HPCS Biweekly Meetings with Bob 17 September 2009

'''Agenda for Research ComputinG Planning Meeting September 17, 2009 (3rd TH, 8:30-10am, Rust)'''


 * Four Areas of Services:
 * Research Storage
 * Research Network
 * Applications Support
 * Research Computing / Equipment


 * Developing Goals and Priorities within Each Services Area for FY2010:
 * Creating a virtual organization being named Research Computing which will involve people from IT and from different research organizations
 * Need to articulate ways that UAB IT adds value to research computing buy develop ways for researchers to make better use of UAB researchers and to access other resources from national infrastructure buy using tools such as, meta-scheduler, caBIG, and middleware
 * Develop a promotional brochure for research computing
 * Develop NIS Level 2 Identity Management support


 * Research Storage:
 * Develop polices for using the follow types of storage used in research computing
 * High Performance Storage (40TB, DDN, Lustre) -- primarily used for scratch space by virtue of its parallel file system. Secondary use is to storage large datasets, such as, DNA databases use during research computing during 4-6 week period of time.  Written security policy is needed.  Need good model to track how this storage is used and not allow users to use DDN for home directories.  Also, run new bench mark calculates with IB and DDN being used.
 * Workgroup storage (20TB, Hitachi SAN) for home directories. Security policy needs to be written including pay for backup.
 * Establish pilot project to setup and test a convenient way for research computing users to rent addition storage space at any tier level from Infrastructure services.


 * Research Network:
 * Vision: create a new network at UAB that would meet caBIG, TeraGrid, OSG, NIH, NSF, DOE, DOD, and UAB HSIS security requirements.  This would avoid the current concerns of HSIS that the University network is not secure.
 * Built on 10GE backbone that would integrate major research computing resources -- clusters, storage, and applications.
 * Physical access to this network will need to be restricted in some ways to meet security requirements.
 * Research Applications -- articulate specific goals and milestones for IT:
 * caTissue - Brain SPORE and other tissue banks at UAB.
 * DASI --
 * MATLAB: order and install Distributed Computing server and offer to UAB communnity by a research computing portal -- or UABgrid.
 * SG/OSG/TERAgrid -- connect to UAB meta-scheduler
 * caBIG -- offer greater access to components via caBIG node in Rust
 * Bioinformatics support
 * UABgrid Core developments
 * others??
 * Research Computing / Equipment:
 * Create regular user reports to know how much computing users are doing.
 * Consider using GOLD
 * Plan for expansion of number of computing nodes at UAB
 * Outreach:
 * How should Research Computing Out research be structure and funded?
 * What is purpose of outreach?
 * Other