Report from the TeraGrid Evaluation Study, Part 1: Project Findings Ann Zimmerman Thomas A. Finholt August 2008 Collaboratory for Research on Electronic Work School of Information University of Michigan 1075 Beal Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2112 http://www.crew.umich.edu Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 1 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 4 2. Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 5 3. Research Methods ........................................................................................................... 5 3.1 Data Collection ......................................................................................................... 6 3.1.1 User Workshop .................................................................................................. 6 3.1.2 Site Visits ........................................................................................................... 6 3.1.3 Interviews ........................................................................................................... 6 TeraGrid Users ........................................................................................................ 8 TeraGrid and Centers Personnel ........................................................................... 10 Non-TeraGrid Users of HPC Resources ............................................................... 10 Cyberinfrastructure Experts .................................................................................. 11 3.1.4 Participant Observation .................................................................................... 11 3.1.5 Surveys ............................................................................................................. 11 3.1.6 Internal Systems and Documents ..................................................................... 12 3.1.7 Supplementary Information: The TeraGrid Planning Process ......................... 12 3.2 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 12 4. TeraGrid History, Organization, and Operations .......................................................... 13 4.1 History..................................................................................................................... 13 4.2 Organization and Operations .................................................................................. 15 4.2.1 Access to TeraGrid .......................................................................................... 16 5. Introduction to the Findings .......................................................................................... 17 6. The TeraGrid Collaboration .......................................................................................... 17 6.1 TeraGrid as a Virtual Organization ......................................................................... 18 6.2 Factors Affecting the TeraGrid Virtual Organization ............................................. 19 6.2.1 Homogeneity to Heterogeneity ........................................................................ 20 6.2.2 Organizational Growth and Diversity .............................................................. 22 6.2.3 Communication, Coordination, Management and Governance ....................... 26 Communication and Coordination ........................................................................ 26 Management and Governance ............................................................................... 30 6.2.4 Collaboration and Competition ........................................................................ 33 6.3 TeraGrid's Vision and Mission ............................................................................... 34 6.3.1 What is TeraGrid? ............................................................................................ 34 6.3.2 Vision ............................................................................................................... 37 6.3.3 Success ............................................................................................................. 40 Collaboration across Sites ..................................................................................... 40 Technological Developments and Common Processes ........................................ 41 Broadening the User Base ..................................................................................... 43 Ultimate Success ................................................................................................... 44 6.3.4 Mission ............................................................................................................. 45 6.4 Research versus Production Infrastructure ............................................................. 47 6.5 Summary: The TeraGrid Collaboration .................................................................. 48 7. Grid Computing ............................................................................................................ 50 7.1 Defining Grid Computing ....................................................................................... 50 7.2 Barriers to Grid Computing .................................................................................... 51 7.3 The Evolution of Grid Computing .......................................................................... 53 7.4 Summary: Grid Computing .................................................................................... 54 8. TeraGrid User Needs .................................................................................................... 54 8.1 Dilemmas ................................................................................................................ 57 8.1.1 Dilemma #1: Resources must be used, but support is limited ......................... 57 8.1.2 Dilemma #2: Utilization versus Impact ........................................................... 59 8.1.3 Dilemma #3: Determining Appropriate Use .................................................... 60 8.1.4 Addressing the Dilemmas ................................................................................ 61 8.2 User Needs Analysis ............................................................................................... 62 8.2.1 Communities of Practice and User Needs and Behavior ................................. 63 Community of Practice ......................................................................................... 63 8.2.2 Users and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology ............ 64 Users and Performance Expectancy ...................................................................... 64 Users and Effort Expectancy ................................................................................ 64 Users and Facilitating Conditions and Social Influence ....................................... 65 8.2.3 Relationship between Research and Technical Infrastructure ......................... 65 8.2.4 Communities of Practice and Current TeraGrid Users .................................... 67 Experience Level .................................................................................................. 68 Algorithms, Models, and Software ....................................................................... 69 Usage Mode .......................................................................................................... 72 8.3 User Behavior: Consequences of Unmet User Needs............................................. 72 8.3.1 The Problem of the Queue ............................................................................... 72 Non-Optimal Use of Available Resources ............................................................ 72 Beating the Queue vs. “Doing Science” ............................................................... 73 8.3.2 Usability ........................................................................................................... 74 8.4 Impact of TeraGrid: Results of Meeting User Needs ............................................. 76 8.5 User Needs: Looking Ahead ................................................................................... 79 8.6 Summary: TeraGrid User Needs ............................................................................. 80 9. TeraGrid Science Gateways .......................................................................................... 81 9.1 Gateway Developers as TeraGrid Users ................................................................. 83 9.2 Gateway Developers as Intermediaries ................................................................... 84 9.3 Summary: Science Gateways .................................................................................. 85 10. Discussion ................................................................................................................... 85 10.1 Limitations of the Study........................................................................................ 87 10.2 Future Research .................................................................................................... 88 11. Acknowledgments......................................................................................................