NSF Middleware Initiative: What’s It All About? Renee Woodten Frost Assistant Director Internet2...

NSF Middleware Initiative:What’s It All About?

Renee Woodten Frost

Assistant Director

Internet2 Middleware Initiative

SE EDUCAUSE June 18, 2002

Copyright Internet2 2002.

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Topics for Today

Introduction to Middleware

NSF Middleware Initiative (NMI)

Enterprise Infrastructure• Goals and Objectives• Outcomes• Development and Management Processes• Year 1 Milestones and Deliverables• Integration Efforts


Middleware in Action

Three universities decide to share resources and work together on analyzing the groundwater pollution in their region. Collaborating on this problem requires frequent researcher interaction and the use of supercomputing resources around the country.

Waiting to board her plane, a college administrator checks her email to learn of a problem. She connects to her campus library and downloads the latest information about campus unionization. She receives an incoming IP phone call from the Chancellor, who requests that she call a meeting of all department heads to brief them of the activity. She schedules the meeting and sends advance reading materials to the attendees.


What is Middleware?

• specialized networked services that are shared by applications and users

• a set of core software components that permit scaling of applications and networks

• tools that take complexity out of application integration

• a second layer of the IT infrastructure, sitting above the network

• a land where technology meets policy

• the intersection of what networks designers and applications developers each do not want to do


A Map of Middleware Land


Core Middleware

Middleware makes “transparently use” happen, providing consistency, security, privacy and capability

Identity - unique markers of who you (person, machine, service, group) are

Authentication - how you prove or establish that you are that identity

Directories - where an identity’s basic characteristics are kept

Authorization - what an identity is permitted to do

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) - emerging tools for security services


How is it Used?

Email• Common authentication and directories

Account management• Common authentication and provisioning mechanism

Next-generation portals • Common authentication and storage for profiles and

preferences.

Web access controls• Common authentication and directories

Calendaring• Common authentication and directories


How is it Used?

Digital Libraries• Scalable, interoperable authentication and authorization.

Grids (Research for now)• Model for a distributed computing environment, addressing

diverse computational resources, distributed databases, network bandwidth,etc.;

• Globus provides security, location and allocation of resources, and scheduling.

Instructional Management Systems • Common authentication and directories.

Academic Collaboration• Restricted sharing of materials among institutions.


What is the NMI?

NSF Middleware Initiative = NSF award for integrators to:

• GRIDS Center: NCSA, UCSD, Argonne National Labs/University of Chicago, USC/ ISI, and University of Wisconsin

• Enterprise and Desktop Integration Technologies (EDIT) Consortium: Internet2, EDUCAUSE, and SURA

Separate awards to pure research components

Multi-year effort to build on the successes of the Globus project and the Internet2 Middleware Initiative

Practical (deployment) activity that necessitates some research


The Problem We’re Trying To Solve...

To allow scientists and engineers the ability to transparently use and share distributed resources, such as computers, data, and instruments

To develop effective collaboration and communications tools such as Grid technologies, desktop video, and other advanced services to expedite research and education, and

To develop a working architecture and approach which can be extended to Internet users around the world.


What Outcomes is NMI Trying to Achieve?

A unified model for managing the campus infrastructure • directories• identity• metadirectories• security• authentication• authorization• services

A model for achieving interoperability for the research and higher ed communities

A model for building applications


Focus on Enterprise Infrastructure: EDIT Consortium

Enterprise and Desktop Integration Technologies Consortium (EDIT)

• Internet2 – primary on grant and research• EDUCAUSE – primary on outreach• Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) –

testbed


Goals

Much as at the network layer, plumb a ubiquitous common, persistent and robust core middleware infrastructure for the R&E community

• Foster effective and consistent campus implementations• Motivate institutional funding and deployment strategies• Solve the real world policy issues• Integrate key applications to leverage the infrastructure• Nurture open-source solutions• Address scaling issues for the user and enterprise

In support of inter-institutional and inter-realm collaborations, provide tools and services (e.g. registries, bridge PKI components, root directories) as required


How will these outcomes and goals be achieved?

