OAC: Piloting the National Science Data Fabric: A Platform Agnostic Testbed for Democratizing Data Delivery

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Ongoing investments from NSF and other agencies into shared experimental and computing facilities increase data generation by orders of magnitude and presents a challenge for universal, easy, and fast access to data by users and may limit the scientific impact of such facilities. This pilot seeks to demonstrate a trans-disciplinary National Science Data Fabric (NSDF) integrating access to and use of shared storage, networking, computing, and educational resources and, in doing so, will help democratize data-driven sciences through the development of a cyberinfrastructure (CI) platform designed for equitable access. This pilot connects an open network of researchers gathered around earth science, astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, and materials science, to deploy a testbed for individual and shared scientific use. Supporting the IceCube neutrino observatory and the XenonNT dark matter detector will advance the understanding of the evolution of galaxies and the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Supporting the Materials Common enables the fast-paced design of new materials in critical fields such as energy, security, environment, and healthcare. Active involvement of Historically Black Colleges, the Minority Serving Cyberinfrastructure Consortium, and of Hispanic Serving Institutions assures true democratization of data-driven science and unleashes the intellectual potential of a genuinely diverse scientific community presenting the best potential for US innovation.The National Science Data Fabric (NSDF) pilot builds a testbed experimenting with critical technology needed to democratize data-driven sciences by constructing a CI platform designed for equitable access. In particular, NSDF experiments with key technologies that empower user communities to develop their solutions and support domain-specific requirements while avoiding duplication of technology. A programmable Content Delivery Network (CDN) will be a central component that interoperates with different appliances and storage solutions ranging from leadership-class computing facilities, campus-wide computing resources, commercial cloud, and research labs of individual investigators. With this strategy, NSDF connects storage, compute, and networking components with a software stack that empowers end-users with scalable tools that are easy to use, integrate and scale. Community-driven education and outreach will guarantee equitable access to all resources and engage an open network of universities, including minority-serving institutions in a federated data fabric configurable for individual and shared scientific use. By offering a shared, modular, containerized data delivery environment, operating at the best economies of scale, the NSDF pilot will demonstrate a key technology to fill the “missing middle” in the national computational infrastructure and will help address the “missing millions” challenge of American talent in STEM.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.