March, 2000 1

The C3 GRID

An investment in the future of Canadian R&D Infrastructure

March 2000 2

What is a GRID System

Cooperative network of shared resources Scaleable wide area network that supports resource sharing and

distribution Composed of geographically distributed, autonomous resource

providers Includes computers, network links, human resources and

databases Exploits the heterogeneous characteristics of the participating

resource providers Generalized data handling, computing and client support system

Supports the development of advanced R&D applications in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, Finance and the Arts.

March 2000 3

GRID Applications

Large scale and resource intensive frontier applications R&D applications that go beyond current technological

capabilities Technology development applications in multi-media, finance,

production arts, hard sciences and engineering. Advanced telecommunications protocol and services

development Require specialized facilities and networks

Need for high bandwidth, high priority access to bandwidth Need for access to HPC sites Need for access to more than one of a set of heterogeneous,

geographically distributed resources Have large computational or data requirements Need high performance visualization facilities at remote

locations.

March 2000 4

Some Application Areas

Geo-Data processing in Meteorology, Remote Sensing, Oceanography, Space Science.

Computational Chemistry, Biology, Medical Science and Services

Simulation Modeling for Transportation,Telecommunications and Policy Analysis

Financial modeling Multi-media applications such as embedded video,

digital video servers and video conferencing.

March 2000 5

Who Benefits

R&D workers in Academia, Industry and Government Shared access to expensive and remote facilities throughout

the country Technology based industries in Canada

Access to advanced development platforms enabling the proving of new designs

Resource Provider facilities in Canada Broader client base and enhanced service capabilities

supporting local clients Government programs aimed at stimulating technological

development in Canada Canadian Public

Job opportunity and quality of life

March 2000 6

The Target GRID Community

Canadian researchers, potentially members of the C3 Network Beyond the current 50 + sites

CANARIE/Ca.Net III CANARIE partners include major Canadian

telecommunications industry players and regional networks C3.ca

University, Industry and Government members Regional Canadian HPC/GRID organizations

MACI, HPCnet, RQCHP, AC3 and other emerging consortia National Research Council Industrial Organizations

Companies working on advanced applications in telecommunications, multi-media, finance, the arts, engineering and the sciences

March 2000 7

Current Canadian Situation

Extensive network infrastructure Wide penetration of the Internet throughout the country.

Widening deployment of leading edge telecommunications infrastructure CaNet III backbone and “Last Mile” efforts

Individual isolated experiments with foreign GRID systems GLOBUS and foreign GRIDS being tested

Emergence of Regional GRID systems CFI funding is stimulating the formation of regional GRID like

networks Ad Hoc arrangements between users and existing specialty

resources No current true GRID operations

March 2000 8

Current Global Situation

National GRID Effort in the US GLOBUS - Distributed access and scheduling for several NSF HPC

facilities Several varieties of GRID experiments in the US

PUNCH - Shared university facilities GRID IPG - An aerospace production GRID

Initial efforts to develop a European GRID Informal arrangements between provider sites

Several European National GRID efforts MOL - A meta-computing GRID design

International Effort INET2000 An effort to form a global meta-GRID

March 2000 9

Environmental Trends

Increasing computing and telecommunications requirements of advanced applications in R&D needing access to costly, specialized shared facilities Smaller institutions and individual research workers becoming

disadvantaged in the global marketplace. Worldwide development of GRID infrastructures supporting

National R&D goals Technological competitiveness is now a nationally supported

initiative in developed countries. Eventual Global integration of GRID networks for use in multi-

national projects Ultimately GRID systems will emerge as the foundations of the

technology based economy

March 2000 10

Why a Canadian GRID?

Difficult access to foreign GRID systems by Canadian R&D workers Residency and citizenship requirements Security requirements

Scale of R&D projects limited by a nuclear system of installations in Canada Resource sharing is not readily feasible Resource distribution is site centered Resource management is fragmented

Economies of resource sharing unrealized in today’s environment Smaller institutions and individual workers seek support on an ad

hoc basis Many small installations, few world scale facilities

March 2000 11

Strategic Options

Status Quo Loss of opportunities due to lack of adequate infrastructure Foster a negative Canadian/Foreign R&D gap

Join the US/European/Asia GRID Effort Conditional access will limit participation Augment the ”Brain Drain” to the host countries Loss of national control over R&D priorities

Construct a Canadian GRID System Incorporate successful, proven, international components Stimulate R&D and the development of new technologies Enable support Canadian priorities in technology development Enable discovery of new “hot area” applications Enable sharing of expensive and scarce resources.

March 2000 12

Current C3 Network

March 2000 13

The Proposed C3 GRID

March 2000 14

Canadian GRID Design I

Peer network of providers and users Resource providers are autonomous installations located at

Canadian universities distributed throughout the country Distributed access to all facilities and support resources of the

GRID Any client with an Internet connection can access the Canadian

GRID Uniform WEB based user interface

Common support software available to all clients Secure access to resources and data

Single point of entry to GRID services GRID wide monitoring of resource consumption and distribution

GRID wide scheduling and management of shared resources

March 2000 15

Canadian GRID Design II

Shared access to heterogeneous facilities Standard user interface to GRID resources

Shared training and support resources Standard training tools and resource information databases

Common development and support tools GRID application development and debugging environments

Resource brokering amongst facilities Easy discovery of available GRID resources

Integration with other GRID systems either Regional or

International C3 GRID is scaleable to a meta-GRID Canadian interface to the emerging global meta-GRID

March 2000 16

Canadian GRID Road Map

Strategic Plan Resource and Technology Inventory Interim GRID deployment using GLOBUS Core Software Base Administrative Arrangements Prototype Demonstration Initial Deployment Resource Discovery Mechanisms Advanced Feature Deployment

March 2000 17

Initial C3 Grid Configuration

March 2000 18

C3 GRID Implementation

Stage 0 Features GLOBUS Base Adapted to Canada Uniform Client Interface via WWW Integrated Monitoring via WWW Administrative arrangements Remote Data Access Secure Access through GRID accounts

March 2000 19

C3 GRID Evolution I

March 2000 20

C3 GRID Implementation I

Stage I Features Core GRID software Administrative arrangements Ad Hoc local process control Native application environments Existing standard networks Existing facilities

March 2000 21

C3 GRID Evolution II

March 2000 22

C3 GRID Implementation II

Stage II Features Automated resource discovery Automated scheduling Automated process control Access to specialized resources

(Experimental networks, developmental technologies, single user facilities)

March 2000 23

C3 GRID Evolution III

March 2000 24

C3 GRID Implementation III

Stage III Features Application development environments Automated process recovery Integration with external GRID systems

March 2000 25

Summary Cost Estimates

Stage 0 - $460K 37 PM

Per site infrastructure not included. Stage I - $960K 60 PM

Per site HW/SW not included Stage II - $1010 66 PM

Assumes 15 Sites involved. Stage III - $720K 53 PM

Ongoing incremental costs Project - $3000K 13-18 PY

Ongoing operations 3-5 PY

Per Site incremental costs of 0.75-1.0 PY