• Foster the development of campus enterprise middleware to leverage both the academic and administrative missions.

• Coordinate a common substrate across higher ed middleware implementations that would permit inter-institutional efforts such as Grids, digital libraries, and collaboratories to scale and leverage

• In some instances, build collaboration tools for particularly important inter-institutional and government interactions, such as web services, PKI and video.

• Insure that distinctive higher ed requirements, from privacy and academic freedom to multi-realm portals, are served in the marketplace.


Specifically . . .

•Foster a coherent name space and security/privacy management architecture

•Foster a coherent directory architecture

•Integrate at the desktop with the operating systems and the user, leveraging enterprise directories and security

•Enable new applications of value to research

•Extend scope of liaison work

•Offer integrative services to component developers

•Proactively disseminate and educate to insure wide and consistent use of middleware services across the higher education and research community


A Map of Middleware Land


Core Middleware Scope

Identity and Identifiers – namespaces, identifier crosswalks, real world levels of assurance, etc.

Authentication – campus technologies and policies, inter-realm interoperability via PKI, Kerberos, etc.

Directories – enterprise directory services architectures and tools, standard object classes, inter-realm and registry services

Authorization – permissions and access controls, delegation, privacy management, etc.

Integration Activities – common management tools, use of virtual, federated and hierarchical organizations


NMI-EDIT Organization

Overall technical direction for NMI-EDIT is set by MACE Bob Morgan, University of Washington, Chair

Directions set via NSF and NMI, Internet2 NPPAC, PKI and DIR Technical Advisory Boards, members

Grant funding is $1.2 million a year:• about ½ to short-term partial hiring of campus IT staff to

develop and document required standards, best practices, etc.

• about ½ to testbeds, dissemination and training sessions

Almost all funding passed through to campuses for work


Sample NMI-EDIT Process (Directories )

MACE-DIR prioritizes needed materials

Subgroups established: • revision of basic documents (LDAP Recipe)

• new best practices in groups and metadirectories

• standards development for eduPerson 1.5 and eduOrg 1.0

Subgroups work in enhanced IETF approach, with scenarios, requirements, architectures and recommended standards stages.

WG Deliverables announced; input and conference call feedback processes start for RPR status; work groups reconvene as needed

Seems to take around 4-6 months, depending on product

6-8 people seem to drive, 15-50 schools participate


NMI-EDIT Development Stages

Works in Progress • Under development by working group; to shape directions• Labeled as Draft

Experimental • Reviewed within the working group; for review within the EDIT

Community • Labeled as EXP

Released for Public Review • For broad review, including international and vendor communities• Labeled as RPR

Final • Labeled as FIN


NMI-EDIT Participants

Higher Ed – 15-20 leadership institutions, with 50 more campuses represented as members of working groups; readership around 2000 institutions.

Corporate - (IBM, Microsoft, SUN, Intel, Liberty Alliance, DST, MitreTek, Radvision, Polycom, EBSCO, Elsevier, OCLC, Metamerge, Baltimore, etc.)

Government – NSF, NIST, NIH, Federal CIO Council, etc

International – Terena, JISC, REDIRIS, AARnet, etc.


