Summary of GRIDS
Center Services In order to
provide direct services to cyberinfrastructure application projects,
the GRIDS Center develops core competencies, or
"service offerings," that can be appropriately employed in specific
projects. We draw on these services to support engagements with
specific cyberinfrastructure deployment projects and offer general
service to the broader Grid community.
Software Distributions
Essentially, every major cyberinfrastructure deployment project requires an integrated software distribution. These distributions
contain a mixture of existing components that are specific to the
target project. The GRIDS Center makes the work of creating and
testing these distributions easier by offering consultation in the
selection of appropriate components, developing tools, and
offering a multi-platform software
build-and-test environment that allows distributions to be tested
on many different types of platforms.
Software Testing
The GRIDS Center tests cyberinfrastructure
components on a variety of hardware/software platforms and in a
variety of combinations and configurations. We assist cyberinfrastructure
component developers and application and deployment project
members by offering an automated, multi-platform testing environment
that allows software in a variety of configurations to be
routinely tested on various types of hardware/software
platforms.
Training
Because most deployment projects, especially startups, require significant
personnel training, the GRIDS Center produces valuable training materials
and develops in-house expertise in creating and delivering
training material.
Documentation
The GRIDS Center produces various
forms of documentation to meet the skill-level needs for the most commonly used components.
We also develop tools and
in-house expertise for making the production of documentation
easier and more economical.
Technical Support
The GRIDS Center
provides a level of support that is designed to bridge the
internal/external gap, providing project-specific support that
accesses external experts when needed.
Integrated Solutions
While cyberinfrastructure components
each solve specific problems, it is clear that some combinations
of components are more useful than others, and there are some
common application requirements (e.g., credential management) that
can only be met by combining components in specific ways. GRIDS
Center offers integrated solutions for these common requirements
that are combinations of step-by-step documentation, customized
software distributions, and examples from successful projects.
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