National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Issue 4August 2010

in this issue VirtualizationTechnology p.1

Climate@Home p.2

SuperGreenBuilding p.3

ITSummit2010 p.4

Office of the Chief Information OfficerNASA CIO LindaY.Cureton

IT Talk

Note from the CIO

This issue of IT Talk is our chance to shine a spotlight on how NASA and its Centers are going green. Green efforts like virtualization and smart buildings do more than just reduce our impact on the environment, they make bottom-line business sense to our operations and finances. The Climate@Home article is an example of how our IT efforts go beyond NASA’s needs and have global implica-tions. More of our green efforts will be shared at this month’s first IT Sum-mit from August 16-18. I look forward to seeing you there! (see page four for more details).

Virtualization TechnologySource: Eric Herron, System Analyst, Marshall Space Flight Center

The NASA Enterprise Application Competency Center (NEACC) has concentrated in the last few years on efforts to “virtualize” server en-vironments that provide applications and ser-vices at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the Agency.

Virtualizationmeansthatmultipleserverenviron-ments(e.g.,Windows,Linux,etc.)canbehousedonasinglepieceofphysicalhardware.Theserveradministratorusesasoftwareapplicationtodivideonephysicalserverintomultipleisolatedvirtualenvironments.Totheenduser,theaccesstothevirtualizedserverisaseamlessexperience.

Virtualizationisoftencomparedtocloudcomput-ing,butisdifferent.Cloudcomputing,likeNASA’sNebula,offerson-demandnetworkaccesstoasharedpoolofconfigurablecomputingresources.Virtualizationcanbeofferedthroughacloudoramoresimplifiedsetofresources.

Whilethepromiseofsavingmoneyhasattractedmany,mostvirtualizationadoptersalsoquicklydiscoverthattheapproachoffersanarrayofad-ditionalbenefits.

Green computing: Greencomputingattemptstoreducetheamountofhazardousmaterialsused,theamountofenergyconsumed,andpromotesrecyclabilityorbiodegradabilityofmaterialsusedincomputing.CurrentlytheNEACCoperates36physicalserversand337virtualmachinesusingVMWare.Thefloorspacereductionsachievedinthedatacenterapproaches12to1.

Serversandcomputersgeneratealotofheatandbreakdowniftheyarenotkeptcool.TheNEACCwasabletoreduce60to70percentoftheamountofspaceneededinthedatacenter.Thisresultedinapowerreductionratioof6to1.Withtherisingcostsofutilitybills,virtualizationcanalsobeafasttracktobigsavings.Anes-timated$5milliondollarsininfrastructurecostshavebeenavoidedandthereductionpercubic

footoffloorspaceusedresultedinsavingsof$250,000.

Expanded flexibility:Virtualizationallowscentrallymanagedresourcepoolingthroughanenterprisehubtobettersupportbusinessrequire-ments.Virtualmachinescanalsobeusedtorundifferentversionsofoperatingsystems.Suchsystemsmaybehardorimpossibletorunonnewerhardware.

Better access:Virtualization’ssolidfoundationandsharedinfrastructureprovidesenhancedaccesstoinfrastructureandinformationinthesupportofbusinessapplicationsandservice-orientedarchitecture(SOA).

Rapid application deployment: Virtualizationcanproviderapidinfrastructureprovisioningthatrequiresminutesratherthandays.Thetechnol-ogycanalsomaketaskssuchassystemmigra-tion,backupandrecoverymoremanageable.

Business resiliency:Foreasierreplicationandrestoration,virtualizationenablesadopterstose-cureandisolateapplicationworkloadsanddataonvirtualserversandstoragedevices.Virtualmachines,byisolatingwhattheyrun,canalsoprovidefaultanderrorcontainment.Archivingdataandreplicatingthenetworkoffsitethroughvirtualizationisarecipeforarobustdisasterrecoveryplan.

(continued on page 2)

Photo Credit: NASA/David Higginbotham, Dynetics, Inc.

Making IT Stellar at NASA

NASA will be calling on people worldwide to help determine the accuracy of a computer model that scientists use to predict climate change. The initiative, called “Climate@Home,” is unprecedented in scope. Never before has NASA attempted to recruit so many people to help perform research vital to fore-casting the Earth’s climate in the 21st century under a wide range of different situations.

