SMSCG provides shared computational resources and basic data management facilities for the Swiss scientific community to solve computational problems. With the second phase availability, reliability and quality of services of the computational resources will be enhanced. Support for basic data management services will be implemented - driven by user and application requirements.

(see also phase 1 and phase 3)

Goals

The overall SMSCG project goal is to provide computational resources to solve scientific computational problems. The provision of the computational resources has been achieved to a large extend in the SMSCG phase 1 project.
The second phase aims at enhancing availability, reliability and quality of services of the available computational resources.
The novel contribution and innovation is the explicit support for basic data management services, implementation of which is fully driven by user and application requirements.

From the experiences gained in SMSCG phase 1 the need to concentrate on the following issues has been identified:

1. Support for users and applications:
   • support for novel usage model(s);
   • data management support;
   • active grid user recruitment and migration support.
2. Sustainability:
   • clear added value for all partners and users;
   • maintenance of the infrastructure must require only a minimal effort;
   • clear business model that regulates the quality of service (QoS).

Steps

The work is divided into the following work packages:

1. Operation and Infrastructure:
   • Service operation
   • Site Integration Support
   • Data management
   • Assessment of new middleware releases
   • Automation of package integration
   • Security, Policies and SLAs
   • Monitoring and Accounting
2. User Support and Recruitment:
   • User support
   • Recruitment of new users I - via migration from local to grid
   • Recruitment of new users II - via addition of a new 'user model'
   • Increase application portfolio
3. Applications:
   • Application support
   • Selectome/codeml