Acquisition of TeraPort: A Grid Enabled Analysis Platform with Optical Connectivity

该项目旨在获取必要的计算和网络基础设施，构建和部署“TeraPort”，这是一个基于大学、多学科和国际集成的数据密集型、启用网格的分析平台，具有与国内和国际网络的卓越连接。在作为计算机科学研究(工作负载管理、政策规范和执行、中间件测试和支持)的优秀试验台的同时，该设施将提供应用程序生产服务，并作为共享资源运行，不仅在芝加哥大学的研究人员之间，而且在参与加州大学附属虚拟组织的教职员工、科学家和学生之间，特别关注与TeraGrid、iVDGL(国际虚拟数据网格实验室)和LCG(计算网格项目)网格结构的集成和互操作性。该项目利用伊利诺伊州光纤网络项目i-wire，在芝加哥大学校园的TeraPort设施和场外网格资源之间提供高性能的连接。(这是因为i-wire连接到芝加哥市中心的光学星光设施，该设施提供了一个对等访问点，可以访问TeraGrid主干，连接到Abilene和ESnet网络的美国大学和国家实验室，连接到SURFnet和NORDUnet的欧洲网络，以及到位于瑞士日内瓦的欧洲粒子物理实验室CERN的多千兆数据标签网络。)许多科学学科需要比以前尝试的规模大几个数量级的数据密集型计算，如高能物理、计算生物学、基因组科学以及计算心理学和社会科学中新出现的问题，都将受益于这一基础设施。持久的分布式基础设施，称为“数据网格”，允许以安全的方式跨组织和机构边界共享数据、知识和计算资源，解决了涉及大型、地理分布的研究人员社区的这些问题，这些社区需要对Petascale数据收集和计算资源进行受控访问。高性能光网络的发展是这些新基础设施的核心，高性能光网络以高达40千兆位每秒的速度连接分布式资源。计算生物学、粒子物理学和天体物理学构成了许多“e-Science”学科的例子，这些学科已被公认为这些新的网格技术和网络的应用和开发的主要候选者。该设施支持以下项目：TeraPort作为网格研究的推动者，TeraPort，TeraGrid，Tier2中心和高能物理数据网格，计算系统生物学，以及使用TeraPort实现蛋白质组数据网格的原型，实现与TeraPort、TeraPort和人与机器的多模式通信的计算基因组学，计算社会科学，基于约束的社会模拟。TeraPort设施为研究人员提供了一种独特的资源，通过向非常大规模的国家和国际平台提供入口服务来加快进展。此外，该设施允许探索本地共享资源与超大规模网格资源的混合组合。

This project, building and deploying "TeraPort," a university-based, multi-disciplinary, and internationally integrated data-intensive, Grid enabled analysis platform with superior connectivity to both domestic and international networks, aims at acquiring the necessary computing and network infrastructure. While serving as an excellent testbed for computer science research (workload management, policy specification and enforcement, middleware testing and support), the facility will provide application production services and be operated as a shared resource not only among the University of Chicago researchers, but faculty, scientists, and students participating in U of C affiliated virtual organizations, with specific focus on integration and interoperability with the TeraGrid, iVDGL (international Virtual Data Grid Laboratory), and the LCG (Computing Grid Project) grid fabrics. The project exploits the State of Illinois optical networking project, I-WIRE, to provide high performance connectivity between the TeraPort facility on the U of Chicago campus and off site Grid resources. (This is made possible by the I-WIRE's connection to optical Starlight facility in downtown Chicago which provides a peering point of access to the TeraGrid backbone, U.S. universities and national laboratories connected to the Abilene and ESnet networks, European networks, such as SURFnet and NORDUnet, and the multi-Gigabit DataTAG network to CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland.) Many scientific disciplines requiring data-intensive computations at scales orders of magnitude larger than previously attempted, such as high energy physics, computational biology, genome science, and emerging problems in computational psychology and the social sciences, will benefit from this infrastructure. Persistent, distributed infrastructures, known as "data grids," that allow sharing of data, knowledge and compute resources in a secure manner across organizational and institutional boundaries, address these problems involving large, geographically distributed communities of researchers that require controlled access to Petascale data collections and computational resources. Advances in development of high performance optical networks connecting distributed resources at speeds up to 40 gigabits per second are central to these new infrastructures. Computational biology, particle physics, and astrophysics constitute examples of many "e-Science" disciplines that have been recognized as prime candidates for application and development of these new Grid technologies and networks. The facility supports the following projects: TeraPort as an Enabler of Grid Research, TeraPort, TeraGrid, Tier2 Centers and High Energy Physics Data Grids, Computational Systems Biology and Using TeraPort to Prototype the Proteomics Data Grid, Enabling Computational Genomics with TeraPort, TeraPort and Multimodal Communication in Humans and Machines, Computational Social Science, Constraint-Based Social Simulation. The TeraPort facility presents a unique resource for researchers accelerating progress by providing on-ramp services to a very large scale national and international platforms. Furthermore, the facility allows exploration of hybrid combinations of local, shared resources in concert with very large scale Grid resource.