • OGSA-DAI • £1.8m, NeSC, EPCC, ESNW, NEReSC, IBM, Oracle • core data access middleware based on GGF standards • OGSA-DAI team helping write the specifications • in use in e-Science projects • AstroGrid, myGrid, FirstDIG, BioSimGrid, BioGrid (Jp) • 1000 downloads reached last week • follow-on project planned (DAIT, £1.5m) • gained EPCC/NeSC entry to the Globus Alliance • only UK site alongside Argonne, ISI and PDC

  8. Some highlights cont. • MS.NETGrid • demonstration and training of OGSI on .NET • full house at AHM 2003! • great interest at the NeSC booth too • delivered course & demos 9-10/09/03 @ eSI • invited by MS to lecture on Grid/.NET, Budapest, Oct • FirstDIG • EPCC, FirstBus South Yorkshire • application of OGSA-DAI and related data mining • to draw together real, disparate, dirty data sources to add real value • “the results of this exercise will revolutionise the way we do things in the bus industry” • Darren Unwin, Divisional Computing Manager, FirstBus South Yorkshire

  9. Some highlights cont. • ODD-Genes • EPCC, GTI, MRC HGU • a demonstration of OGSA-DAI and SunDCG in action • the highlight of the NeSC booth at AHM 2003! • “This project has demonstrated how Grid technologies can be used to enable true e-Science - discoveries that would not otherwise have been achieved without this infrastructure in place” • Professor Peter Ghazal, Director, GTI

  10. How do we do it? • The NeSC/EPCC SDG thinks like a company • we do fixed-priced contracts to deliver software X against customer requirements • must plan and execute properly or we get cost overrun • but we also operate on the technology bleeding edge… • …so we multiply all our task estimates by 2.3  • Software Development Group: 30 staff • SDG Manager • 3 Project Managers, 2 Architects • 5 Principal Consultants/Team Leaders • 19 software developers • Well-defined project lifecycle • selection, planning, execution, delivery and review

  11. Project selection • Two flavours, two methods • GCP Projects • Commercial Group prospect based around CommStrat • proposals developed with clients and SDG project staff • “project licence” agrees handover from CG to SDG • edikt • edikt management define proposals based on work with our e-Science stakeholders • project proposals reviewed by Advisory Board

  12. Project planning • Older projects used standard development plan • Newer projects use more comprehensive project management plan • a quality plan template based on NASA SEL and other sources (CMU SEI, Microsoft, Oracle) • covers all aspects of the project • development plan • risk and issue monitoring • project tracking metrics • documentation and coding standards • QC and QA

  13. Project planning cont. • Leading edge development needs flexibility • We use phased development models • staged delivery • good where scope is ill-defined and we expect requirements to change/evolve, e.g. OGSA-DAI, SunDCG • define scope in quarterly blocks (say) • design to schedule • good where scope is well-understood and initial requirements are well defined, e.g. MS.NETGrid, FirstDIG • work against prioritised requirements until effort runs out • evolutionary prototyping • good for demos or exploring requirements, e.g. ODD-Genes

  14. Project execution • All project teams have • project leader • developers • technical reviewers • Bigger projects will have an architect… • e.g. OGSA-DAI, edikt projects • …and/or a Review Board • e.g. OGSA-DAI, SunDCG, edikt • Weekly team meetings are expected • action lists, task breakdowns, risk & issue lists

  15. Project execution cont. • Based on standard document templates • requirements, component design, test… • Use standard tools • e.g. Rational Rose, TogetherSoft, JUnit, ant • Test early, test often • aim for high unit test coverage • have developed automated test setups for distributed middleware over course of GCP projects • Monitor overruns, apply triage • review plans regularly, revise if required

  16. Delivery and review • All projects postmortemed • what was good? what was bad? what can we learn? • For customer-led projects, delivery is easy • site visit, installation, training • limited period of free support • longer term support contracts always offered • Middleware is a bit different • monitor web downloads • set up web-based bug reporting • disseminate, disseminate, disseminate!

  17. Where is this taking us? • Solutions for e-Science today… • …are solutions for e-Business tomorrow • universal data access and integration • universal data format description • Web and Grid services • WSDL, SOAP, HTTP, Java, .NET • distributed resource management • distributed, heterogeneous systems integration • Our projects reflect our vision for the commercial Grid

  18. In summary • NeSC’s software development programme has been - and continues to be - a great success • We leverage off existing strengths at EPCC • the institute that thinks it’s a company • Professional planning and execution is key • backed by an unrivalled CS research base • International recognition • from a standing start to the Globus Alliance in 2 years • SunDCG software already distributed by Sun • Real business impact • “this will revolutionise the way we do things” Darren Unwin, FirstBus South Yorkshire

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