Early Harvest: Workshops for a First Cutting of Middleware Issues and Practices in Higher Education

一个关于第二级国家网络基础设施的共同愿景正在开始出现。 这一层的服务，除其他外，可能包括支持用户安全和有效地访问远程站点的基于网络的资源。 然而，在此之前，所涉及的园区将需要面对确定可互操作中间件服务的核心集需要是什么的问题。也许更困难的是定义要通过服务执行的校园策略的相关活动。这些服务及其实施的策略需要渗透到园区基础设施、系统和服务中。 该奖项提供资金，允许一组“研究”机构通过评估政策定义和部署的最佳做法来解决这些问题，然后制定一项计划，在实例化和使用所需的核心服务方面进行多机构实验。 结果将有助于通知NSF和其他有关计划，旨在刺激这种新的逻辑网络基础设施的出现。

A common vision for a second level of national networking infrastructure is beginning to emerge. This layer of services, among other things, is likely to incorporate support for users to securely and effectively access network-based resources at remote sites. Before that can happen, however, the set of involved campuses will need to confront the issue of determining what the core set of interoperable middleware services needs to be. Perhaps more difficult is the related activity of defining campus policy to be enforced through the services. These services and the policies they enforce will need to permeate campus infrastructures, systems, and services. This award provides funding to permit a set of "study" institutions to attack these problems by evaluating best practices for policy definition and deployment and then to create a plan for a multi-institution experiment in the instantiation and use of needed core services. Results will help to inform NSF and others regarding programs designed to stimulate the emergence of this new logical network infrastructure.