NASA’sEarthScienceDivision(ESD)andOfficeoftheChiefInformationOfficer(OCIO)havestrategicallypartneredtomanagetheClimate@Homeinitiative.Thiseffortwillincludecollaborationsbetweenthe10NASACenters,the13FederalagenciesoftheUSGCRP(UnitedStatesGlobalChangeResearchProgram)alongwithseveraluniversitiesandpri-vateorganizations.

GoddardSpaceFlightCenter(GSFC)’sRobertCahalanisserv-ingastheprojectscientistandhasassembledaninternationalteamofscientiststohelpsetsci-encegoalsanddeterminewhichparameterstorun.GSFC’ssenioradvisortotheCIO,MyraBamba-cus,servesastheprojectman-agerandwillrunthisinitiative.

Participantsneednospecialtrain-ingtogetinvolvedinClimate@Home.Alltheyneedisadesktopcomputerorlaptop.Volunteerswillbeabletodownloadthecomputermodeltorunontheircomputersasabackgroundprocesswhen-everthecomputersareon,butnotusedtotheirfullcapacity.

Theclimatemodelthatvolunteersdownloadismadeupofmath-ematicalequationsthatquantita-tivelydescribehowatmospheric

temperature,airpressure,winds,watervapor,clouds,precipitationandotherfactorsallrespondtotheSun’sheatingoftheEarth’ssurfaceandatmosphere.ModelshelppredicthowtheEarth’sclimatemightrespondtosmallchangesinEarth’sabilitytoabsorbsunlightorradiateenergyintospace.

Scientiststraditionallyhaveusedsupercomputerstotestthesen-sitivityandaccuracyofclimatemodels.Withthesepowerfulmachines,theyareabletorunmil-lionsofcalculations,eachcomput-ingadifferentscenarioorcombi-nationofcircumstancessuchasvaryinglevelsofchlorineorwatervaporintheatmosphere.

Insteadofusingsupercomputersinthiseffort,NASAiscreatingavirtualsupercomputingnetworkthatspreadsthedata-processingchoresacrossthousandsofcomputers.Suchatask-sharinginitiativeeliminatestheneedtobuyadditionalsupercomput-ers,whichconsumeenormousamountsofenergy,andreducesthe“carbonfootprint”ofrunningthesecalculations.

Priortotheinitiative’sofficialrolloutinearly2011,theprojectwillbeannouncedinthenews.Theprojectwebsitewillprovideinstructionsonhowtodown-loadthemodelsandsupportingcomputersoftware.Thegoalistohaverecruitedtensofthousandsofparticipantsbythetimetheinitiativebegins.Eachparticipantwillrunthesamemodelbutwithcertainparametersslightlyad-justed.Scientistswillexaminetheresultingsensitivityoftheclimatepredictionstothoseadjustments,resultinginabetterunderstandingoftheparametersthatshouldbestudiedinthefuture.

Climate@Homewillhavetheop-tionofusingthesamehigh-levelarchitecturedevelopedfor“SETI@Home,”ascientificexperimentthatusesInternet-connectedcomputersintheSearchforEx-traterrestrialIntelligenceprogram.TheinitiativealsoismodeledafterasimilarprojectcoordinatedbytheOxforde-ResearchCentreintheUnitedKingdomcalledClimateprediction.net.

Climate@Homewilltesttheac-curacyofamodeldevelopedbytheGoddardInstituteofSpaceStudies(GISS)inNewYork,andwillserveasatrailblazertoexploretheaccuracyofothermodelsaswell.r

Climate@Home: Creating a Virtual Supercomputer to Model Climate

(Virtualization continued from page 1)

Improved security:Virtualmachinescanbeusedtooffersecure,isolatedtestbedsforevaluatinguntrustedapplications.

TheNEACCisnowintheprocessofdesigningvirtualdisasterrecov-eryandrapidrecoveryarchitectureforcriticalNEACCapplications.ThearchitecturewillbenefittheAgencybyallowingforcontinuingoperationsforNEACCsystemsandapplicationwithminimalserviceinterruption.r

Same Day Serviceat GlennSource: Barbara J. Wilson, IT Specialist (Application Software), Glenn Research Center

“Why does it take so long for a new employee to receive his or her e-mail and com-puter access?” asked Dr. Sasi Pillay, Chief Information Officer at Glenn Research Center (GRC).

