[Speakers] SVLUG - Proposal for February Presentation

[Roberts, Judy]

Joyce,

Here is what we are proposing.  We've attended a few SVLUG meetings and
think it would be a topic of good general interest. Please let me know if
this is appropriate for your group.  

Cluster Computing Data Management: Experiences and Best Practices
Bruce Moxon, Manager, Vertical Markets, Panasas

As Linux Cluster Computing continues its high rate of adoption, more and
more organizations are faced with data management challenges posed by
emerging distributed computing approaches.  Large-scale cluster and grid
computing approaches are based on the ability to decompose a compute
workload into thousands or millions of tasks, each of which is executed
independently (or almost independently).  This strategy requires the
creation and management of data partitions and replicas that are used by the
compute nodes.  Management of these partitions and replicas poses a number
of operational challenges, especially in large cluster and grid computing
environments, and in environments where core datasets change regularly.

This presentation will identify and explore these challenges, and will
present solutions drawing on common approaches used in implementing "high
throughput" applications.  Examples will draw from multiple disciplines,
including life sciences, earth sciences, and government and commercial
applications.

Please let me know what is required to get on the February calendar.

And thanks very much for the consideration!

Judy Roberts

925 899-5613
jroberts at panasas.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Joyce Cao Traugott [mailto:joyce at terraluna.org]
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 11:15 PM
To: Roberts, Judy
Cc: 'stevegt at svlug.org'; speakers at list.svlug.org.TerraLuna.Org
Subject: Re: [svlug-announce] REMINDER: SVLUG Sep 03: Rob Barret: System
Administrators are Users Too


Hi Judy,

The next available spot is Feb. next year.

Joyce

"Roberts, Judy" wrote:

> Steve,
>
> What is process to get on your list of presenters?
>
> Judy Roberts
> Panasas, Inc.
> 925 8995613
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stevegt at svlug.org [mailto:stevegt at svlug.org]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 11:26 PM
> To: svlug-announce at lists.svlug.org
> Cc: speakers at lists.svlug.org
> Subject: [svlug-announce] REMINDER: SVLUG Sep 03: Rob Barret: System
> Administrators are Users Too
>
> We're pleased to announce the next meeting of the Silicon Valley Linux
> Users Group!
>
> WHAT:
>
>   System Administrators are Users Too
>
> WHEN:
>
>   Wednesday, 03 Sep, 7pm-9pm or so.
>
> WHO:
>
>   Rob Barret, IBM Almaden Research Center
>
> BACKGROUND:
>
>   Most human-computer interaction work has focused on end users of
>   computing systems. Another important class of computer users,
>   however, is the cohort of administrators who design, build, maintain
>   and troubleshoot computer systems. These highly-expert users are
>   vital for the operation of our "e-everything" world, yet little
>   effort has gone into studying their work and developing tools that
>   help them be effective. This is especially important because the
>   labor associated with operating large computational systems is
>   increasingly outstripping the cost of the technology itself.
>
>   Our research group is performing a series of ethnographic studies of
>   system administrators in their work environments. This presentation
>   will include results from these studies, as well as information
>   developed at a CHI2003 workshop on system administrators as users;
>   this workshop brought together researchers, developers, and
>   practitioners from industria and academia.
>
>   From this group and from our own work, a consistent set of paradoxes
>   is beginning to emerge. First, tremendous effort has gone into the
>   design of powerful GUI tools for system administration. Many tools
>   have been developed and validated with established user-centered
>   design methodologies. Yet field studies repeatedly find system
>   administrators ignoring these tools and falling back on the standard
>   command shell and least-common denominator tools such as 'grep' and
>   'vi'. Second, system administration is a highly collaborative
>   activity, with a heavy dependence on instant messaging, email,
>   telephone, and face-to-face interaction. Yet system administration
>   tools rarely include collaboration aids, instead seemingly assuming
>   that these workers toil away silently and alone. Third, effective
>   operation and problem resolution requires an accurate mental model
>   of how the system functions. "Situation awareness" theory dictates
>   that a model starts with sensory input, develops with mental
>   comprehension, and results in predictions of system behavior. Yet
>   large-scale systems have few and unintegrated sensing mechanisms,
>   and are too complex for any single person to comprehend, resulting
>   in unpredictable behavior.
>
>   This presentation will illustrate each of the three paradoxes with
>   examples from field experience, and offer suggestions for how the
>   HCI community can move forward to resolve them.
>
> ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
>
>   Rob Barrett is a Research Staff Member at the IBM Almaden Research
>   Center in California where he works in the Services Research group
>   that aims to bring value from human-computer interaction research to
>   the IBM Global Services organization. His current work focuses on
>   the user experience of system administration and human aspects of
>   autonomic computing. Previous work includes an intermediary approach
>   to designing web applications, optimization of pointing devices,
>   track-following servo systems for tape data storage, and
>   atomic-scale imaging. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from
>   Stanford University and has earned masters and bachelors degrees in
>   physics, electrical engineering and theology. He has over 40
>   refereed publications and 16 patents in fields ranging from applied
>   math to physics and computer science.
>
> WHERE:
>
> Cisco Building 9.  The land of NUMBERS.  The VINEYARDS conference
> center.  The side we are on is the Silver Oak/Jordan conference rooms,
> where a large Cisco fountain is usually not turned on.  Directions on
> how to get there are listed at:
>
>         http://www.svlug.org/directions/cisco-9.shtml
>
> We've tried our very best for these directions to be accurate.  If you
> have any improvements to make, please let our Web Team know!
> web-team at svlug.org
>
> NOTES:
>
> It's best if you arrive close to on time, as otherwise there may not
> be someone posted at the door to let you in.  After the speakers end
> their presentation there is usually a Q&A session, time for job
> seekers and employers to meet, and often a few door prizes.  When the
> meeting is over people are encouraged to chat a bit, but also to exit
> the building so Cisco can lock up.  Don't worry, a lot of us go to
> dinner afterward so there's plenty of time to chat outdoors or
> offsite.
>
> We look forward to seeing you there!
>
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