Probe: Probe Approvals

The primary purpose of Probe is to provide an environment in which the USE of HPSS can be tested and tuned. This includes performance of released HPSS software on various platforms, with various interfaces and varied storage equipment, with various applications.

Probe may also be used to investigate high-end mass-storage products other than HPSS.

Prioritization of projects

Top priority: projects with direct benefit to ORNL or NERSC (and the DOE Office of Science)

Next: other Office of Science projects
Next: projects of interest to HPSS developer sites
Next: projects of interest to HPSS customers not covered earlier
Next: projects of interest to potential HPSS customers

NOT part of PROBE-funded work: HPSS integration testing

There are various ways to categorize tests done using PROBE. One spectrum is "open" vs "proprietary". In Open tests, the results are intended for publication, and some costs are covered by the PROBE project. For Proprietary tests, the results of the test are not to be published and costs are always recovered from the customer.

Typical Scenario - Open test

• Customer makes contact with Randy Burris or Harvard Holmes.
• Project approved by appropriate people (see below).
• Customer provides whatever is lacking in the testbed (computers, networking, storage eqpt, associated software, applications, dbms, test software, staff)
• Equipment, HPSS and infrastructure are configured by customer and Probe staff as appropriate.
• Experiment is configured
• Experiment run
• Customer writes paper with site assistance and participation
• Customer removes what was provided by customer

Typical Scenario - Proprietary test

• Customer makes contact with Randy Burris or Harvard Holmes.
• Project approved by appropriate people (see below).
• Customer provides whatever is lacking in the testbed (computers, networking, storage eqpt, associated software, applications, dbms, test software, staff)
• Equipment, HPSS and infrastructure are configured by customer and Probe staff as appropriate.
• Experiment is configured
• Experiment run
• Records are kept only for auditing, history, etc.
• Customer removes what was provided by customer
• Costs are recovered from the customer.

Funding for projects:

• Additional hardware or software to be provided by customer.
• Significant craft or laborer work to be negotiated.
• Technical staff effort to be negotiated.
• Secretarial effort not included.

Determining approvals process

Open Projects requiring less than $25,000 in hardware and software costs from PROBE funds and requiring less than 0.1 FTE effort (200 hours) and involving only one site approved by PI at that site contingent upon staff availability, site schedule, and project description

Open Projects involving two sites and requiring less than $25,000 in hardware and software costs from PROBE funds from each site and requiring less than 0.1 FTE effort (200 hours) from each site approved by PIs at both sites contingent upon staff availability, site schedules, and project description

Projects providing external funding and staff approved by PI at relevant site(s) contingent upon staff availability, site schedule(s), and project description

Projects exceeding the funds or effort thresholds approved by higher management at site(s)