Upuntil2007,itwouldtakenewstaff(civilservantsandsupportservicecontractors)onetothreeweeksandsum-merfacultyandstudentsonetofivedaysafterthestartofservicetoreceivee-mailandcomputeraccess.During2008,GRC’sCIOsuggestedthatthereshouldbeawayfornewhirestoreceivee-mailand

High Definition Mission Television

Johnson Space Center has brought high defini-tion (HD) video produc-tion to NASA’s mission work. The next Shuttle launch, landing and in-flight coverage will be shown to the public in HD. r

NASA to Open Sustainability Base, A Super Green Building

Public site: www.nasa.gov/ocio Internal site: insidenasa.nasa.gov/ocio

IT Outreach: NEACC’s Annual CBPL Summit

The NASA Enterprise Application Competency Center’s (NEACC) held its Seventh Annual Center Business Process Lead (CBPL) Summit in An-napolis, Maryland, from June 8 through 10.

This customer-focused event has evolved from a small group of Center financial leads during the early days follow-ing the “Core Financial” implementation. It is now a cross-discipline event with eight meeting tracks and multiple network-ing opportunities where more than 230 Center, Agency and NEACC representatives (both civil servants and support contractors) share infor-mation regarding the 50-plus NEACC integrated business applications. Record attendance by more than 230 NASA and contractor employees re-sulted in standing-room only for popular sessions.

The three-day summit offered presentations, training and roundtable discussions, bring-ing together business disciplines that would not ordinarily have an oppor-tunity to exchange ideas and discuss integrated processes with functional and technical experts.

A small sampling of this year’s topics includes:

• Cognos reporting tool.• Bringing NEACC apps

to mobile devices.• Contractor on-boarding.• NASA Emergency No-

tification and Account-ability System (ENS).

• Unified Labor Account (ULA).

Visit the NEACC’s busi-ness portal to view summit presentations at bReady.NASA.gov.

For more information, e-mail Barbara.s.henry@nasa.gov. r

Source: Andrea M. Riso, Ames Research Center

NASAisbuildingitsmostenviron-mentally-friendlybuildingatAmesResearchCenter(ARC)inMoffettField,Calif.Thestructure,called“SustainabilityBase,”willlikelybethe“greenest”buildingintheFederalgovernmentifitreceivesPlatinumLEEDe-certification.

Theceremonialgroundbreakingonthe$20.6millionbuildingissetforAugust25ofthisyear.Move-inwillbeinspringorsum-merof2011.

ThenameforthenewfacilitypaystributetotheTranquilityBasefromtheApollo11moonlandingofJuly20,1969,when

NASAastronautsNeilArmstrongandBuzzAldrinbecamethefirsthumanstolandandwalkonthelunarsurface.

SustainabilityBasewillprovideofficespaceforARC-ITandmayalsohousesomescientificresearchandengineering.SustainabilityBaseisdesignedtoconsumezeronetenergy.Comparedtoconventionalbuild-ingsofequalsize,itwilluse90percentlesspotablewater.

Thecenterpieceofthebuilding’scutting-edgetechnologyisitsintelligentcontrolsystem,whichisbasedonsystemsoriginallydevelopedforNASAspacecraft.AcomputerinsideSustainabilityBasewillconnecttotheInternet

tocallupweatherforecastsforthelocalareatohelpplanenvi-ronmentalcontrol.

SustainabilityBasewilltrackandreportbackenergyusagestatisticsbyworkstation,allowingoccupantstomonitorindividualconsumption.

“ARC-ITlooksforwardtomovingintotheonlyPlatinumLEED-eCer-tifiedFederalbuilding.Thisnewspacewillsupportourabilitytobeacollaborative,innovativeandincreasinglytransparentorgani-zation,”saidActingCIOatARCJamesF.Williams.LEED,whichstandsforLeadershipinEnergyandEnvironmentalDesign,isaninternationallyrecognizedgreenbuildingcertificationsystem.r

computeraccessthesamedaytheystart.Hecoinedthisvision“SameDayService.”

Inorderforthisconcepttobeasuccess,allstakeholdershadtobeidentifiedandinvolved.ThestakeholdersconsistedoftheOfficeofHumanCapitalManagement,theEducationalProgramsOffice,theOfficeofProtectiveServicesandtheOfficeoftheChiefInforma-tionOfficer(whichincludestheODINandPACEcontracts).ThestakeholdersbecametheGRCOn-BoardingProcessImprove-mentTeam.

TheGRCOn-BoardingProcessImprovementTeammetonceaweektoreviewtheprocessfornewstaff,summerfaculty,andstudents.Duringthesemeetings,theteamreviewedeachmetrictoseehowlongitwastakingforeachgrouptocompletetheirpro-cess.Oncetheyidentifiedeachof

theindividualgroups’processes,theteamdevelopedacompre-hensiveend-to-endprocessthatofferedtheopportunitytoreducethetimeforeachstepintheprocess.ThisformedthebasistoachieveSameDayService.

