Exporting NICE/NT to other Institutes: Bologna, INFN, CIEMAT

Exporting NICE/NT to other Exporting NICE/NT to other Institutes: Bologna, INFN, Institutes: Bologna, INFN,

CIEMATCIEMAT

Gian Piero Siroli, Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Bologna and INFN HEPNT Days, CERN, Geneva

HEPNT Days, CERN Gian Piero Siroli

Porting - phase I (LAN)Porting - phase I (LAN) Physics Department at University of Bologna and

local INFN branch total of about 200PCs installed and managed individually More heterogeneous environment than CERN, different services,

different language for O.S. and applications Replica of NICE application server

Hard disk shipped and then resynchronized over the net ~8GB compressed (~11GB total) on NTFS (being tested also at

CERN, currently Netware based) Local installation of NICE (source)

5 nodes dedicated domain, 10BaseT Ethernet LAN Site specific code dependencies resolved on 6 projects


Phase I (LAN)Phase I (LAN) Site configuration

Security related issues (pair SiteKey/MagicKey) User creation and configuration

NICE services Replicated: Application Support, Scheduled Job

Service, Extensions to “System Policies”, Broadcast Message Service, Server Replication Service, Accounting Service

Not replicated (because of no immediate interest or CERN specific): Automated Client Installation (Netware), User Registration (private version), Printing Support


Phase I (LAN)Phase I (LAN) Post installation

Integration into NICE running 2 executables (remote maintenance, NICE desktop installation)

Update shortcuts, some applications removed Accounting Service reconfigured W/95 PC reinstalled with Italian version of O.S. (for

administrative staff) Logo modification Applications starting correctly Fail-over test PDC-BDC and back Byproduct: some CERN related services immediately

available (mail, CERN phonebook, news)


Phase II (WAN)Phase II (WAN) INFN Computing Committee Working Group

Feasibility project of porting and extending NICE infrastructure within INFN (26 sites and 4 labs)

Possibility to manage PCs in remote sites with very little or no local manpower

Possible mechanism for collaborative work and integration of computing tools within HEP collaborations

INFN-NICE test domain One single 18 nodes domain over WAN (<2Mb lines) + 1

resynchronization node on a dedicated domain 3 BDCs, 3 NICE Application Servers, 2 Home Servers


INFN-NICE test domainINFN-NICE test domain


Phase II (WAN)Phase II (WAN) Tests, problems and evolution:

Remote authentication over WAN (even with only one PDC/BDC)

Correct behavior if PDC temporarily unavailable Very slow remote application execution => application

servers installed at remote sites Home servers installed at remote sites Centralized accounting over WAN after reconfiguration Site random load balancing and temporary fail-over to

remote application servers (if needed) Complete resynchronizations (3 times) of applications and

NICE source over the net


Domain architecture Domain architecture (WAN)(WAN)

Goal: minimize overall management load Personal desktop should follow users on any INFN site Sites must be independent for low level management

1 single domain: centralized management for high level functions (synchronization, homogeneity of services, security) and better optimization of resources

N domains: complete site independence, trust relationships, security

Models: Single Domain, Single Master Domain, Multiple Master Domains, Independent Domains with trust rel.

Consequences on synchronization procedures


ResynchronizationResynchronization Periodic resynchronization with CERN

Applications (reference server) NICE source (recompile and reconfigure) Scheme depends on domain architecture Semi-automatic procedure under development


INFN-NICE ArchitectureINFN-NICE Architecture

INFN Reference Server

Appl. Server

Site 1

Appl. Server 1

User

Appl. Server 2User

Home Server

Home ServerAdministrator

INFN Synch. Server

CERN

User

Site 2


More topicsMore topics Accounting and license control

Important for heterogeneous environments and different institutions

Printers configuration Printer Wizard or native W/NT printing tools

Generic NICE configuration for sites or institutions outside CERN Servers, accounting, synchronization, application menu

Installation disk


CIEMAT / CENIT (I)CIEMAT / CENIT (I)CENTRO de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (Madrid)

Under deployment Currently running on 60 PCs; 100 to 120 by next week,

more will be integrated later Switched Ethernet LAN; maybe another site in the future

NICE installation disk generated for 3 models of 3COM network cards

TCP/IP protocol, NTFS file system Printer Wizard: UNIX server running

Samba


Computación en un ENtorno Integrado de Trabajo


CIEMAT / CENIT (II)CIEMAT / CENIT (II) Roaming profiles Spanish version of W95 and some

applications Developed Visual C++ application for user

registration Automatic procedure to integrate PCs

running Win3.1


Summary (I)Summary (I) NICE ported to 2 different environments: Phys.

Dept. and Research Center Relatively easy porting and configuration (few days) Little new code development for non ported services “Development/Test” systems in production with satisfactory

results Extension to WAN

“Stretching” of original CERN-NICE architecture Positive tests Domain architecture: Single Domain INFN W/G proposal: endorsement of CNTC, decision in a short

time by CC


Summary (II)Summary (II) Overall positive experience

Very flexible original NICE architecture Robustness Easily exportable: tools and procedures under

development to automate installation of NICE in a non-CERN environment


ReferencesReferences Report on phase I, CERN-IT/97/10

http://wwwinfo.cern.ch/doc/ITReports/1997/10

CHEP98 Proceedings: http://www.hep.net/chep98/paper98/90/proc_90.doc (slides: siroli.ppt)

CIEMAT: Enrique Avila [email protected], Fernando Blanco [email protected]

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Exporting NICE/NT to other Institutes: Bologna, INFN, CIEMAT