Re: [saga-rg] SAGA-RG charter revision 2

9 Feb 2006


      GGF20 ?

On Thu, 9 Feb 2006, Andre Merzky wrote:
...
Hi Tom,
there is no milestone for the "SAGA API Guidelines" doc - I
guess we should have that (no too early).
Quoting [Tom Goodale] (Feb 09 2006):
...
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 06:59:22 -0600 (CST)
From: Tom Goodale 
To: saga-rg@ggf.org
Subject: [saga-rg] SAGA-RG charter revision 2
Latest version with Steven's comments, and spell-checked this time 8-)
Informational Section
 ---------------------
Area:           Applications [Standards]
Name of group:  Simple API for Grid Applications Research Group
Acronym:        SAGA-RG
Type of group:  Reasearch Group (RG)
Chairs:         Tom Goodale, Shantenu Jha, Thilo Kielmann
Secretaries:    TBD
Email list:     saga-rg@ggf.org
Web page:       http://forge.ggf.org/projects/saga-rg/
Charter:
 -------
This charter is the result of a re-chartering of the SAGA Research
    Group.
Focus/Purpose:
    -------------
Many application developers wish to make use of the exciting
    possibilities opened up by the advent of the Grid.  Application
    developers, however, have their own agendas to pursue and often
    cannot spare the time or resources to fully investigate the vast
    wealth of Grid technologies and APIs which currently exist.  They
    would rather be presented with a simple API close to the
    programming paradigms and interfaces they are used to.
For example, the process of copying of a remote file may involve
    interaction with a replica location service, a data transport
    service, a resource management service, and a security service.
    It may involve communication via LDAP/LDIF, GRAM, HTTP, and GSI,
    as protocols or protocol extensions. A Fortran application
    programmer,  however, wants to see a call very much like:
call fileCopy (source, destination)
Although this example is simplified, it illustrates the motivation
    for our work. The APIs developed by this RG will deliver a similar
    level of abstraction for a range of basic operations which need to
    be grid aware.  The precise set of operations is to be decided by
    the RG based upon application requirements and use cases; examples
    of such operations may be file access, job submission, monitoring
    or steering.
Scope:
    -----
The group will build on the results and feedback of the work of
    the former SAGA RG.  As such, it will provide a forum in GGF to
    consolidate application driven API specifications.  The primary
    goals of the group are two fold:
1) provide general guidelines for application driven API
       specifications in GGF (security guidelines, common look & feel,
       interoperability guidelines, conflict resolution, etc.)
2) The group will form, on an ad hoc basis, design teams
       which investigate new API areas for inclusion in the SAGA-API
       The design teams will
- solicit related application use cases
        - issue an informal use case document
        - issue an informal requirement document
3) Spawn off focused working groups which will work on API
       specifications (standard recommendation track) for specific
       subsystems, e.g. RPC, CPR, application steering etc, after
       a design team has identified and explored an area as described
       in (2) above.
4) Coordinate the activities of the SAGA working groups and
       make sure that the resulting APIs are in line with the
       SAGA goals.
The SAGA API does not strive to replace Globus or
    similar middleware systems, and does not target middleware
    developers, but solely application developers with no assumed
    background on Grid Computing who wish to grid enable their
    applications whilst spending as little time as possible learning
    new paradigms.  Such developers typically wish to devote their
    time to their own goals and minimise the time spent coding
    infrastructure functionality. The API will insulate application
    developers from middleware.
The specification of services, and the protocols to interact with
    them, is out of the scope of the RG.  Rather, the API seeks to hide
    the detail of any service infrastructures that may or may not
    be used to implement the functionality that the application
    developer needs. The RG will, however, actively liaise with all
    grid-middleware groups within the GGF.
Exit Strategy:
    --------------
No clear exit strategy for this group exists, as it is supposed to
    provide means to continuously spawn off focused working groups.
    However, the group does have a list of deliverables, and should
    revisit its charter after these deliverables have been completed.
Goals:
    ------
Note: As this charter is a result of a re-chartering process for
    the SAGA RG, it also contains goals and deliverables which have
    already been, or are currently in the process of being
    delivered.
The group will produce an informal use case document ("SAGA
    Use-Case Document") and a informal requirement document ("SAGA
    Requirements Document").
In continuation, and broadening its scope, the group will create a
    Community Practise Document "SAGA API Guidelines", which will
    define the Look & Feel of SAGA APIs, and describe central
    paradigms (such as asynchronous operations and error handling)
    which should be respected in SAGA API specifications.  That
    document will build upon the experience of the SAGA-CORE WG and their
    initial SAGA API specification v1.0.
These documents are to guide the spawned off working
    groups, and to ensure short and concise working agendas for these
    groups.  The formation of design teams is informal, and should
    always strive to find members from the specific areas of
    expertise - i.e. members from the relevant GGF community groups,
    and members from the relevant GGF standards groups.
* Informational Document:
      "SAGA Use Case Document"
      - use cases
* Informational Document:
      "SAGA Requirements document"
      - define exact scope of the initial SAGA API
      - define target user groups for initial SAGA API
      - define programming languages to be supported by the initial
        SAGA API
* Informational Document:
       "SAGA use of other Grid specifications"
        This document will survey the survey and evaluate SAGA
        reference implementations with underlying models of
        grid-middleware including, but not confined to OGSA.
* Community Practise Document:
       "SAGA API Guidelines"
       This document will define the Look & Feel of SAGA APIs,
       and describe central paradigms (such as asynchronous
       operations and error handling) which should be respected
       in SAGA API specifications.
Milestones:
    -----------
GGF16: - Finalisation of "SAGA Use Case Document, version 1"
           - Presentation of "SAGA Requirements document, version 1"
GGF17: - Finalisation of "SAGA Requirements document, version 1"
GGF19: - Presentation of "SAGA use of other Grid
                              specifications, version 1"