ACADEMIA
Grid technology cookbook available to research community
The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) announced today the debut of the Grid Technology Cookbook, a timely addition to SURA’s activities to increase the breadth and effective use of cyberinfrastructure as a resource to grow research capacity. “The Grid Technology Cookbook can bring people up to speed quickly,” said Paul Avery, Physics Department professor at the University of Florida – a SURA member institution. “This includes administrators, program officers, scientific project leaders and scientists who need to expand their computational scale. It will serve as valuable reading material for the participants in our Grid training classes.” Avery also serves as a Member of the Open Science Grid Executive Board. 
This effort follows in the spirit of similar Cookbook productions (such as the ViDe Video Conferencing Cookbook), supported or facilitated by SURA, but driven by recognized need and content contributions from the academic and research community. The Grid Technology Cookbook is available freely online for all those interested in increasing their understanding of grid technology. Interactive feedback mechanisms and a future print version will serve to further extend the Cookbook’s educational value and reach. Topics covered in this initial version range from those that are broadly useful (such as the concepts behind grid technology and case studies of usage) to more specific sections geared to individual experience and purpose (for instance, programming concepts and challenges, or history and directions in grid standards). Content contributions and peer review were provided by 22 individuals from 19 organizations, imparting broad experience and perspective. “The SURA Grid Technology Cookbook is an impressive accomplishment! It is a really comprehensive view of grids today,” said Dr. Parvati Dev, Stanford School of Medicine. Russ Miller, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo added, “Students in my class found the scope and organization of topics in the Cookbook to be highly relevant and coherent. I look forward to using it as an ongoing, prime source in my classes on cyberinfrastructure, grid computing, parallel computing, and high-performance computing.” In addition to SURA support, this first version of the Grid Technology Cookbook was funded through the Open Science Grid and iVDGL, with a grant from the Army Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC). SURA welcomes inquiries and comments on the Cookbook, or other collaborative CI education and outreach activities and will have a kiosk located in the IBM booth at SuperComputing ’07. Web Resources/References – Grid Technology Cookbook: www.sura.org/cookbook/gtcb; ViDe Video Conferencing Cookbook, www.vide.net/cookbook/cookbook.en/
This effort follows in the spirit of similar Cookbook productions (such as the ViDe Video Conferencing Cookbook), supported or facilitated by SURA, but driven by recognized need and content contributions from the academic and research community. The Grid Technology Cookbook is available freely online for all those interested in increasing their understanding of grid technology. Interactive feedback mechanisms and a future print version will serve to further extend the Cookbook’s educational value and reach. Topics covered in this initial version range from those that are broadly useful (such as the concepts behind grid technology and case studies of usage) to more specific sections geared to individual experience and purpose (for instance, programming concepts and challenges, or history and directions in grid standards). Content contributions and peer review were provided by 22 individuals from 19 organizations, imparting broad experience and perspective. “The SURA Grid Technology Cookbook is an impressive accomplishment! It is a really comprehensive view of grids today,” said Dr. Parvati Dev, Stanford School of Medicine. Russ Miller, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo added, “Students in my class found the scope and organization of topics in the Cookbook to be highly relevant and coherent. I look forward to using it as an ongoing, prime source in my classes on cyberinfrastructure, grid computing, parallel computing, and high-performance computing.” In addition to SURA support, this first version of the Grid Technology Cookbook was funded through the Open Science Grid and iVDGL, with a grant from the Army Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC). SURA welcomes inquiries and comments on the Cookbook, or other collaborative CI education and outreach activities and will have a kiosk located in the IBM booth at SuperComputing ’07. Web Resources/References – Grid Technology Cookbook: www.sura.org/cookbook/gtcb; ViDe Video Conferencing Cookbook, www.vide.net/cookbook/cookbook.en/