Changes between Initial Version and Version 1 of GeniDesktop_gec19_report


Ignore:
Timestamp:
07/18/14 14:42:03 (10 years ago)
Author:
griff@netlab.uky.edu
Comment:

--

Legend:

Unmodified
Added
Removed
Modified
  • GeniDesktop_gec19_report

    v1 v1  
     1[[PageOutline]]
     2
     3= GENI Desktop Project Status Report =
     4
     5Period: Post GEC 19 Report
     6
     7== I. Major accomplishments ==
     8
     9The following highlights our accomplishments during the last reporting period.
     10
     11=== A. Milestones achieved ===
     12
     13 * Integrate the GENI Desktop more tightly with the GENI portal, Flack and OMNI.
     14 
     15 * At GEC19, demonstrate the use of GENI Desktop and access to GENI infrastructure.
     16
     17=== B. Deliverables made ===
     18
     19 * We developed several enhancements to the GENI Desktop -- many supporting what were GENI Portal functions -- and have posted the code
     20
     21 * We continued to enhanced the GENI Desktop's interoperability with OMNI, ExoGENI, InstaGENI, and the iRods service
     22
     23== II. Description of work performed during last quarter ==
     24
     25The following provides a description of the progress made during the last reporting period.
     26
     27=== A. Activities and findings ===
     28
     29Our activities this past reporting period have been focused on adding new
     30features to the GENI Desktop that enable it to better manage slices and to
     31better interoperate with Insta and Exo GENI racks.
     32
     33The biggest changes came in the form of enhancements to the slice list page
     34in the GENI Desktop.  We made significant changes to its look and feel in
     35order to make it easier for users to interact with, and control, their
     36slices.
     37
     38The first change was to allow the user to determine which slices appear on
     39the page.  Because users are often members of multiple projects, the system
     40allows them to view only slices belonging to a particular project.  A
     41related change that we made was to limit the number of slices
     42that are displayed within a project.  Because some users were members of
     43projects with many slices (sometimes numbering into the hundreds of slices),
     44we now allow users to select which slices from the project will be shown or
     45hidden.  This allows users to easily focus on the slices that they are
     46working with at the moment.
     47
     48A second important change was the addition of slice operations that allow
     49users to perform slice operations that otherwise would have had to have been
     50performed on the GENI portal or in Flack.  In particular, users can now create a
     51slice, assign an RSPEC to a slice (more on that later), and allocate the necessary
     52resources all from within the GENI Desktop.  When a user is done with a
     53slice, the GENI Desktop can be used to delete the resources associated with a
     54slice.  These operations are performed through the newly designed slice
     55description page.  Each field on the page is "clickable" so that it can be
     56viewed in more detail and/or edited.  New fields include an image
     57of the topology, an RSPEC field, an aggregate manager field, and an auto-renew
     58field.  The slice status field and the next action field have also been
     59enhanced to better reflect the slice's current context/status.
     60
     61Users are now able to assign an RSPEC to a slice and have the GENI Desktop
     62instantiate the resources (sliver) specified by the RSPEC.  Users can
     63contribute RSPECs to a public RSPEC list (available for anyone to use), or to
     64their own private list.  When creating an RSPEC to be (re)used in the future,
     65the user can create a thumbnail image of the topology that will be displayed
     66along with the slice or while selecting and RSPEC to assign to a slice.  This
     67gives users a visual representation of what the topology looks like so that
     68the user does not have to mentally parse the textual RSPEC to discover the
     69topology.  To assign and RSPEC to a topology, users simply select from a list
     70of RSPECS, and can hover over any item in the list to find more information
     71about the RSPEC (e.g., the number of nodes in the RSPEC, a description of its
     72purpose/use/topology, information about its creator (if they choose to reveal
     73their identity), and the aggregate managers that are bound to the RSPEC.  In
     74addition, users can search the lists for RSPECs containing a particular
     75search string.  Another handy feature is the ability to "rebind" and RSPEC to
     76a different topology.  For example if an RSPEC used resources at the
     77University of Utah, and we wanted to reuse the same RSPEC at the University
     78of Kentucky, then we would have the GENI Desktop "rebind" the RSPEC to the new
     79aggregate manager.
     80
     81A common problem experienced by users was slices unexpectedly expiring and
     82being deleted.  To address this problem we added the ability for the GENI
     83Desktop to auto-renew a slice on a user's behalf as long as the GENI Desktop
     84window remained open.  This ensures that slices will not time out as long as
     85they are working with them.  It is particularly helpful with slices that have
     86short expiration times.
     87
     88We also made changes to the way logging is done and shown.  There are now
     89logging windows for sliver creation results/logs and for instrumentation
     90results/logs.
     91 
     92We continued to work with the control frameworks and adjust our code to work
     93with the latest changes in InstaGENI and ExoGENI racks.  We also revised our
     94code to interoperate better with iRods via the GENI Desktop's archival functions.
     95We added a feedback/bug report link to send email to the GENI Desktop team,
     96as well as a FAQ to help people with common problems.
     97
     98=== B. Project participants ===
     99
     100The following individuals are involved with the project in one way or
     101another:
     102 * Jim Griffioen - Project PI (Kentucky)
     103 * Zongming Fei - Project Co-PI (Kentucky)
     104 * Hussamuddin Nasir - Technician/Programmer (Kentucky)
     105 * Charles Carpenter - Technician/Programmer (Kentucky)
     106 * Xiongqi Wu - Ph.D. Student
     107 * Jeremy Reed - Ph.D. Student
     108
     109=== C. Publications (individual and organizational) ===
     110
     111=== D. Outreach activities ===
     112
     113 * We presented during the instrumentation and measurement meetings and
     114   during the demo session at GEC 19 showing the enhancements
     115   made to the GENI Desktop.
     116
     117=== E. Collaborations ===
     118
     119Most of our collaborations have been between the Kentucky team and the
     120Indiana team.  We also continue to work with the GPO Portal team.
     121
     122=== F. Other Contributions ===