Interview: Chein Discusses Smarr's OptIPuter
By Neil Alger, Principal Correspondent, GRIDtoday GRIDtoday

In September of 2002, the OptIPuter project received $13.5 million dollars to be awarded over 5 years to push the distributed computing effort forward. Initially the vision of Cal-(IT)2 director Larry Smarr, the effort has drawn Grid computing visionaries from across the field, including USC's Carl Kesselman, UIC's Phil Papadopolous and Tom DeFanti, and UCSD's Mark Ellisman.

Still, for all the high-profile involvement of leaders within the Grid community, the OptIPuter seems to have flown nearly under the radar for the last year. GRIDtoday correspondent Neil Alger spoke recently with Dr. Andrew Chien, who has been called the "chief software architect" of the project, in an attempt to shed some light on the OptIPuter's progress since September of last year.

GRIDtoday: To begin, could you possibly elaborate on the nature of your work on the OptIPuter project?

Dr. Andrew Chien: The OptIPuter project includes several different threads of activity -- driving applications, experimental network testbed design and construction, and middleware. Larry Smarr is the overall PI for the project, with other leaders such as Phil Papadopoulos (experimental networks) and Tom DeFanti of UIC (experimental networks and visualization), and Mark Ellisman (applications). First, my research group at UCSD is one of the key teams on the middleware research activity, and in addition I've been called the "chief software architect" or other terms which connote the coordination of the larger middleware team which includes Jason Leigh of UIC, Carl Kesselman of USC-ISI, and many other distinguished and talented researchers.

GRIDtoday: With so many different groups working in conjunction on the OptIPuter project, it can be difficult to get a sense of the progress that is being made. Can you give us a brief overview of what has happened since last September's announcement of NSF funding for the OptIPuter, as well as elaborate on what sort of timeline and roadmap have been established?

Chien: This is hard to do tersely, but the progress has been significant. We have established initial testbeds and plotted a clear experimental network infrastructure strategy and plan for the next several years. This plan has already been put into action at the lead site (UCSD) and also at UIC. The middleware team has developed an initial software architecture and researchers are working to develop innovative new technologies which can be plugged into that framework.

GRIDtoday: How is the OptIPuter different from other distributed computing projects that are currently in progress?

Chien: While there are many innovative things about OptIPuter, I think the thing that stands out the most is the close coupling of challenging massive data applications, a critical mass of top-flight middleware researchers, and a focus on dedicated lambdas in an experimental network environment which enables innovation across system abstraction layers and cross-fertilization across groups. While there are many distributed computing projects, I know of none that are as focused on the remarkable opportunity of dedicated end-to-end optical connections and which couple the development of middleware with driving applications to ensure we develop relevant technologies.

GRIDtoday: Because the OptIPuter project is physically based out of UCSD, it is situated within a key locus of the Grid community, sharing a campus with both SDSC and NPACI. What kind of cross-fertilization is there between the OptIPuter project and these other related groups, and has that proximity affected the ultimate vision of the OptIPuter in any way? Further, how do you see the OptIPuter project situated within the Grid community as a whole?

Chien: There is tremendous synergy and cross-fertilization, not only because of physical proximity, but also because many of the key leaders of the OptIPuter project are key players in SDSC and NPACI. While I can't speak for those efforts, I have little doubt that our vision for OptIPuter will become an integral part the long-term vision for cyberinfrastructure. It is important to note that OptIPuter is different from those efforts in that it is primarily a research project, while those others mentioned are primarily infrastructure efforts.

GRIDtoday: Whose products are currently 'under the hood' of the OptIPuter? Do you foresee an increase in enterprise involvement in the project as it moves forward?

Chien: We are using "bleeding edge" hardware and software technologies from many outstanding companies. As the project advances and the scale of experimental networks and experiments grow, we expect even greater interest and involvement with leading technology companies.

GRIDtoday: What are the major hurdles that need to be overcome for the OptIPuter to reach its projected potential?

Chien: There are a long list of hurdles, but let me point out two. First, one major hurdle is to establish a simple model of use or abstraction for the underlying end-to-end optical connections. Without it, few applications will benefit and such services will not be widely available. With it, virtually all applications could benefit dramatically. Second, a key hurdle is to gain acceptance of the notion that applications can express network configuration control and the network can respond to it in real time. From the network management side this means dealing with dynamic configuration demands, and from the application side, this implies reasoning about requirements -- both when they can and can't be met.

GRIDtoday: Is there anything else that you would like to add for our readers?

Chien: The OptIPuter is a large project with a large number of outstanding researchers. I've doubtless failed to describe all of the exciting key chaJllenges and technologies, but I hope that I've piqued your interest enough that you'll keep an eye on what we're doing!

About Dr. Andrew A. Chien
Andrew A. Chien is the Science Applications International Corporation Chair Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California at San Diego. Andrew Chien leads the Concurrent Systems Architecture Group and is involved with joint projects with both NCSA and NPACI. Furthermore, he is a co-founder and CTO of Entropia Inc, an enterprise desktop Grid company.

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