[AG-DEV] Continual of AG services

[John I. Quebedeaux, Jr]

Hey Jason!

Louisiana, USA - is a fairly heavy user of the Access Grid as part of an NIH
grant and other sites opting in for biomedical seminars, courses, and
meetings. This last year our statistics show a steady use of the AG matching
the year before - approximately 500 events across the state each of the last
two years. For ourselves, we've transitioned from an environment where most
of the events were centered or supported centrally to one where its working
so well that little central support is required.

What I mean by that is I don't feel like I have to be checking in on events
on an hourly/daily basis to know that they're doing just fine without anyone
calling me about an audio, networking, or etc. issue. Most of our
installations now are single or dual machine setups, long gone are the 3-4
computer setups.

Currently we're running our own venue server and fall back to NCSA's or
Argonne's on an emergency basis, but would need - from what I can see, to
transition to also running own jabber server, bridge registry, and
certificate authority to continue as we have.

So, each of the points you made for importance I think are all important in
terms of transition and documentation to enable groups to setup for this.

I would also like to add the NCSA AG Scheduler to this list, we utilize it
heavily, so much so, that I am concerned if few others are - but no mention
of its continued availability was made although I recognize it is maintained
by another group. I don't know what scheduler, if any, other groups utilize
for their Access Grid scheduling that is so well integrated with the AG
venue servers.

As ipv6 becomes relevant and prelevant, we're going to have issues there as
well unless the primary video and audio tools are updated or transitioned,
etc. so that's probably another item to keep in mind and 'on the list'?

I honestly don't know what our utilization will look like say, 2 years from
now, with the advent of other forms of conferencing, particularly those on
personal type devices becoming easier to use. Discussions regarding other
types of systems might be useful as well that can utilize the AG
installations easily may be welcome.

You can count me in for support.

Cheers,

-John Q.

-- 
John I. Quebedeaux, Jr.
Louisiana State University; Biological Sciences
Computer Manager LBRN; 437 Life Sciences Bldg.
johnq at lsu.edu; http://lbrn.lsu.edu
225-578-0062


> From: Jason Bell <j.bell at cqu.edu.au>
> Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:26:58 +1000
> To: "ag-dev at mcs.anl.gov" <ag-dev at mcs.anl.gov>
> Subject: [AG-DEV] Continual of AG services
> 
> Access Grid Colleagues (resending on AG-Dev list to get the conversation
> started)
> 
> With the recent announcement "Shutdown of Argonne Access Grid services", I
> would like to start some discussions on ways we can "move forward" and ensure
> the Access Grid community and services continue.  It is my opinion and hope,
> that with international AG community engagement, we can work towards solutions
> to ensure longevity and continual usage of the Access Grid.
> 
> Within Australia, the Access Grid is used extensively and we are planning on
> continuing to support and use the Access Grid in years to come. 
> 
> In an effort to ensure that many of the transitioning AG services are not
> duplicated on an international scale (preventing a "everyone does their own
> thing"), I would like to invite interested parties to join me in discussion on
> the AG services and how we might be able to implement a "community fork"!  In
> my humble opinion, if we do this correctly, "we", as an international
> community, should be able to create an environment that assists in improving
> "openness" and collaboration on the development and use of the Access Grid.
> 
> I will be moving this discussion to the AG-DEV mailing list (see
> http://www.accessgrid.org/community for information on mailing lists), in an
> effort to centralise discussion, in which I invite anyone interested to
> participate.
> 
> Some of the feedback I think would be useful in knowing, includes:
> 
> . What groups depends on the use of the Access Grid
> o What sort of usage are we talking about?
> 
> . I would like to see an international team (especially those involved in
> local AG support), that assist with maintaining and operating some of these
> services in the future.  Does this sound like the best way to operate?
> o Are there any other suggestions?
> o Any nominations?
> 
> . Which services/aspects of the AG are of importance:
> o Source code 
> o ANL Venue Server
> o ANL Jabber Server
> o ANL Bridge Registry
> o AG-Dev Certificate Authority
> o The accessgrid.org web site (Documentation, Node Listing, QA results,
> Software downloads)
> o AG-related mailing lists
> 
> For the services listed above, do you have any suggestions or recommendations
> for these services?  Whist we are talking a good look at these services, is
> there anything else we should be including? Are there any services we think
> are no longer required?
> 
> Many thanks for your time,
> Jason.
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Jason Bell, B.I.T. (Honours)
> 
> Video Collaboration Champion
> Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation http://www.qcif.edu.au/
> 
> ARCS eResearch Collaborative Services
> http://www.arcs.org.au/ 
> 
> Senior Research Technologies Officer
> Information Technology Directorate
> CQ University Australia
> http://www.cqu.edu.au/
> 
> E-mail :                 j.bell at cqu.edu.au
>                                 j.bell at qcif.edu.au
>                                 jason.bell at arcs.org.au
> 
> Work   :                 +61 7 4930 9229
> Mobile :               0409 630897
> 
> Postal :                 Building 19, Room 1.55
>                                 Central Queensland University
>                                 Bruce Highway
>                                 Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, 4702
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Patience is a virtue.
> 
> But if I wanted Patience,
> I would have become a Doctor.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>