Core Support Area: C/C

Lead: David Bernholdt

EMail Address: bernhold@npac.syr.edu

Telephone: 315 443 3857          Fax: 315 443 3857

Core Technology Transfer: 

Syracuse will provide a core level of effort to support technology
transfer, user outreach, training, and assessment of tools and
technologies to facilitate communication and collaboration among the
PET team and users of the CEWES MSRC. Technologies of interest
include, but are not limited to, both synchronous and asynchronous
collaboration over the Internet and use of databases to manage large
volumes of information, especially when coupled with web servers to
facilitate access to the information. Syracuse will provide an
appropriate level of effort to support the deployment and use of the
Tango collaboratory tool, emphasizing robustness and core
collaboration functionality. Syracuse will continue to operate and
enhance web-linked database applications it has developed for CEWES
MSRC, and, as requested, assist with transfer to on-site computer
systems.  Syracuse will maintain frequent contact with CEWES MSRC
Webmaster, database administrators, and other on-site personnel to
insure that C/C resources provide the maximum utility to the PET/user
community. Syracuse will also maintain regular contact with PET team
members to assess needs.  Syracuse will select and attend focused
conferences and other meetings that have high payoff and direct
application for team and user interaction and technology transfer.

Targeted Codes/Algorithms:

The primary focus of our work on C/C is on the TANGO Interactive
collaboratory system.  With support from the CEWES MSRC PET program as
well as the other MSRCs and outside organizations, we have made
excellent progress in terms of the functionality and robustness of
Tango in the last several years.  With the basic system in good shape,
we now wish to focus our PET-supported efforts on enhancements which
are important to use of the system within DoD.
1) Addressing security concerns
2) An "out-of-browser" version of Tango to provide an alternative to
   the problems inherent in the current tight browser integration of
   the system.
3) Support for the interactions inherent in a formal meeting or
   briefing.

Each of these tasks are described briefly below:

Security

At present, security in TANGO is minimal: applets are signed with a
digital certificate tracable to NPAC.  This prevents tampering with a
given applet, but it does not prevent rogue applets.  Exchange and
verification of certificates is required to insure that only
legitimate applets are accepted.  Communication between applets will
be encrypted via the widely-used SSL technology.  User authentication
be added as well, optionally with integration of Kerberos
authentication. But it must be recognized that strong security
significantly limits system accessibility and therefore its utility in
some contexts, so we do not recomend it as the primary security model.

Out-of-Browser TANGO

The current tight integration of TANGO with the web browser has both
advantages and disadvantages.  One significant disadvantage at present
is the fact that browsers are currently changing so rapidly (5
releases of Netscape Communicator this year), and each new release
introduces changes that inevitably require changes to TANGO to support
it, which is very labor intensive and thus increases support costs.
Separating TANGO from the browser offers the additional advantages of
vastly improved performance, especially on unix workstations, and
providing a simpler and less expensive route to supporting Microsoft
Internet Explorer and possibly other browsers.  A version of TANGO
which can operate independently of the browser's Java support is
currently available in prototype form, and under this project will be
brought to a deployable level.

Meeting Support

TANGO is already very effective as a general collaboration tool, as
well as in a distance learning environment.  Formal meetings, reviews,
and briefings represent another important way in which collaborative
tools can be employed to support DoD/MSRC/PET activities.  While the
existing TANGO system supports the bulk of what is needed for
meetings, there are a number of small but important pieces of
functionality that will improve the utility of TANGO for these kinds
of applications:
a) Integration of the User Identity Module: this module enables linkage
   between synchronous and asynchronous data repositories (see also Security)
b) Implementation of enhancements allowing for integration of TANGO Interactive
   with discussion lists and, optionally, with relational database backends
c) Implementation of enhancements to several application modules to support
   transfer of the dynamically created data to asynchronous repositories, such
   as local file systems, e-mail, discussion lists, and database systems
d) Implementation of recording capability and data storage and indexing
   for the audio and video data streams.
e) Integration of the "bulk file transfer" capability ensuring automatic
   distribution of the documents
f) Implementation of the "event directory" application for disseminating
   information about collaboratory events
g) Implementation and integration of the "watchdog" functionality enabling
   automatic system startup for a user who registered interest or is required
   to participate in the events scheduled via item e) above
h) Packaging and delivery of an easily installable system with tools for easy
   system administration

We plan for a prototype of the enhanced system to be available in six
months, which would allow it to be used, for example, to facilitate
the participating of off-site PET staff in the Mid-Year Review -- or
for other meeetings at the discretion of the PET management.  Support
for testing and deployment would be provided for the remainder of Year
4.

Training: 

We plan to offer a tutorial session on the TANGO Interactive system,
covering collaboration, integration of HPC applications into the Tango
collaborative environment, etc.  This training will be preceeded by a
"Tango Open House" (suggested by John Eberle) to give MSRC, PET, and
CEWES staff a chance to see and try out TANGO in a variety of
different collaborative applications.

Required Resources: 

Deliverables: 

o Trip reports for conferences and user contacts (as appropriate)
o Contributions to PET bi-weekly reports and presentations at periodic
  review meetings (as conducted)
o Contribute materials pertaining to collaboration and communication
  technologies to the CEWES MRSC PET C/C web site (on-going)
o Report on asynchronous collaboration tools and their possible roles
  within the CEWES MSRC and PET organizations (Mar'00)
o Tango Tutorial and Open House at CEWES MSRC (to be determined)
o Development of a domain-specific search engine in Climate, Weather
  and Ocean Modeling (CWO), in collaboration with the PET CWO group
  (initial version Jun'99 with on-going support and enhancement)
o On-going operation and enhancement of web-linked database applications
o Enhanced security support for TANGO Interactive (in stages: Jul'99,
  Nov'99, Mar'00)
o Out-of-browser version of TANGO Interactive (Sep'99)
o Prototype formal meeting/briefing support for TANGO Interactive
  (prototype Sep'99, production Mar'00)