26-Jun-99 D.P.Kelsey, HTASC report 1

HTASC - Report to HEP-CCC

David Kelsey, RALd.p.kelsey@ rl.ac.uk

26 June 1999, FNAL(http://home.cern.ch/~eauge/htasc/public/)

26-Jun-99 D.P.Kelsey, HTASC report 2

HTASC #12 10th/11th June 1999,

NIKHEFAgenda• Report from HEPNT sub-group and

review• Interim report from Security sub-group• Video Conferencing• Discussion of L.Robertson paper on O.S.’s• n.b. HTASC found it very useful to hold a

meeting away from CERN. We plan to do this once per year in future.

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HEPNT

• See DPK slides • HTASC agrees with disbanding HEPNT as

a sub-group, but... continue as an open forum.

• Lots of discussion on W2k migration group– why no UNIX group?– Clear need for W2000 migration, but can we

find a non-MS name?– mandate must emphasise the NT/UNIX

integration issues

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New W2000 Migration groupDraft mandate

1. To investigate and test the new features of Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system, with particular emphasis on those issues related to the migration from Windows NT V4.0 which may need coordination across HEP.

2. To make recommendations to HTASC/HEPCCC on those areas where a coordinated migration plan is required. These plans should take into account any potential benefits for the integration of Windows 2000 and UNIX as used in HEP.

3. To share the expertise gained with other HEP Windows NT system managers by organising an open Windows 2000 migration workshop and/or by other appropriate means.

4. To collaborate with the HEPiX and HEPNT groups.

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W2000 group (2)

• This should be a small group of HEP NT experts.

• Chairman to be found• The mandate is for an initial period of

12 months with a review at that point. – We need recommendations within 12

months!

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Other NT matters

• AFS has been the preferred WAN file system– But, CERN have now found problems with

file locking in Developers Studio

• So, WAN access to NTFS file shares is very useful

• This will be even easier in Windows 2000• Firewalls which block the MS ports

are/will cause problems

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HTASC Security Group

• New group, created at Nov 98 HEP-CCC

• See slides from Tobias Haas (chairman)• I propose that this should be an agenda

item at Nov 99 HEP-CCC and that Tobias is invited to give his final report

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Video conferencing

• By a NIKHEF-CERN ISDN video conference– worked well apart from a connection break!

• See slides– Christian Isnard Developments at CERN– Philippe Galvez VRVS– Alan Flavell UK PIPVIC2– Kors Bos Some User comments

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HTASC VC conclusions

• Video Conferencing (VC) has evolved into a vital tool for HEP allowing efficient collaboration over large distances.

• Includes room-based meetings, desktop conferencing, broadcasting seminars and various mixtures of these, over both circuit-based (ISDN) and packet-based (Internet) technologies.

• N.b. audio is more important/difficult than video

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HTASC Recommendations on Video Conferencing

1. VC is an essential tool for HEP collaboration and all efforts should be made to make this available to and easy to use by all HEP personnel.

2. Every HEP Institute should be equipped with, or have adequate access to, an ISDN/Codec circuit-based VC room, or roll-about equipment. More equipped VC meeting rooms - if possible with both circuit-based (ISDN) and packet-based (Internet) technologies - are required at the major labs where the lack of rooms is already causing problems.

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Recommendations on Video Conferencing (2)

3. Equipping a desktop computer for VC is now relatively cheap. All HEP staff requiring desktop VC for their work should be provided with this equipment. VC should be seen as a standard part of the HEP desktop.

4. The various VC standards and tools are still evolving rapidly. R&D work on VC, such as the Caltech/CERN development of VRVS, should continue to be supported and encouraged, to ensure that the tools are suitable for the evolving HEP use and easy to use.

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Discussion of L.Robertson talk

• General HTASC support for the overall direction, with the following caveats– assumed to be for general purpose off-line– HEP must stay open to new developments– Timescales for ending support for other O.S’s

need careful thought– Exceptions must be allowed for special cases

• e.g. high-end data/file servers (for now)

– n.b. differences between flavours of Linux are becoming less important

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Future HTASC meetings

• (7/8 October, 1999) (CERN) or 28/29 October– depends on date of SLAC HEPiX/HEPNT– experience of ‘OO’ technology (e.g. BaBar) and

requirements for training– Networking issues, e.g. differentiated services– Revisit the Security report

• March 2000 meeting– Regional Centres

• Any other ideas?

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Summary

• HTASC invites HEP-CCC to – take note of recommendations on Video

Conferencing– approve disbanding of HEPNT as an HTASC

sub-group and then the creation of an HTASC W2000 migration sub-group

– read and comment on 1st Draft of the Security report (at next meeting?)

• feedback welcome before that

– add Security to the agenda for Nov 99 HEP-CCC