- Email: [email protected]
Internet 2 Access Grid
Internet and Higher Education 5 (2002) 177 – 179
Column: The Internet 2
Internet 2 Access Grid Greg Simco* Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, 6100 Griffin Road, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314-4416, USA
Abstract Collaboration among universities, businesses, and the US government is essential to the success of the Internet 2 Initiative. However, face-to-face meetings are not always possible. The Access Grid provides the Internet 2 with the resources to enable remote collaboration among the research community. This effort extends the Alliance Computational Grid, a distributed high-speed computing environment that supports seamless resource integration and access (McRae, 1997). The Access Grid effort has advanced audio and video applications and has increased Internet 2 collaboration. D 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. Keywords: Internet 2; Access Grid; Computational Grid
1. Introduction The notion of expanding technology in networking and distributed applications has been a primary focus of the scientific community since the creation of digital computers. In 1997, the National Computational Science Alliance began the development of the Computational Grid, an infrastructure dedicated to the support of distributed computation (McRae, 1997). Today, the members of the Internet 2 community are both contributors and users of the Grid. Developed by Argonne National Laboratories (the Future Lab of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division), the Access Grid provides the resources for human collaboration
* Tel.: +1-954-262-2017; fax: +1-954-262-3915. E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Simco). 1096-7516/02/$ – see front matter D 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. PII: S 1 0 9 6 - 7 5 1 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 9 1 - X
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G. Simco / Internet and Higher Education 5 (2002) 177–179
(Access Grid, 2002). Within the Internet 2 community, members actively participate in the expansion and use of the Access Grid technologies. The Access Grid is the focus of this installment of the series discussing the Internet 2 for The Internet and Higher Education. This article will present the Access Grid effort in terms of current and future technology and its current use in research collaboration.
2. The Access Grid The Access Grid technologies provide an environment that enables communication from group to group (Access Grid, 2002). Coordinating multiple objects from various locations integrated into a distributed environment highlights the efforts of the Access Grid support infrastructure. The key issues are: the recognition of objects, detection of change to those objects, and the projection of the objects at each of the participating locations. These issues represent a high-level abstraction of the technical challenges that are present when integrating group-to-group activity within a Computational Grid. Computational Grids present several challenges that complicate their implementation. The major issues are: the potential for grids to be very large in size, a heterogeneous multi-tiered environment, and the need for the grid to support rapid change (Leinberger & Kumar, 1999). Each Access Grid node within the Computational Grid must support multimedia interaction between many nodes within an acceptable delay period. Thus, the supporting technologies for the Access Grid are an important focus of the Internet 2 effort. The Access Grid requires support from some of the key initiatives of the Internet 2: Advanced Applications, Middleware, and High-Speed Networking. Through the developments of these working groups in association with Argonne Labs, the current Access Grid prototype will evolve to include the following (Access Grid Market Handout, 2002):
Multichannel high-quality digital audio and video, Large screen display support, Tightly coupled presentation technologies, Activity recording, Globus integration support, Desktop computer integration, Multiple session support.
These are among the key elements that provide an environment for collaboration. Through this environment, the Internet 2 community, as well as other research groups, can foster the expansion of specific topic areas. Thus, the Access Grid is not only a technological focus of the Internet 2, but a vehicle to advance research within the Internet 2 community. In the next section, applications of the Access Grid are presented.
G. Simco / Internet and Higher Education 5 (2002) 177–179
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3. Access Grid use The notion of grid computing has gained wide acceptance with the scientific community. High-performance applications require a grid infrastructure that blends parallel and distributed computing into an easily accessible format. However, to successfully exploit grid computing, a package of resources such as the Access Grid is required to support persistent activity. Through a collaborative and persistent environment, Internet 2 research groups are meeting and advancing their particular interests. Motorola Labs in Schaumburg has developed a Shared Spaces Room based on Access Grid technology (Motorola Labs, 2002). This Access Grid node is used to collaborate with other nodes within the Internet 2 community to discuss both the advancement of Access Grid related technology and other Internet 2 initiatives such as high-speed networking. Access Grid technology has been used in remote panel discussions between Access Grid nodes at Motorola and other locations. Over 80 Access Grid nodes have been created to support continuing research collaboration between Internet 2 participants and other institutions around the world. This illustrates the Internet 2 commitment to using technological advancement to advance technology.
4. Summary The future of computing in the form of the Computational Grid has become a reality among Internet 2 participants. Through the Access Grid, a set of resources that includes interactive multimedia within high-speed networks, a group-to-group collaboration tool is evolving to meet the needs of the Internet 2 community. This spirit of advancement is manifested through state-of-the-art technology, which not only advances other Internet 2 research but also provides the vehicle for its own evolution.
5. Resources The following is the Access Grid Web site: http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/fl/accessgrid/.
References Access Grid (2002, March 21). Access Grid. Available at: http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/fl/accessgrid/. Access Grid (2002, March 21). Access Grid market handout. Available at: http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/fl/accessgrid/AG-market-handout-color-2001.pdf. Leinberger, W., & Kumar, V. (1999, October – December). Information power grid: the new frontier in parallel computing? IEEE Concurrency, 7(4), 75 – 84. McRae, G. J. (1997, November). How application domains define requirements for the grid. Communications of the ACM, 40(11), 75 – 83. Motorola Labs (2002, March 21). Internet 2. Available at: http://internet2.motlabs.com/agnode/index.htm.