A Few Year One Milestones

Sept 1, 2001 – Grant awarded

Oct 2001– eduPerson 1.0 finalized; outreach begins with multiple full day workshops

Jan 2002 – HEBCA tested; first CAMP held

Feb 2002 – PKI Lite CP/CPS; e-Gov and Management and Leadership Best Practice Awards

April 2002 – Shibboleth alpha ships; testbeds selected; NIST/NIH PKI workshop

May 2002 – NMI release, with eduPerson 1.5, pubcookie, KX.509, groups and metadirectories, video white papers

June 2002 – affiliated directories to begin; basic CAMP; testbed kickoff

July 2002 – Shibboleth beta to ship; advanced CAMP


NMI Release 1 Components

Software• Globus Toolkit• Condor-G• Network Weather Service• KX.509 and KCA• Certificate Profile Maker• Pubcookie

Object Classes• eduPerson 1.0• eduPerson 1.5• eduOrg 1.0• commObject 1.0



Conventions and Practices• Practices in Directory Groups 1.0• LDAP Recipe 2.0• Metadirectory Practices for the Enterprise Directory in

Higher Education 1.0

White Papers• Shibboleth Architecture v5

Service• Certificate Profile Registry



Policies• Campus Certificate Policy for use at the Higher Education

Bridge Certificate Authority (HEBCA)• Lightweight Campus Certificate Policy and Practice

Statement (PKI-Lite)• Sample Campus Account Management Policy

Works in Progress: White Papers• Role of Directories in Video-on-Demand• Resource Discovery for Videoconferencing• Directory Services Architecture for Video and Voice

Conferencing over IP (commObject)


Year Two Work Areas

Authorization, Authorization, Authorization

Shibboleth and PKI

Integration with the Grid

HEBCA

Affiliated directories

Federated digital rights management

Video

Registry Services

Research medical middleware


Integration in Action

Thousands of physicists at hundreds of laboratories and universities worldwide come together to design, create, operate, and analyze the products of a major detector at CERN, the European high energy physics laboratory. During the analysis phase, they pool their computing, storage, and networking resources to create a "Data Grid" capable of analyzing petabytes of data.



Mary is a grad student at Alpha U,taking courses in a traditional classroom and online, and works at a company nearby. Her electronic identities must be verified to permit remote access to resources at both locations such as libraries and the company intranet and to deliver streamed-video classroom content. Mary is not continually asked for usernames, passwords or account numbers because the institutions and their constituents trust open standards for authentication, information sharing and privacy management.



Professor Smith wants to access a broad range of services through a secure portal to permit complex calendar applications, desktop video, IP telephony and his GRID project resources. Whether in an office or an airport, the professor comes to depend on quality-of-service, security and privacy to access and share data with colleagues on campus and across the country.


Integration Issues

What needs integration?• Core middleware components• Plumbing the campus core for Grids• New NMI components into the existing base

What are the desired outcomes of integration• To the user

– Relatively single-sign on/limited credentials– Enterprise directory data supplied to Grids and other

apps• Behind the scenes

– Integrated accounting, security, management


Integration Issues

What are the barriers to integration• Embedded bases• Different priorities• Gaps


Coexistence, then integration

Coexistence• Converting campus Kerberos tickets to temporary X.509

certificates• Classification of NMI deliverables• Testbeds for multiple agendas• Identifier cross-walks

Integration• Web services• Metadirectories• Identifier reduction• Accounting and resource control


The pieces fit together…

Campus infrastructure• Name space and identifiers• Directories• Enterprise authentication and authorization

Inter-realm infrastructure• edu object classes• Exchange of attributes

Inter-realm Upperware• Grids• Digital libraries• Video


A Map of Middleware Land (again)


What to watch…

The campus middleware infrastructure - make sure it is being developed and reflects needs

Vendor and database licensing and service changes

Shibboleth Demos and Pilots


Where to watch?

Websites

http://www.nsf-middleware.org

http//www.nmi-edit.org

http://www.grids-center.org

http://middleware.internet2.edu

Middleware information and discussion [email protected]

[email protected]

NMI lists (see websites)


More Information…

Education Opportunities• Summer CAMP (Campus Architectural and Middleware

Planning)– Base – end of June– Advanced – beginning of July

Contact:

- Renee Woodten Frost

[email protected]

NSF Middleware Initiative: What’s It All About? Renee Woodten Frost Assistant Director Internet2...

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