• How do you download and test the EGEE platform?

The current production software platform for EGEE is LCG-2 which can be to connect your site to the grid (the installation requires system manager privileges).

Here you can find an a pdf overview of how to use this platform as a user.

• Is the gLite middleware compatible with GT4 middleware?

gLite is currently using a number of GT2 services. GT4 has been released recently and JRA1 is currently evaluating it. Depending on the evaluation, and compatibility other external dependencies with GT4 a roadmap to migrate from GT2 to GT4 will be established. Some GT4 components such as the WSS are already being prototyped. Globus is a full partner of JRA1.

• Is gLite available for 64 bits architecture?
  

Unfortunately gLite doesn't yet support 64 bit architectures, however we are currently in the process of porting to IA64. Neither gLite 1.5.0 nor the release integrated with LCG-2, gLite 3.0.0, that we are preparing now, are ready for 64-bit architecture as yet.
The current LCG2 middleware has been ported to 64 bit platforms, however.
Of course, the EGEE Project team will continue to track the developments of Globus and ensure the gLite software is available on the most popular platforms deployed by resource centres connected to the infrastructure.

• We would like to install the 1.4 version of GLite which Scientific Linux version should we use?
  

Any version of Scientific Linux, in particular the 3.0.x series, can be used. There is no experience yet with Scientific Linux 4.0. Further questions on specific problems may also be directed to the mailing list.

• How do I use the EGEE middleware?

There are a couple of guides available for the introduction of the use of the EGEE Middleware, gLite. gLite is being developed, and is based on the LCG stack. In gLite version 3.0.0, scheduled for early 2006, the convergence between the two software stacks will be complete and all LCG Middleware references will be replaced with gLite 3.0.0.

gives an overview of the main characteristics of the LCG-2 middleware, which is being used for EGEE. It allows users to understand the building blocks and the available interfaces to the GRID tools in order to run jobs and manage data. This document is neither a system administrators nor a developers guide.
are all scheduled and you would be encouraged to attend one of our courses listed at the link.

• How do I find documentation for the software?

There is a documentation section being currently developed on this website, but you can find a great deal of information at the following links;
The NA3 Training materials depository is a searchable indexed collection of training materials used through the project to date.
includes help and tips on various aspects of the LCG middleware stack.

includes user manuals, help and tips on various aspects of the gLite middleware stack.

• What sort of functionality will EGEE provide?

•    Simplified access - EGEE will reduce the overhead of separate accounting systems by providing means for users to join virtual organisations with access to a Grid containing all the operational resources the user needs.
•    On demand computing - By allocating resources efficiently, the Grid promises greatly reduced waiting times for access to resources.
•    Pervasive access - The infrastructure will be accessible from any geographic location with good network connectivity, making resources more widely available.
•    Large scale resources - Through coordination of resources and user groups EGEE will be able to provide application areas with access to resources of a scale that no single computer centre can provide.
•    Sharing of software and data - By providing a unified computational fabric the EGEE will allow widespread user communities to share software, software development, and databases in a transparent way.
•    Improved support - By making use of the expertise of all the partners EGEE will be able to offer in-depth support for all key applications.

• What level of service will EGEE provide?

The grid operations groups in the EGEE project will ensure the delivery of production level Grid services, the essential elements of which are manageability, robustness, resilience to failure, and a consistent security model, as well as the scalability needed to rapidly absorb new resources as these become available.
The key objectives of these groups are to support core infrastructure services, Grid monitoring and control, middleware deployment and resource induction, resource and user support, Grid management and international collaboration.
An Operations Management Centre at CERN (Switzerland) will coordinate the work of five Core Infrastructure Centres (CERN, France, Italy, Russia and UK ) and eight Regional Operation Centres. The initial production service of EGEE will be based on the middleware and services deployed and operated by the LCG project.
For more information on LCG, see www.cern.ch/lcg

• What middleware will EGEE be based on?

A Grid Middleware Engineering and Integration Activity will support and continuously upgrade a suite of software tools capable of providing production level Grid services to a base of users which is anticipated to rapidly grow and diversify.

The middleware activities in EGEE focus primarily on re-engineering existing middleware functionality, leveraging the considerable experience of the partners with the current generation of middleware. The middleware will evolve towards a service oriented architecture (SOA) based on standards developed within the Web Services and related communities. Middleware Re-engineering Centres will take responsibility for the following key services:

• Resource Access (Italy)
• Data Management (CERN)
• Information Collection and Retrieval (UK)
• Resource Brokering and Accounting (Italy)
• Security (Nordic countries)

Quality Assurance and Grid Security teams will be closely connected to this effort. A middleware Integration and Testing Centre will be based at CERN. As a starting point for this activity, an effort has been launched to integrate some of the leading Grid middleware from the Virtual Data Toolkit (VDT), The European DataGrid Project (EDG) and the AliEN project.

• When is the release of glite middleware planned for Windows?

Porting of gLite middleware to other platforms is planned for the future but we do not yet know the timeline for porting to Windows.

• How can we run a PVM programme?

For the time being PVM is not supported. The only supported way to run parallel jobs is through MPI. An extension to support to PVM, although possible, it is not planned at this time.

• What libraries, packages and programming tools are installed on the nodes?

Standard packages. A complete list can be found from:

In EGEE, you can ship specific libraries with your application or do some pre-installation on a given number of clusters if you need to harness a lot computing resources.

• What is the role of glite in EGEE?
  

This is the next generation middleware in EGEE. A mixed LCG/gLite middleware distribution is currently being tested and will be deployed on the production infrastructure in April 2006.

• Will myrinet connectivity be utilised if our cluster is made part of a regional grid?

Myrinet is a network connection between the worker nodes in the computing cluster at this site. Myrinet is typically used by parallel jobs that communicate between processes (typically using MPI) on different compute nodes. So: will it be used? Yes, if the application that runs on this cluster is a parallel application. If the application that is run is a simple one job per node then: no, myrinet will not be used. Of course, in the first case, the cluster must be set up to run MPI jobs, and must publish this appropriately in the information system so that MPI jobs can be scheduled to run there.