Column: The Internet 2
Internet 2 Access Grid Greg Simco* Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, 6100 Griffin Road, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314-4416, USA
Abstract Collaboration among universities, businesses, and the US government is essential to the success of the Internet 2 Initiative. However, face-to-face meetings are not always possible. The Access Grid provides the Internet 2 with the resources to enable remote collaboration among the research community. This effort extends the Alliance Computational Grid, a distributed high-speed computing environment that supports seamless resource integration and access (McRae, 1997). The Access Grid effort has advanced audio and video applications and has increased Internet 2 collaboration. D 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. Keywords: Internet 2; Access Grid; Computational Grid
1. Introduction The notion of expanding technology in networking and distributed applications has been a primary focus of the scientific community since the creation of digital computers. In 1997, the National Computational Science Alliance began the development of the Computational Grid, an infrastructure dedicated to the support of distributed computation (McRae, 1997). Today, the members of the Internet 2 community are both contributors and users of the Grid. Developed by Argonne National Laboratories (the Future Lab of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division), the Access Grid provides the resources for human collaboration
* Tel.: +1-954-262-2017; fax: +1-954-262-3915. E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Simco). 1096-7516/02/$ – see front matter D 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. PII: S 1 0 9 6 - 7 5 1 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 9 1 - X
178
G. Simco / Internet and Higher Education 5 (2002) 177–179
(Access Grid, 2002). Within the Internet 2 community, members actively participate in the expansion and use of the Access Grid technologies. The Access Grid is the focus of this installment of the series discussing the Internet 2 for The Internet and Higher Education. This article will present the Access Grid effort in terms of current and future technology and its current use in research collaboration.
2. The Access Grid The Access Grid technologies provide an environment that enables communication from group to group (Access Grid, 2002). Coordinating multiple objects from various locations integrated into a distributed environment highlights the efforts of the Access Grid support infrastructure. The key issues are: the recognition of objects, detection of change to those objects, and the projection of the objects at each of the participating locations. These issues represent a high-level abstraction of the technical challenges that are present when integrating group-to-group activity within a Computational Grid. Computational Grids present several challenges that complicate their implementation. The major issues are: the potential for grids to be very large in size, a heterogeneous multi-tiered environment, and the need for the grid to support rapid change (Leinberger & Kumar, 1999). Each Access Grid node within the Computational Grid must support multimedia interaction between many nodes within an acceptable delay period. Thus, the supporting technologies for the Access Grid are an important focus of the Internet 2 effort. The Access Grid requires support from some of the key initiatives of the Internet 2: Advanced Applications, Middleware, and High-Speed Networking. Through the developments of these working groups in association with Argonne Labs, the current Access Grid prototype will evolve to include the following (Access Grid Market Handout, 2002):
Multichannel high-quality digital audio and video, Large screen display support, Tightly coupled presentation technologies, Activity recording, Globus integration support, Desktop computer integration, Multiple session support.
These are among the key elements that provide an environment for collaboration. Through this environment, the Internet 2 community, as well as other research groups, can foster the expansion of specific topic areas. Thus, the Access Grid is not only a technological focus of the Internet 2, but a vehicle to advance research within the Internet 2 community. In the next section, applications of the Access Grid are presented.
G. Simco / Internet and Higher Education 5 (2002) 177–179
179
3. Access Grid use The notion of grid computing has gained wide acceptance with the scientific community. High-performance applications require a grid infrastructure that blends parallel and distributed computing into an easily accessible format. However, to successfully exploit grid computing, a package of resources such as the Access Grid is required to support persistent activity. Through a collaborative and persistent environment, Internet 2 research groups are meeting and advancing their particular interests. Motorola Labs in Schaumburg has developed a Shared Spaces Room based on Access Grid technology (Motorola Labs, 2002). This Access Grid node is used to collaborate with other nodes within the Internet 2 community to discuss both the advancement of Access Grid related technology and other Internet 2 initiatives such as high-speed networking. Access Grid technology has been used in remote panel discussions between Access Grid nodes at Motorola and other locations. Over 80 Access Grid nodes have been created to support continuing research collaboration between Internet 2 participants and other institutions around the world. This illustrates the Internet 2 commitment to using technological advancement to advance technology.
4. Summary The future of computing in the form of the Computational Grid has become a reality among Internet 2 participants. Through the Access Grid, a set of resources that includes interactive multimedia within high-speed networks, a group-to-group collaboration tool is evolving to meet the needs of the Internet 2 community. This spirit of advancement is manifested through state-of-the-art technology, which not only advances other Internet 2 research but also provides the vehicle for its own evolution.
5. Resources The following is the Access Grid Web site: http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/fl/accessgrid/.
References Access Grid (2002, March 21). Access Grid. Available at: http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/fl/accessgrid/. Access Grid (2002, March 21). Access Grid market handout. Available at: http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/fl/accessgrid/AG-market-handout-color-2001.pdf. Leinberger, W., & Kumar, V. (1999, October – December). Information power grid: the new frontier in parallel computing? IEEE Concurrency, 7(4), 75 – 84. McRae, G. J. (1997, November). How application domains define requirements for the grid. Communications of the ACM, 40(11), 75 – 83. Motorola Labs (2002, March 21). Internet 2. Available at: http://internet2.motlabs.com/agnode/index.htm.