SameDayServicemeansthattheon-boardedstaffreceivetheirbadgeandaccesstotheire-mailandcomputeraccountsontheirfirstfullworkday.Thisyear,GRCaveraged95percentofstudentsaccessingtheire-mailaccountsthesamedaytheywerebroughton-board.ThisyearSummerProgramsconsistedof34facultymembersand289summerinterns.

Thisyear,theGRCOn-BoardingProcessImprovementTeamhadavarietyofactivitiestoimprovetheirongoingeffortsincludingincorporatingthenewAgency2010TemporaryEmployeeProcess.Eachyear,theysend

outasurveytocapturelessonslearnedandsolutionsforthefollowingyear.Forsummerstaff,awebsitewascreatedandapre-sentationthatincludedaskitwasgiventothementors.Theteamalsodirectedthementors,com-puteradministratorsandODINPOCstoadailynewspage.

Herearesomeofthecommentsthatwerereceived:

“Thethanksreallygoestoyou[and]manyothersIknowforallthe‘behindthescenes’effortwithstudentidentities/badging,gettingpasswordsassignedetc.ThanksmuchforYOURhardwork!Justwantedtosharewithyouthatwedohaveappreciativementorswiththisyear’sprocess!”

“Thanksforthehelphavingcom-puterssetupforsummer—mystudentwasupandoperationalonthefirstday.”r

Making IT Stellar at NASA Send feedback about IT Talk to John Hopkins at john.hopkins@nasa.gov

NASA CIO Offices Hold Tech Expos

Many Center CIO offices will host Technology Expos this summer. Two recent ones includes Stennis Space Center (SSC) and the Jet Pro-pulsion Laboratory (JPL).

More than 400 employ-ees registered the SSC event on June 16. The IT Expo highlighted products and services available through the NASA SSC OCIO and its support contracts, Information Technol-ogy Services (ITS) and Outsourcing Desktop Ini tiative for NASA (ODIN). Attendees were offered live classes, vendor displays and an oppor tunity to “Spin to Win” to identify energy savings steps within an office setting.

JPL’s Office of the CIO welcomed more than 2,000 visitors on June 17 for their annual 2010 IT Expo. The expo theme highlighted IT products and services that sup-port the JPL flight proj-ect community as they prepare for a number of launches and encoun-ters to occur over the next two years.

Participants submitted more than 100 ideas in a contest for the best busi-ness use of an iPad at JPL. The win ner will be part of the iPad pilot pro-gram. Nearly 200 iPhone users down loaded new JPL Mobile Applications at the event. r

But Wait, There’s More!

NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration

Office of the Chief Information Officer300E.Street,SWWashington,DC20546

www.nasa.gov

For more information on the Office of the Chief Information Officer:

www.nasa.gov/ocio

insidenasa.nasa.gov/ocio(internalNASAnetworkonly)

www.facebook.com/NASAcio

www.twitter.com/NASAcio

Streaming Live...Thefollowingspeakerswillbestreamedliveat:

www.nasa.gov/offices/ocio/itsummit

Monday, August 16, 2010

8:45a.m. OpeningRemarks,LindaCureton,AgencyCIO

9:15a.m. JimStikeleather,ChiefInnovationOfficer, DellServices

10:15a.m. MarkBregman,ChiefTechnologyOfficer,Symantec

11:00a.m. DavidW.Cearley,VP&GartnerFellow,Gartner,Inc.

1:00p.m. CharlesBolden,NASAAdministrator

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

8:40a.m. MistiBurmeister,CEO,InspirionInc.

9:20a.m. VintCerf,VicePresident&ChiefInternetEvangelist, Google

1:30p.m. JackBlitch,VicePresident&GeneralManager WaltDisneyImagineering-FL

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

11:45a.m. VivekKundra,ChiefInformationOfficer, UnitedStatesofAmerica

1:30p.m. VerniceArmour,“ZerotoBreakthrough,” VAIConsultingandTraining,LLC

Note: All times are Eastern Standard Time Zone.

Presentations, videos and more from NASA’s IT Summit 2010 will be available for you to down-load after the event. Even if you could not be there, you do not have to miss out.

Post event comments and questions for the speakers at:

buzzroom.nasa.gov

www.twitter.com

Please use the event hashtag:

#nasait