Grid Operations Issues and Difficulties

1
Grid Operations Issues and Difficulties

• Leigh Grundhoefer
• Indiana University
• leighg_at_indiana.edu
• Open Science Grid Operations Workshop
• December 1, 2004

2
Operations

• Many sites still experience installation and
  resource certification problems.
• Lack of step-by-step installation instructions
  for most clusters.
• Effort on generalized rather than specialized
  install process.
• Many configuration steps are required after
  pacman command completes.
• Need more tests of real world usage, a common
  compliant is The site status is green but I
  cant use it
• More enhancements for operational verification
  software (site_verify)
• Lack of sufficient monitoring and publication of
  available storage
• No policy publication and little policy
  enforcement
• No redundancy for single point of failure
  services, I.e VOMS server, documentation
  services, installation caches
• Avoid centrality and hopefully avoid catastrophic
  grid failures

3
Operations

• Problems keeping communication channels open with
  resource administrators
• Problems solving with resource providers stall.
• Infrastructure updates and configuration
  management are done as best effort. This
  results in simple problems hanging around for
  extended periods of time.
• Lack of consistency in error reporting and
  inaccessible log data increases complexity.
• No documented remote diagnostics procedures makes
  problem solving harder.
• No procedure for bug tracking which would allow
  feedback to software developers.
• Lack of required personnel to research and
  correct all problems
• What is the correct ratio of sites to support
  personnel?
• How much should be invested?

4
Support

• Thus far focused almost exclusively on the
  resource providers. Typical of early adoption of
  internet software.
• Much planning and focus on reacting to critical
  problems. Other problems go unreported or
  unnoticed.
• No training activities. An important part of good
  support?
• Informal channels of support abound.