wiki:GEC23Agenda/GENIFuturePlanning/ReadAhead

Version 3 (modified by Mark Berman, 9 years ago) (diff)

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Read Ahead Material for GENI Future Planning

Participants in the GENI Future Planning Sessions at GEC23 are requested to review in advance the material below, including the linked pages in the Resources section.

Background: What is in GENI's future?

Changes are coming to GENI in the next 2-1/2 years.

  • GENI's technical emphasis is shifting from capability development, rapid deployment, and expansion to
    • ongoing service,
    • community growth, and
    • federation.
  • GENI's management and governance approach is changing from a GENI Project Office (GPO) managed structure to one that is community-driven.

This transition period is an opportunity to ensure a sound transition of GENI governance and administration to the community, identify the gains from the GENI project, and direct the energy of the GENI community towards defining and attacking the next generation of cyberinfrastructure and research challenges. For example, consider NSF’s recent mid-scale investment in NSFFutureCloud (which builds upon GENI, FutureGrid, etc.), along with the recent NSF-funded workshops in mid-scale infrastructure, including NSF workshop on Future Research Infrastructure for the Wireless Edge 2014 (report) and Workshop on the Development of a Next-Generation Cyberinfrastructure (report) We can anticipate future effort in this area. Importantly, GENI is not going away; rather, this is an opportunity for the GENI community, together with the broader computer and information science and engineering community, to leverage GENI for long-term research and experimentation.

Timelines

There are two relevant time periods to consider. Additional information is provided below.

  1. GENI Future Planning: from now through fall 2015 - during this several month period, the research community will develop a transition plan for GENI's future activities, operation, and governance.
  2. GENI Transition Period: from fall 2015 through fall 2017 - during this two year period, the GPO and current GENI performers will continue to operate GENI under ongoing NSF funding, executing the transition plan, and handing off operational and management responsibility by 2017.

Goals of Planning Sessions at GEC23

  1. Inform participants about GENI transition timeline and planning process.
  2. Gather brainstorming inputs for planning process. Try to stick to brainstorming / expanding the solution set - we’re not evaluating or making decisions now. (OK to identify some pros/cons of different approaches.)
    1. Community - who are the key community groups, and what are their needs?
    2. Activities - what activities are important to GENI’s future success?
    3. Who can perform these activities? Governance and administration - what models are available?
  3. Engage active participation in planning process through fall. Get volunteers from participants at GEC23, get ideas for engaging others.

GENI Community Goals for Transition

In recent years, the GENI project has developed a strong and diverse community, which includes multiple constituencies. It is important that GENI's transition plan recognize and meet the needs of these various groups. For example:

  1. For research and educational users of GENI:
    • GENI infrastructure is available and reliable;
    • assistance is available for users to learn GENI and get help;
    • avenues exist for modest infrastructure growth and capability improvements.
  2. For infrastructure owners / campus IT:
    • Maintenance and operations support is available for GENI infrastructure (HW and SW);
    • hardware repair and refresh are available;
    • GENI’s presence on campus creates opportunities for local research and multi-campus research collaborations;
    • GENI increases campus capability and flexibility via interoperation with other research cyberinfrastructure.
  3. For testbed designers and developers:
    • GENI concepts are incorporated into and provide a springboard for the next generation of research cyberinfrastructure development at NSF and elsewhere;
    • the GENI development community plays a central role in shaping upcoming cyberinfrastructure programs.

Resources

The following resources will be used to seed discussion at GENI Future Planning sessions. Participants are asked to review this information in advance.

Important note: The information in these timelines and tables represent working drafts and should not be treated as complete or final. Expanding, correcting, and revising these documents are important components of the ongoing planning process.

Planning process strawman timeline (now through fall 2015)

GENI transition strawman timeline (fall 2015 through fall 2017)

GENI current and continuing activities - What should continue, ramp down, or start?

Candidate models for governance, administration, and finance - How should GENI be managed beyond 2017?